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124-599: During the time of the Spanish Empire , it was part of the province of Nueva Andalucía and later it was annexed to the province of Guayana from 1777 when King Charles III created the Captaincy General of Venezuela . The capital of the state, Ciudad Bolivar was founded on December 21, 1595 by Antonio de Berrío, who had come from Nueva Granada (present-day Colombia ) with the mission of populating Guyana. The town, originally called Santo Tomás de Guayana,

248-653: A Genoese sailor attempting to reach Cipangu (Japan) by sailing west. Castile was already engaged in a race of exploration with Portugal to reach the Far East by sea when Columbus made his bold proposal to Isabella. In the Capitulations of Santa Fe , dated on 17 April 1492, Christopher Columbus obtained from the Catholic Monarchs his appointment as viceroy and governor in the lands already discovered and that he might discover thenceforth; thereby, it

372-423: A 20,000-strong Tlaxcalan army. Three days later, a 50,000-strong Otomi -Tlaxcalan force was defeated by Spanish arquebusier and cannon fire, and a Castilian cavalry charge. Thousands of Tlaxcalans joined the invaders against their Aztec rulers. Cortés's forces sacked the city of Cholula , massacring 6,000 inhabitants, and later entered Emperor Moctezuma II 's capital, Tenochtitlan , on 8 November. Velázquez sent

496-789: A Spanish protectorate following a series of treaties in 1488, 1491, 1493, and 1495. With the Christian reconquest completed in the Iberian peninsula, Spain began trying to take territory in Muslim North Africa. It had conquered Melilla in 1497, and further expansionism policy in North Africa was developed during the regency of Ferdinand the Catholic in Castile, stimulated by Cardinal Cisneros . Several towns and outposts in

620-626: A combined road and railway bridge over the Orinoco River near Ciudad Guayana , Venezuela . It was inaugurated on November 13, 2006 and named Orinoquia Bridge. Prior to its construction, the only crossing of the Orinoco was the Angostura Bridge around 100 km upstream at Ciudad Bolívar that was opened in 1967. At the site chosen for the bridge, the Orinoco is three kilometres wide with two navigation channels separated by

744-869: A company established by the Venezuelan state and the Venezuelan Corporation Faoz. Some woods are exploited, many of them precious like bucare , mahogany and others like plum , crawl, guamo, sarrapia and carob. The state of Bolivar has some of the most important tourist attractions in Venezuela and South America among which the Angel Falls (the world's largest waterfall) and numerous characteristic mountains called Tepuis such as Mount Roraima, as well as many natural wells, caves, rivers, fluvial islands, forests, rock formations, waterfalls and lakes of all types. 30 km from San Félix on

868-559: A different venue. Columbus's second voyage in 1493 had a large contingent of settlers and goods to accomplish that. On Hispaniola, the city of Santo Domingo was founded in 1496 by Christopher Columbus's brother Bartholomew Columbus and became a stone-built, permanent city. Non-Castilians, such as Catalans and Aragonese , were often prohibited from migrating to the New World. Following the settlement of Hispaniola, Europeans began searching elsewhere to begin new settlements, since there

992-402: A fixed point on the mid-stream island. The bridge was built to complement the existing Angostura Bridge and to provide a more direct connection with the important industrial city of Ciudad Guayana. In particular, it was intended to provide for a future rail connection to allow the city's heavy industrial products to be transported to the ports of Venezuela's Caribbean coast. River transport on

1116-598: A force led by Pánfilo de Narváez to punish the insubordinate Cortés for his unauthorized invasion of Mexico, but they were defeated at the Battle of Cempoala on 29 May 1520. Narváez was wounded and captured and 17 of his troops were killed; the rest joined Cortés. Meanwhile, Pedro de Alvarado triggered an Aztec uprising following the massacre in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan , during which 400 Aztec nobles and 2,000 onlookers were killed. The Castilians were driven out of

1240-602: A generalized south-north slope. The highest plateaus exceed 2,000 metres or 6,600 feet. The highest point is Mount Roraima (2,875 metres or 9,432 feet), located in the Pacaraima Range, which continues south with those of Parima and Tapirapeco. The north of the massif is quite homogeneous, with heights below 400 m and numerous witness hills . In the northeast, the Nuria and Imataca mountains stand out, as well as plateaus and hills over 500 metres or 1,640 feet high drained by

1364-492: A latitude south of Cape Bojador , a compromise was worked out and incorporated in the Treaty of Tordesillas , dated on 7 June 1494, in which the world was split into two dividing Spanish and Portuguese claims. These actions gave Spain exclusive rights to establish colonies in all of the New World from north to south (later with the exception of Brazil, which Portuguese commander Pedro Álvares Cabral encountered in 1500), as well as

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1488-522: A name that has persisted for over 80 years and is still remembered today. In 1800, Baron Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland visited Angostura and from there they went through El Pao to Barcelona and then to Cumaná , thus ending the tour of Venezuela. The Congress of Angostura , inaugurated on February 15, 1819 by the Liberator Simón Bolívar , under the inspiration of General Francisco de Miranda 's Ideology, represented

1612-767: A number of revolts across the Spanish Habsburg's domains, including their Spanish kingdoms. During the Habsburg rule, the Spanish Empire significantly expanded its territories in the Americas, beginning with the conquest of the Aztec Empire ; these conquests were achieved not by the Spanish army, but by small groups of adventurers—artisans, traders, gentry, and peasants—who operated independently under

1736-892: A result of the marriage politics of the Catholic Monarchs (in Spanish, Reyes Católicos ), their Habsburg grandson Charles inherited the Castilian empire in the Americas and the possessions of the Crown of Aragon in the Mediterranean (including all of south Italy ), lands in Germany, the Low Countries , Franche-Comté , and Austria , starting the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs. The Austrian hereditary Habsburg domains were transferred to Ferdinand ,

