Ciudad Guayana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ciudad Guayana from space, 2005

Ciudad Guayana is a city in Bolívar State, Venezuela. It lies south of the Orinoco, where the river is joined by the Caroní River. The city, officially founded in 1961, is actually composed of the old town of San Felix and the new town of Puerto Ordaz, which lie either side of the Caroní and are connected by three bridges. The city stretches 40 kilometers along the south bank of the Orinoco. With approximately 800,000 people, it is a large city by Venezuelan standards. It is also the country's fastest-growing city, due to its important iron industry.

It's one of Venezuela's five most important ports, since most goods produced in Bolívar are shipped through it into the Atlantic Ocean, via the Orinoco river. Ciudad Guayana is also the location of the Second Orinoco crossing.

[edit] History

Ciudad Guayana was founded in 1961 as a project by the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana, merging two towns on both of the riversides of the Orinoco, San Félix and Puerto Ordaz as a single city. Since then, many industries have settled in it, since its geographical position gives it many advantages, it's a centerpiece between cities such as Upata and Ciudad Bolívar, two of Bolívar State's most important cities.

Since its foundation it has grown from two fledgling towns into the Guayana region's most important industrial center, and a hub of growth in a typically underpopulated region of Venezuela.