Caracas: Capital and largest city of Venezuela

Santiago de Leòn de Losada founded the city in 1567. It is where Simon Bolivar was born. The city has nearly 6 million people, who live in the metropolitan area. Caracas is the center of the economical activity of the country and also hosts the main government offices of Venezuela.

Caracas
City
Santiago de León de Caracas
Top left: Simón Bolívar Center; top right: Parque Central Complex; middle: Plaza Venezuela Fountain; bottom left: Plaza Bolívar; bottom right: Los Próceres Monument.
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s):  La Sultana del Ávila (The Avila's Sultana) La Sucursal del Cielo (Heaven's Branch on Earth)
Caracas
Coordinates: 10°30′N 66°55′W / 10.500°N 66.917°W / 10.500; -66.917
Country	Venezuela
State	Venezuelan Capital District Miranda
Municipality	Libertador
Founded	25 July 1567
Founded by	Diego de Losada
Metropolitan	Municipalities: Libertador, Chacao, Baruta, Sucre, El Hatillo
Government
• Type	Mayor-council
• Body	Alcaldía Metropolitana de Caracas
• Mayor	Antonio Ledezma (ABP)
Area
• Metro	1,930 km2 (750 sq mi)
Elevation	900 m (3,000 ft)
Population  (2009)
• Density	1,431.5/km2 (3,708/sq mi)
• Metro	5,196,514
Demonym(s)	caraqueño (m), caraqueña (f)
Time zone	UTC-04:30 (VST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-04:30 (not observed)

After WW2 the city has experienced a huge growth, thanks to the oil revenues of the country. Nearly half a million Europeans immigrated to the city in the 1950s ( that had in those years only one million inhabitants) and so Caracas developed a typical western-European look in the new modern areas.

 

Caracas is contained entirely within a valley of the Venezuelan Central Range, and is separated from the Caribbean coast by a roughly 15-kilometer (9 mi) expanse of El Ávila National Park. The valley is relatively small and quite irregular, and the altitude varies from between 870 and 1,043 meters (2,854 and 3,422 ft) above sea level; the historic center lies at about 900 meters (3,000 feet) above sea level. This, along with the rapid population growth, has profoundly influenced the urban development of the city. The most elevated point of the Capital District, wherein the city is located, is the Pico El Ávila, which rises to 2,159 meters (7,083 feet).

The main body of water in Caracas is the Guaire River, which flows across the city and empties into the Tuy River, which is also fed by the El Valle and San Pedro rivers, in addition to numerous streams which descend from El Ávila. The La Mariposa and Camatagua [es] reservoirs provide water to the city. The city is occasionally subject to earthquakes – notably in 1641 and 1967.

Geologically, Caracas was formed in the Late Cretaceous period, with much of the rest of the Caribbean, and sits on what is mostly metamorphic rock. Deformation of the land in this period formed the region.

Caracas has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw); fresh due to the elevation and with two distinct seasons: the rainy season, and the dry season.

All the best teams of the sports done in Venezuela are concentrated in the metropolitan area of Caracas. Between those teams we have:

• baseball: Leones de Caracas
• football: Deportivo Italia; Deportivo Petare; Caracas FC.

• Avila National Park
• Humbolt Tramway
• Simon Bolivar Birthplace
• Caracas Cathedral
• Bolivar Square
• Altamira Square
• East Park
• Los Proceres
• Parque Central
• Centro Comercial Tamanaco
• Sambil Mall

Many beautiful modern buildings can be seen in the city. Here there are some of them:

 

•   - Parque Central
•   - Plaza Venezuela Buildings
• - Casa de Italia
•   - Torre Britanica
•   - Torre La Previsora