1860-474: A small island that is revealed during the low-water season. The average discharge of the river here varies between 66 000 m³/s and 85 000 m³/s, flowing at up to 2.6 m/s and with a seasonal variation in level of 12.5 m. The crossing is composed of approximately 4.5 km of structures and carries four lanes of road traffic separated into two carriageways by a single railway track in the centre. It consists of two cable stayed navigation spans each of 300 m with

1984-497: A south approach 1320 m long composed of 22 60 m spans and a north approach of 636 m composed of ten 60 m spans and one of 36 m. The two navigation spans have a clearance of 41 m above water level and are supported by four 120 m tall H-shaped pylons via two planes of cable stays. Unusually, these spans do not lead directly into each other as at other multi-span cable stayed bridges such as the Millau Viaduct , but are anchored at

2108-527: A structure strong enough to be preserved through the centuries. A bell tower, the chapel and a mural composed of images representing the sun and moon, clouds and angels, as well as silhouettes, which presumably represent the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception and Saint Francis of Assisi, are components that can be seen inside this rectangular space that follows the structure of the main nave of

2232-654: A surprise attack in Cajamarca that resulted in the massacre of thousands of Incas. This conquest facilitated the establishment of the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1542, allowing Spain to exert control over territories in western South America, comprising present-day Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and parts of Chile and Argentina. In the subsequent years, Spanish explorers and conquistadors ventured into northern South America, where they established settlements in present-day Venezuela and Colombia. Philip II of Spain (r. 1556–98) oversaw

2356-673: A surviving heir, probably the Crown of Aragon would have been split from Castile, which was inherited by Charles, Ferdinand and Isabella's grandson. Ferdinand joined the League of Cambrai against Venice in 1508. In 1511, he became part of the Holy League against France, seeing a chance at taking both Milan —to which he held a dynastic claim—and Navarre . In 1516, France agreed to a truce that left Milan in its control and recognized Spanish control of Upper Navarre , which had effectively been

2480-638: Is between 27 and 30 °C (80.6 and 86.0 °F) in the Puerto Ordaz area, between 27 and 31 °C (80.6 and 87.8 °F) in the Ciudad Bolivar zone, and between 18 and 23 °C (64.4 and 73.4 °F) in the Gran Sabana Zone. The climate is tropical, although it varies according to the zones; thus, the low areas present high temperatures, which reach an average of 27 °C or 80.6 °F, and abundant rainfall. The variation of

2604-616: Is changed to Bolivar State, as a tribute to the Liberator, Simón Bolívar . In Angostura, Bolívar convened the Second Congress of the Republic of Venezuela on February 15, 1819. His inaugural speech and the constitution he proposed comprise the last of the three most important documents of his career. The Correo del Orinoco was also published between 1818 and 1820, giving birth to the Venezuelan free press. On 21 July 1903, in

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2728-402: Is the most populated town in the state and its economic heart. The State of Bolivar is made up of several towns, but some are outstanding for certain reasons, making some of these towns more livable than others. Some of these large populations are: According to the 2011 Census, the racial composition of the population was: The State of Bolivar is home to several ethnic groups that originated in

2852-435: The arbitristas . The natural resource abundance provoked a decline in entrepreneurship as profits from resource extraction are less risky. The wealthy preferred to invest their fortunes in public debt ( juros ). The Habsburg dynasty spent the Castilian and American riches in wars across Europe on behalf of Habsburg interests, and declared moratoriums (bankruptcies) on their debt payments several times. These burdens led to

2976-789: The American Revolutionary War , Britain ceded both Floridas back to Spain as part of the Treaty of Paris . Spain had recaptured West Florida in 1781 through military operations. Both Floridas were ceded to the United States in 1819 as part of the Adams-Onís Treaty . Louisiana was ceded back to France in 1801 in the Treaty of Aranjuez . The Bourbon monarchy implemented reforms like the Nueva Planta decrees , which centralized power and abolished regional privileges. Economic policies promoted trade with

3100-753: The Cape Verde islands (1476), conquering the city of Ceuta in the Tingitan Peninsula in 1476 (but retaken by the Portuguese), and even attacked the Azores islands, being defeated at Praia . The turning point of the war came in 1478, however, when a Castilian fleet sent by King Ferdinand to conquer Gran Canaria lost men and ships to the Portuguese who expelled the attack, and a large Castilian armada—full of gold—was entirely captured in

3224-743: The Caribbean Islands , half of South America , most of Central America and much of North America . The Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation —the first circumnavigation of the Earth—laid the foundation for Spain's Pacific empire and for Spanish control over the East Indies . The influx of gold and silver from the mines in Zacatecas and Guanajuato in Mexico and Potosí in Bolivia enriched

3348-624: The Council of the Indies and Casa de Contratación , the two highest bodies in metropolitan Spain for the government of the empire in the New World, as well as royal government in the Indies. Portugal obtained several papal bulls that acknowledged Portuguese control over the discovered territories, but Castile also obtained from the Pope the safeguard of its rights to the Canary Islands with

3472-510: The Crown of Castile , having earlier retaken territory from the Muslims. Following Portugal's earlier completion of the reconquest and its establishment of settled boundaries, it began to seek overseas expansion, first to the port of Ceuta (1415) and then by colonizing the Atlantic islands of Madeira (1418) and the Azores (1427–1452); it also began voyages down the west coast of Africa in

3596-793: The Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy , was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire , it ushered in the European Age of Discovery . It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas , Africa , various islands in Asia and Oceania , as well as territory in other parts of Europe. It was one of the most powerful empires of

3720-850: The Honduras Company (1714), a Caracas company; the Guipuzcoana Company (1728), and the most successful ones, the Havana Company (1740) and the Barcelona Trading Company (1755). In 1717–18, the structures for governing the Indies, the Consejo de Indias and the Casa de Contratación , which governed investments in the cumbersome Spanish treasure fleets , were transferred from Seville to Cádiz , where foreign merchant houses had easier access to

