La Guaira

Coordinates: 10°36′00″N 66°55′59″W / 10.60000°N 66.93306°W / 10.60000; -66.93306
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
La Guaira
Los Cocos beach and Buildings of the city.
Postal Code
1160
Area code+58 212
DemonymGuairno
ClimateBSh

La Guaira (Spanish: [la ˈɣwajɾa] ) is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port. It was founded in 1577 as an outlet for Caracas, 30 kilometres (19 mi) to the southeast. The town and the port were badly damaged during the December 1999 floods and mudslides that affected much of the region.

The city hosts its own professional baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, the Tiburones de La Guaira. They have won eight national championships since their founding in 1962 and won the Caribbean Series in 2023-24

History

Picacho de Galipán
Port of La Guaira
La Guaira
Beach in la Guaira
San Carlos Fortress

After the founding of

English, Dutch, and French armadas, La Guaira was transformed into a fortified, walled city. During the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1748), the first attack of the Royal Navy
took place on La Guaira. In March 1743, in the Battle of La Guaira, the port was attacked without success by another English squadron of 19 ships under the command of Admiral Charles Knowles. The coastal batteries, led by Gabriel de Zuloaga, José de Iturriaga and Don Mateo Gual, counterattacked and managed to put the English to flight.

This period also saw the trading monopoly of the

Royal Gipuzkoan Company of Caracas, which controlled the major ports of La Guaira and Puerto Cabello and was instrumental in the development of large-scale cocoa production along the valleys of the coast. The English frigate HMS Hermione (1782)
was delivered to the Spanish authorities at La Guaira after her crew mutinied in 1797.

Another small naval battle was fought off La Guaira in 1812, between privateers of the United States and the United Kingdom. Now La Guaira is the second port by importance in Venezuela after Puerto Cabello.[1]

In 1998, when La Guaira state (then named Vargas) was created from parts of the former Federal District of Caracas, it became the state capital city.

Geography

La Guaira Bank (

sport fishing destinations in the world due to the unusually high numbers of Atlantic blue marlin, white marlin, sailfish, and spearfish
that congregate at different seasons, and are available year-round.

References

  1. ^ "War of 1812: UK sources for Privateers". 2 September 2011. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

10°36′00″N 66°55′59″W / 10.60000°N 66.93306°W / 10.60000; -66.93306