3844-527: The Imataca mountain range. Almost all of the state is occupied by the Guiana massif; this suffered epirogenic movements that reactivated the basal rock of the shield, cut by fluvial erosion, reached it and gave rise to a staggering of jumps, originating tabular reliefs known as tepuis. The Tepuis are located mainly in the center and south of the structure. The average altitude is 400 metres or 1,310 feet, with

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3968-518: The Italian Wars beginning in 1494. Following Spanish victories at the Battles of Cerignola and Garigliano in 1503, France recognized Ferdinand's sovereignty over Naples through a treaty. After the death of Queen Isabella in 1504, and her exclusion of Ferdinand from a further role in Castile, Ferdinand married Germaine de Foix in 1505, cementing an alliance with France. Had that couple had

4092-815: The Kingdom of Naples , the Kingdom of Sicily , the Kingdom of Sardinia , and the Duchy of Milan through the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559. Italy became the core of Spain's power. By the mid-17th century, Spain's global empire burdened its economic, administrative, and military resources. Over the preceding century, Spanish troops had fought in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, suffering heavy casualties. Despite its vast holdings, Spain's military lacked essential modernization and heavily relied on foreign suppliers. Nevertheless, Spain possessed abundant bullion from

4216-667: The New World in 1493, Portugal and Castile divided the world by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), which gave Portugal Africa and Asia, and the Western Hemisphere to Spain. The voyage of Columbus, a Genoese mariner, obtained the support of Isabella of Castile, sailing west in 1492, seeking a route to the Indies. Columbus unexpectedly encountered the New World , populated by peoples he named "Indians". Subsequent voyages and full-scale settlements of Spaniards followed, with gold beginning to flow into Castile's coffers. Managing

4340-769: The War of the Spanish Succession , as various European powers contested his claim to the throne. The conflict concluded with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, allowing Philip, the first Bourbon king of Spain, to retain the throne but resulting in territorial losses for Spain: Gibraltar , Menorca , the Spanish Netherlands and Spanish Italy. In 1763, after the Seven Years' War , Spain ceded both East Florida and West Florida to Great Britain while gaining Louisiana from France. However, in 1783, following

4464-749: The Yuruari River. The southeast sector is separated from the northwest sector by the Erebato River and the upper Ventuari Valley. It comprises the Great Savannah and the rest of the territory west of the Caroni River, made up of three high plateaus. The southwest of the massif is made up of lowlands through which the Ventuari, Alto Río Negro and Alto Orinoco rivers flow, with flat topography interrupted by witness hills. Except for

4588-436: The early modern period , becoming known as " the empire on which the sun never sets ". At its greatest extent in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Spanish Empire covered over 13 million square kilometres (5 million square miles), making it one of the largest empires in history. Beginning with the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus and continuing for over three centuries, the Spanish Empire would expand across

4712-448: The Amazonas state and part of the Delta Amacuro state. It has 7,000 tons of reserves of gold , copper , diamond , coltan , iron , bauxite and other minerals. It is bordered to the north by the Orinoco River and the States of Delta Amacuro, Monagas, Anzoátegui and Guárico; to the south by the Federative Republic of Brazil ; to the southwest by the State of Amazonas; to the east by the territory of Guayana Esequiba , in dispute with

4836-406: The Americas instead. Thus, the limitations imposed by the Alcáçovas treaty were overcome and a new and more balanced division of the world would be reached in the Treaty of Tordesillas between both emerging maritime powers. Seven months before the treaty of Alcaçovas, King John II of Aragon died, and his son Ferdinand II of Aragon , married to Isabella I of Castile , inherited

4960-477: The Americas, which played a crucial role in both sustaining its military endeavors and meeting the needs of its civilian population. During this period, Spain displayed limited military interest in its overseas colonies. The Criollo elites (colonial-born Spaniards) and mestizo and mulatto militia (of mixed Indigenous-Spanish and African-Spanish descent) provided only minimal protection, often assisted by more influential allies with vested interests in maintaining

5084-446: The Austrians at the Battle of Bitonto in 1734 during the War of the Polish Succession , and during the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–42) thwarted British efforts to capture the strategic cities of Cartagena de Indias , Santiago de Cuba and St. Augustine by defeating a British combined army and navy force, although Spain's invasion of Georgia also failed. The British suffered 25,000 dead or wounded and lost nearly 5,000 ships during

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5208-413: The Aztec capital, suffering heavy losses and losing all of their gold and guns during La Noche Triste . On 8 July 1520, at Otumba , the Castilians and their allies, without artillery or arquebusiers, repelled 100,000 Aztecs armed with obsidian-bladed clubs. In August, 500 Castilians and 40,000 Tlaxcalans conquered the hilltop town of Tepeaca , an Aztec ally. Most of the inhabitants were either branded on

5332-409: The Canaries, recognized the Portuguese monopoly of fishing and navigation along the whole west African coast and Portugal's rights over the Madeira , Azores and Cape Verde islands [plus the right to conquer the Kingdom of Fez ]." The treaty delimited the spheres of influence of the two countries, establishing the principle of the Mare clausum . It was confirmed in 1481 by the Pope Sixtus IV , in

5456-499: The Christian conquest of the Muslim Emirate of Granada , completed in 1492, for which Valencia-born Pope Alexander VI gave them the title of the Catholic Monarchs . Ferdinand of Aragon was particularly concerned with expansion in France and Italy, as well as conquests in North Africa. With the Ottoman Turks controlling the choke points of the overland trade from Asia and the Middle East, both Spain and Portugal sought alternative routes. The Kingdom of Portugal had an advantage over

5580-499: The Constitution of the State of Bolivar of 2001, Spanish is the official language of the State and all the indigenous languages are official for their respective peoples. In the numerous indigenous cultures of the State of Bolivar, there are musical and artisanal manifestations. The inhabitants of the jungle use reed flutes and rattles for their spiritual invocations or for joy in moments of collective expansion. Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire , sometimes referred to as

5704-410: The Cooperative Republic of Guyana; and to the west by the State of Apure. Three major landscapes can be recognized in a relief between the Guiana shield: the isolated Orinoco savannahs and low mountains, the mountainous landscape dominated by the tabular peaks of the Tepuis and the valleys of the tributaries of the Orinoco and the lowlands and partly savannahs of the Yuruari , limited to the east by

5828-399: The Duchy of Milan in northern Italy since 1741, but faced the opposition of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia , and warfare in northern Italy remained indecisive throughout the period up to 1746. By the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle , Spain gained (indirectly) Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla in northern Italy. Orinoquia Bridge The Second Orinoco crossing or Orinoquia Bridge is

5952-401: The Emperor's brother, whereas Spain and the remaining possessions were inherited by Charles's son, Philip II of Spain , at the abdication of the former in 1556. The Habsburgs pursued several goals: "I learnt a proverb here", said a French traveler in 1603: "Everything is dear in Spain except silver". The problems caused by inflation were discussed by scholars at the School of Salamanca and

6076-456: The Federation. It organizes its administration and its public powers through the Constitution of the State of Bolivar, approved by the Legislative Council in Ciudad Bolivar on July 2, 2001. It is composed of the Governor of the State of Bolivar and a group of State Secretaries. The Governor is elected by the people through direct and secret vote for a period of four years and with the possibility of being reelected continuously, being in charge of

6200-421: The Indies trade. Cádiz became the one port for all Indies trading (see flota system ). Individual sailings at regular intervals were slow to displace the traditional armed convoys, but by the 1760s there were regular ships plying the Atlantic from Cádiz to Havana and Puerto Rico , and at longer intervals to the Río de la Plata , where an additional viceroyalty was created in 1776. The contraband trade that

6324-412: The North African coast were conquered and occupied by Castile between 1505 and 1510: Mers El Kébir , Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera , Oran , Bougie , Tripoli , and Peñón of Algiers . On the Atlantic coast, Spain took possession of the outpost of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña (1476) with support from the Canary Islands , and it was retained until 1525 with the consent of the Treaty of Cintra (1509). As

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6448-407: The Orinoco includes oceangoing ships, but because of its high sediment load the Orinoco has to be constantly dredged. In addition the crossing strengthens transport links between Venezuela and Brazil to the south which is important for Brazilian exports. This was one reason why President Lula da Silva of Brazil attended the inauguration together with Venezuela's Hugo Chávez . Near the bridge, there

6572-437: The Portuguese power, but also to take possession of this lucrative commerce. The Crown officially organized this trade with Guinea: every caravel had to secure a government license and to pay a tax on one-fifth of their profits (a receiver of the customs of Guinea was established in Seville in 1475—the ancestor of the future and famous Casa de Contratación ). Castilian fleets fought in the Atlantic Ocean, temporarily occupying

6696-465: The Republican ranks during the war of independence. They are called the Ruins of the Mission of the Purísima Concepción del Caroni, or better known as "Las Misiones del Caroni". These ruins served as the governing house of the Catalan Capuchins, and were declared a National Historic Monument on August 2, 1960. It exemplifies a magnificent building belonging to the colonial architecture, finally built with stones, bricks, tiles, wood and mortar, which gave it

6820-469: The Spanish Americas, exploring and describing it for the first time from a modern scientific point of view between 1799 and 1804. In his work Political essay on the kingdom of New Spain containing researches relative to the geography of Mexico he says that the Amerindians of New Spain were wealthier than any Russian or German peasant in Europe. According to Humboldt, despite the fact that Indian farmers were poor, under Spanish rule they were free and slavery

6944-403: The Spanish crown and financed military endeavors and territorial expansion. Another crucial element of the empire's expansion was the financial support provided by Genoese bankers, who financed royal expeditions and military campaigns. In 1700, Philip V became king of Spain after the death of Charles II , the last Habsburg monarch of Spain, who died without an heir. His ascension triggered

7068-516: The Spanish had reached Tlatelolco's center, raising their new flag atop the city's twin towers. Having exhausted their gunpowder, they attempted a catapult breach but failed. On 3 August, 12,000 more civilians were killed in another city section. Alvarado's destruction of the aqueducts forced the Aztecs to drink from the lake, causing disease and thousands of deaths. Another major assault occurred on 12 August, during which many thousands of non-combatants were massacred in their shelters. The following day,

7192-416: The Spanish overseas empire in the Americas and the Philippines. The settlement gave spoils to those who had backed a Habsburg for the Spanish monarchy, ceding European territory of the Spanish Netherlands , Naples , Milan , and Sardinia to Austria ; Sicily and parts of Milan to the Duchy of Savoy , and Gibraltar and Menorca to the Kingdom of Great Britain . The treaty also granted British merchants

7316-489: The State of Bolivar is mostly referred to basketwork, made with moriche palm. The Indians make objects that are utilitarian and that are very sought after by tourists such as peony seed necklaces, San Pedro tears, toucan peaks, etc... Apart from Spanish , which is the main language, several languages are spoken in some sectors of Bolivar. In addition, there are isolated languages such as joti . The Arutani-sapé languages have probably become extinct. According to article 9 of

7440-409: The area comprised in the Yuruari- Cuyuni river basin, the entire state is included in the Orinoco drainage system. Among the most important rivers are the Caroní , the Paragua and the Caura , etc. All of them dig their courses through a rugged topography in the hard rocks of the Guiana shield, giving rise to rapid valleys and waterfalls. In the case of the Caroní River, these unevennesses have allowed

7564-433: The balance of power and safeguarding the Spanish Empire from falling into enemy hands. With the 1700 death of the childless Charles II of Spain , the crown of Spain was contested in the War of the Spanish Succession . Under the Treaties of Utrecht (11 April 1713) ending the war, the French prince of the House of Bourbon , Philippe of Anjou, grandchild of Louis XIV of France, became King Philip V of Spain . He retained

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7688-415: The beginning of Catalan participation in the Spanish slave trade , and the rapidly growing textile industry of Catalonia which by the mid-1780s saw the first signs of industrialization. This saw the emergence of a small, politically active commercial class in Barcelona . This isolated pocket of advanced economic development stood in stark contrast to the relative backwardness of most of the country. Most of

7812-450: The blows, the tunes to the sound of the harp, cuatro and maracas, are characteristic of this area of Bolivar. The carnivals in El Callao are very colorful and have already gained fame and tradition with the peculiar Guayana Calypso. This dance originated with the arrival of the Antilleans who brought their customs and their typical English, it was mixed with ours emerging along with the local patois and many other customs. The craftsmanship in

7936-427: The bulls Romani Pontifex dated 6 November 1436 and Dominatur Dominus dated 30 April 1437. The conquest of the Canary Islands , inhabited by Guanche people, began in 1402 during the reign of Henry III of Castile , by Norman nobleman Jean de Béthencourt under a feudal agreement with the crown. The conquest was completed with the campaigns of the armies of the Crown of Castile between 1478 and 1496, when

8060-481: The castles, San Francisco de Asís (Fuerte Villapol) was built on the banks of the Orinoco in the 17th century between 1678 and 1684, as referred to by Gerónimo Martínez-Mendoza, by order of the Governor Cap. Tiburcio de Axpe y Zúñiga, in the narrowest part of the Orinoco after Angostura, on the land where San Francisco's auspices once stood, established by Don Antonio de Berrío, the first governor of Guayana and founder of Santo Tomé de Guayana. Years later and to reinforce

8184-408: The causeway at Tlacopan by the armies of Alvarado and Cristóbal de Olid . While fighting on the causeway, the Spanish and their allies came under attack from both sides by Aztecs firing arrows from canoes. Thirteen Spanish brigantines sank 300 out of 400 enemy war canoes sent against them. The Aztecs tried to damage the Spanish vessels by hiding spears beneath the shallow water. The attackers breached

8308-411: The central government under the rule of Andean leaders. The state gained more autonomy in 1989 when the first elections for governor and legislative assembly were held and the practice of appointments from the central government in Caracas was ended. On 13 November 2006, the Orinoquia Bridge was inaugurated, the second largest in the country, which facilitates communications between Ciudad Guayana and

8432-429: The city and engaged in fighting with the Aztec defenders in the streets. The Aztecs defeated the Spanish-Tlaxcalan forces at the Battle of Colhuacatonco on 30 June 1521. Following this Aztec victory, 53 Spanish prisoners were paraded to the tops of Tlatelolco 's highest pyramids and publicly sacrificed . In late July, the attackers resumed their assaults, resulting in the massacre of 800 Aztec civilians. By 29 July,

8556-445: The city fell and Cuauhtémoc was captured. At least 100,000 Aztecs died during the siege, while 100 Spaniards and up to 30,000 of their Indigenous allies were killed or died from disease. The fall of Tenochtitlan marked the beginning of Spanish colonial rule in Mexico, leading to the establishment of the Viceroyalty of New Spain in 1535. In 1532, Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire by capturing its leader Atahualpa during

8680-412: The climate of the extensive territory is determined by the altitude and the winds since the latitude (between 4° and 8° of North latitude) places it totally in the equatorial strip. The low northern lands, influenced by the east and northeast winds, are characterized by a rainy season and a dry season, both very marked; the southern lands receive winds loaded with humidity from the Amazon depression and from

8804-399: The colonies, enhancing Spanish influence in the Americas. Socially, tensions emerged between the ruling elite and the rising bourgeoisie, as well as divisions between peninsular Spaniards and Creoles in the Americas. These factors ultimately set the stage for the independence movements that began in the early 19th century, leading to the gradual disintegration of Spanish colonial authority. By

8928-601: The colonization of the Philippines, which began in 1565 with the arrival of Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi , making him ruler of one of the first true globe-spanning empires. His victory in the War of the Portuguese Succession led to the annexation of Portugal in 1580, effectively integrating its overseas empire—encompassing coastal Brazil and African and Indian coastal enclaves—into Spain's domain. Philip II also reaffirmed Spanish control over

9052-1271: The country. Among the main groups are the Pemones , the Yekuana , the Sanemá , the Panares , the Hotis and the Piaroas . All of these groups speak their own languages, although most also speak Spanish . Bolívar State is sub-divided into eleven municipalities ( municipios ), given below with their administrative centres, areas and populations: In the State of Bolivar there are great energy sources that are very important for Venezuela (the Guri Dam , among others), famous agricultural products (Guiana cheese, cotton , yucca , cassava , white and brown catalinas, naiboa, among others), and many minerals in great demand (iron, gold, bauxite , among others). located in Ciudad Guayana. The agricultural sector of Bolivar State has little significance, both at

9176-454: The creation of the federal territories Yuruari and El Caura (1881), Armisticio (1883) and Delta (1884). Between 1890 and 1893, it recovered these territories. In 1887, the current state of Delta Amacuro was separated from the state of Guayana. In 1899, the Apure and Guayana States were separated and established their autonomy; and it is from the 1901 Constitution that the name of Guayana State

9300-533: The crown's encomienda system. Defying the opposition of Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar , the governor of Hispaniola, Hernán Cortés organized an expedition of 550 conquistadors and sailed for the coast of Mexico in March 1519. The Castilians defeated a 10,000-strong Chontal Mayan army at Potonchán on 24 March and emerged triumphant against a larger force of 40,000 Mayans three days later. On 2 September, 360 Castilians and 2,300 Totonac Indigenous allies defeated

9424-550: The decisive Battle of Guinea . The Treaty of Alcáçovas (4 September 1479), while assuring the Castilian throne to the Catholic Monarchs, reflected the Castilian naval and colonial defeat: "War with Castile broke out waged savagely in the Gulf [of Guinea] until the Castilian fleet of thirty-five sail was defeated there in 1478. As a result of this naval victory, at the Treaty of Alcáçovas in 1479 Castile, while retaining her rights in

9548-617: The defenses of the first castle was built the Castle of El Padrastro or San Diego - construction began in 1747 - so called because it was located on a hillock or stepfather, from where you can see the Castle of San Francisco which it protects. These castles were restored in 1897 by the then President of Venezuela, Joaquín Crespo, who renamed them Fuerte Campo Elías al Castillo de San Diego and Fuerte Villapol al Castillo de San Francisco, in honor of these heroes who, despite being born in Spain, fought in

9672-677: The detriment of interests in the colonies, undermined creole elites' loyalty to the crown. When French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the Iberian peninsula in 1808, Napoleon ousted the Spanish Bourbon monarchy, placing his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne. There was a crisis of legitimacy of crown rule in Spanish America, leading to the Spanish American wars of independence (1808–1826). The Spanish Bourbons' broadest intentions were to reorganize

9796-490: The easternmost parts of Asia. The Treaty of Tordesillas was confirmed by Pope Julius II in the bull Ea quae pro bono pacis on 24 January 1506. The Treaty of Tordesillas and the treaty of Cintra (18 September 1509) established the limits of the Kingdom of Fez for Portugal, and the Castilian expansion was allowed outside these limits, beginning with the conquest of Melilla in 1497. Other European powers did not see

9920-656: The establishment of powerful hydroelectric plants. The Guri Reservoir and the Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Plant (formerly Raúl Leoni), which covers more than 80,000 hectares, is the most important center for electricity generation in Venezuela. The Churún River , a tributary of the Caroní River, flows from the Auyan Tepui plateau, with a 936.60-meter drop: Angel Falls , the highest in the world. The average annual temperature (Max-Min)

10044-486: The exclusive right to sell slaves in Spanish America for thirty years, the asiento de negros , as well as licensed voyages to ports in Spanish colonial dominions and openings. Spain's economic and demographic recovery had begun slowly in the last decades of the Habsburg reign, as was evident from the growth of its trading convoys and the much more rapid growth of illicit trade during the period. (This growth

10168-403: The expanding empire became an administrative issue. The reign of Ferdinand and Isabella began the professionalization of the apparatus of government in Spain, which led to a demand for men of letters ( letrados ) who were university graduates ( licenciados ), of Salamanca , Valladolid , Complutense and Alcalá . These lawyer-bureaucrats staffed the various councils of state, eventually including

10292-665: The face with the letter "G" (for guerra, the Spanish word for "war") and enslaved by the Spanish, or sacrificed and eaten by the Tlaxcalans. Cortés returned to Tenochtitlan in 1521 with a new invasion force and laid siege to the Aztec capital in May, which was suffering from a smallpox epidemic that killed thousands. The new emperor, Cuauhtémoc , defended Tenochtitlan with 100,000 warriors armed with slings, bows, and obsidian clubs . The first military encounter occurred after an advance along

10416-518: The fifteenth century. Its rival Castile laid claim to the Canary Islands (1402) and retook territory from the Moors in 1462. The Christian rivals Castile and Portugal came to formal agreements over the division of new territories in the Treaty of Alcaçovas (1479), as well as securing the crown of Castile for Isabella whose accession was challenged militarily by Portugal. Following the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492 and first major settlement in

10540-617: The foundation of the Spanish monarchy. The union of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon joined the economic and military power of Iberia under one dynasty, the House of Trastámara . Their dynastic alliance was important for a number of reasons, ruling jointly over a number of kingdoms and other territories, mostly in the western Mediterranean region, under their respective legal and administrative status. They successfully pursued expansion in Iberia in

10664-525: The improvements were in and around some major coastal cities and the major islands such as Cuba, with its tobacco plantations , and a renewed growth of precious metals mining in South America. Agricultural productivity remained low despite efforts to introduce new techniques to what was for the most part an uninterested, exploited peasant and laboring groups. Governments were inconsistent in their policies. Though there were substantial improvements by

10788-533: The independent states of the United States of Venezuela . In 1879, it was one of the seven states of the Federation, without the territory corresponding to Amazonas which had become Federal Territory Amazonas . In 1881, it became one of the nine political entities into which the country was divided, receiving the name of Great State Bolivar formed by Guayana and Apure . Its territory was diminished with

10912-556: The institutions of empire to better administer it for the benefit of Spain and the crown. It sought to increase revenues and to assert greater crown control, including over the Catholic Church. Centralization of power (beginning with the Nueva Planta decrees against the realms of the Crown of Aragon ) was to be for the benefit of the crown and the metropole and for the defense of its empire against foreign incursions. From

11036-499: The integrity of the closed Spanish mercantile system and established thriving sugar colonies. At the beginning of his reign, the first Spanish Bourbon, King Philip V, reorganized the government to strengthen the executive power of the monarch as was done in France, in place of the deliberative, Polysynodial System of Councils. Philip's government set up a ministry of the Navy and the Indies (1714) and established commercial companies,

11160-510: The islands of Gran Canaria (1478–1483), La Palma (1492–1493), and Tenerife (1494–1496) were subjugated. By 1504, more than 90 percent of the indigenous Canarians had been killed or enslaved. The Portuguese tried in vain to keep secret their discovery of the Gold Coast (1471) in the Gulf of Guinea , but the news quickly caused a huge gold rush. Chronicler Pulgar wrote that the fame of

11284-526: The lands adjoining it for the Spanish Crown. The Catholic Monarchs had developed a strategy of marriages for their children to isolate their rival, France. The Spanish princesses married the heirs of Portugal, England and the House of Habsburg . Following the same strategy, the Catholic Monarchs decided to support the Aragonese house of the Kingdom of Naples against Charles VIII of France in

11408-427: The late 18th century, Spain was still an economic backwater. Under the mercantile trading arrangements it had difficulty in providing the goods being demanded by the strongly growing markets of its empire, and providing adequate outlets for the return trade. From an opposing point of view according to the "backwardness" mentioned above the naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt traveled extensively throughout

11532-635: The mainland was Santa María la Antigua del Darién in Castilla de Oro (now Nicaragua , Costa Rica , Panama and Colombia ), settled by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1510. In 1513, Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama , and led the first European expedition to see the Pacific Ocean from the West coast of the New World. In an action with enduring historical import, Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean and all

11656-609: The mid-1820s, Spain had lost its territories in Mexico, Central America, and South America. By 1900, it had also lost Cuba , Puerto Rico , the Philippine Islands , and Guam in the Mariana Islands following the Spanish–American War . With the marriage of the heirs apparent to their respective thrones Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile created a personal union that most scholars view as

11780-645: The opposite bank of the Orinoco River in the states of Anzoátegui and Monagas . The Orinoco Mining Arc (AMO), officially created, on 24 February 2016, as the Arco Mining Orinoco National Strategic Development Zone, 2 is an area rich in mineral resources that the Republic of Venezuela has been operating since 2017; occupies mostly the north of the Bolivar state and to a lesser extent the northeast of

11904-555: The papal bull Æterni regis (dated on 21 June 1481). However, this experience would prove to be profitable for future Spanish overseas expansion, because as the Spaniards were excluded from the lands discovered or to be discovered from the Canaries southward —and consequently from the road to India around Africa —they sponsored the voyage of Columbus towards the west (1492) in search of Asia to trade in its spices , encountering

12028-423: The possibility of continuous re-election, under a system of proportional representation of the population of the State and its municipalities. The State has 15 deputies, of which 4 belong to the opposition and 11 to the ruling party, including a representation of the indigenous peoples and communities of the State of Bolivar. Ciudad Bolívar is the capital; famous for its colonial architecture. Although Ciudad Guayana

12152-413: The road to Piacoa in the State of Delta Amacuro, you will find Los Castillos de Guayana, buildings built on rocky hills on the right bank of the Orinoco River during the colonial era to protect Santo Tomé de Guayana from attacks by pirates and adventurers who feverishly sought El Dorado, the most fabulous of our indigenous inventions that would drive the feverish minds of the conquistadors mad. The first of

12276-403: The rural Bajío faced rising land prices, falling wages. Eviction of many from their lands resulted. With a Bourbon monarchy came a repertory of Bourbon mercantilist ideas based on a centralized state, put into effect in the Americas slowly at first but with increasing momentum during the century. Shipping grew rapidly from the mid-1740s until the Seven Years' War (1756–63), reflecting in part

12400-628: The same amount of bread as any European city, with 363 kilograms of bread per person per year in comparison to the 377 kilograms consumed in Paris. Caracas consumed seven times more meat per person than in Paris. Von Humboldt also said that the average income in that period was four times the European income and also that the cities of New Spain were richer than many European cities. Bourbon institutional reforms under Philip V bore fruit militarily when Spanish forces easily retook Naples and Sicily from

12524-524: The second Constituent Congress of the Republic of Venezuela . It was convened in the context of the wars of independence of Venezuela and the New Granada. In 1821 (during the Great Colombia ) it became a department of Orinoco with the largest extension of the time (whose capital was Santo Tomás de la Nueva Guayana de la Angostura del Orinoco or Angostura). When Gran Colombia was dissolved,

12648-498: The southeast that condense at the contact of the elevations producing intense rains of more than 1600 mm. The State of Bolivar is the largest state in Venezuela and covers a large area of 242,801 km² which represents 26.49% of the national total. In addition, de Iure claims the territories of Guayana Esequiba south of the Cuyuni River, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, Potaro-Siparuni and Alto Tacutu-Alto Esequibo, which would increase

12772-654: The state administration. The current Governor is Justo Noguera Pietri of the PSUV. Like the other 23 federal entities of Venezuela, the State maintains its own police force, which is supported and complemented by the National Police and the Venezuelan National Guard . The State Legislature is the responsibility of the unicameral Legislative Council of the State of Bolivar, elected by the people through direct and secret vote every four years, with

12896-446: The state and national level. The soil, topography, and climate characteristics have led to consider the area as a strong restriction for agricultural development, since a large part of its soils are composed of highly siliceous rocks, with low moisture retention capacity and strong acid reaction. Nevertheless, the exploitation of a great variety of agricultural items, the immense reserves of forest resources, allow us to foresee that through

13020-613: The success of the Bourbons in bringing illicit trade under control. With the loosening of trade controls after the Seven Years' War, shipping trade within the empire once again began to expand, reaching an extraordinary rate of growth in the 1780s. The end of Cádiz's monopoly of trade with the American colonies brought about very important changes, particularly a rebirth of Spanish manufactures. Most notable of those changes were both

13144-485: The temple or church. The same is provided with a parking lot that communicates to the temple by means of a paved road, and connects to the bank of the Macagua reservoir. In many indigenous cultures of the State of Bolivar there are musical and artisan manifestations. In other environments the joropo is danced, exactly in the northwest of the state, due to the proximity of the plains of Guariqueños and Apureños. The passage,

13268-401: The territory by 124,414 km². The geography of the State of Bolivar is as follows: the State of Bolivar is located in the southeast of Venezuela, it has jungle vegetation and a savannah climate, the State is mostly limited by the Orinoco River. It borders on several Venezuelan states and on the republics of Guyana and Brazil . The State is autonomous and politically equal to the rest of

13392-594: The territory changed to the Province of Guayana until 1854 when it became the Province of Orinoco (whose capital was Ciudad Bolívar). After the separation in 1856 of the then Federal Territory Amazonas, the province of Guayana was renamed in 1864 as the Sovereign State of Guayana once the Federal Revolution came to power under the command of Juan Crisóstomo Falcón . In 1864, Guyana became one of

13516-440: The thrones of the Crown of Aragon . The two became known as the Catholic Monarchs , with their marriage a personal union that created a relationship between the Crown of Aragon and Castile, each with their own administrations, but ruled jointly by the two monarchs. Ferdinand and Isabella defeated the last Muslim king out of Granada in 1492 after a ten-year war . The Catholic Monarchs then negotiated with Christopher Columbus ,

13640-535: The treasures of Guinea "spread around the ports of Andalusia in such way that everybody tried to go there". Worthless trinkets, Moorish textiles, and above all, shells from the Canary and Cape Verde islands were exchanged for gold, slaves, ivory and Guinea pepper. The War of the Castilian Succession (1475–79) provided the Catholic Monarchs with the opportunity not only to attack the main source of

13764-477: The treaty between Castile and Portugal as binding on themselves. Francis I of France observed "The sun shines for me as for others and I should very much like to see the clause in Adam's will that excludes me from a share of the world." Spanish settlement in the New World was based on a pattern of a large, permanent settlements with the entire complex of institutions and material life to replicate Castilian life in

13888-569: The use of appropriate technology, irrigation and selection of the size of the exploitation, this sector could contribute in an important way in the integral development of the area. Bolivar State has the Siderurgica del Orinoco (SIDOR), which is in charge of steel production with Direct Reduction technologies and Electric Arc Furnaces, with natural resources available in the Guayana region. By 2017, coltan production will begin through Parguaza,

14012-488: The vicinity of Ciudad Bolivar, the last battle of the Liberating Revolution was fought where the government army under the command of Juan Vicente Gómez defeated the opposition forces of General Nicolás Rolando. The defeat of the Liberating Revolution marked the end of the 19th century in Venezuela, which was characterized by political instability and great civil wars, giving way to a period of consolidation of

14136-915: The viewpoint of Spain, the structures of colonial rule under the Habsburgs were no longer functioning to the benefit of Spain, with much wealth being retained in Spanish America and going to other European powers. The presence of other European powers in the Caribbean, with the English in Barbados (1627), St Kitts (1623–25), and Jamaica (1655); the Dutch in Curaçao , and the French in Saint Domingue (Haiti) (1697), Martinique , and Guadeloupe had broken

14260-709: The war. In 1742, the War of Jenkins' Ear merged with the larger War of the Austrian Succession , and King George's War in North America. The British, also occupied with France, were unable to capture Spanish convoys, and Spanish privateers captured British merchant shipping along the Triangle Trade routes and attacked the coast of North Carolina , levying tribute on the inhabitants. In Europe, Spain had been trying to divest Maria Theresa of

14384-529: Was a century of prosperity for the overseas Spanish Empire as trade within grew steadily, particularly in the second half of the century, under the Bourbon reforms. Spain's victory in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias against a British expedition in the Caribbean port of Cartagena de Indias helped Spain secure its dominance of its possessions in the Americas until the 19th century. But different regions fared differently under Bourbon rule, and even while New Spain

14508-455: Was a fortified port that had to move three times, since it was the target of constant assaults by Caribbean Indians and European corsairs, among whom Sir Walter Raleigh stood out in 1617. In 1764 it found a definitive site on the banks of the Orinoco , in its narrowest sector, for which it took the name of Santo Tomás de la Nueva Guayana de la Angostura del Orinoco, known simply as Angostura,

14632-455: Was defeated in Italy by an alliance of Britain, France, Savoy, and Austria. Following the war, the new Bourbon monarchy took a much more cautious approach to international relations, relying on a family alliance with Bourbon France, and continuing to follow a program of institutional renewal. The crown program to enact reforms that promoted administrative control and efficiency in the metropole to

14756-404: Was little apparent wealth and the numbers of indigenous were declining. Those from the less prosperous Hispaniola were eager to search for new success in a new settlement. From there Juan Ponce de León conquered Puerto Rico (1508) and Diego Velázquez took Cuba . Columbus encountered the mainland in 1498, and the Catholic Monarchs learned of his discovery in May 1499. The first settlement on

14880-578: Was non-existent, their conditions were much better than any other peasant or farmer in northern Europe . Humboldt also published a comparative analysis of bread and meat consumption in New Spain compared to other cities in Europe such as Paris. Mexico City consumed 189 pounds of meat per person per year, in comparison to 163 pounds consumed by the inhabitants of Paris, the Mexicans also consumed almost

15004-402: Was particularly prosperous, it was also marked by steep wealth inequality. Silver production boomed in New Spain during the 18th century, with output more than tripling between the start of the century and the 1750s. The economy and the population both grew, both centered around Mexico City. But while mine owners and the crown benefited from the flourishing silver economy, most of the population in

15128-481: Was slower than the growth of illicit trade by northern rivals in the empire's markets.) However, this recovery was not then translated into institutional improvement, rather the "proximate solutions to permanent problems." This legacy of neglect was reflected in the early years of Bourbon rule in which the military was ill-advisedly pitched into battle in the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–20). Spain

15252-507: Was the first document to establish an administrative organization in the Indies. Columbus' discoveries began the Spanish colonization of the Americas . Spain's claim to these lands was solidified by the Inter caetera papal bull dated 4 May 1493, and Dudum siquidem on 26 September 1493. Since the Portuguese wanted to keep the line of demarcation of Alcaçovas running east and west along

15376-567: Was the lifeblood of the Habsburg empire declined in proportion to registered shipping (a shipping registry having been established in 1735). Two upheavals registered unease within Spanish America and at the same time demonstrated the renewed resiliency of the reformed system: the Tupac Amaru uprising in Peru in 1780 and the rebellion of the comuneros of New Granada , both in part reactions to tighter, more efficient control. The 18th century

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