Alto Orinoco Municipality

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Municipio Autònomo Alto Orinoco
Location of Autònomo Alto Orinoco within Amazonas [[Image:{{{skyline_photo}}}\|250px\|{{{skyline_caption}}}]] {{{skyline_caption}}}
Country	Venezuela
State	Amazonas
Shiretown	La Esmeralda
Area	50,850 km² (31,596.7 sq mi)
Population (2007)	17,797
Density	0.6/km² (0.3/sq mi)
Mayor	Jaime Turon (AD)
Time zone	VST (UTC-4:30)
Area code(s)	0248
Website	altoorinoco-amazonas.gov.ve

The Alto Orinoco Municipality is one of the seven municipalities (municipios) that makes up the southern Venezuelan state of Amazonas and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 17,797.^[1]. The town of La Esmeralda is the shire town of the Alto Orinoco.^[2]

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Government
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

After the dissolution of the Spanish Commission of Territorial Limits by order of the Crown in 1760, Iturriaga and Solano returned to Spain and presented to the Court a series of proposals to assure the dominion of Spain of their possessions of Orinoco and Río Negro. Of these proposals came the decision to create separate commands. On March 17, 1767, Diez de la Fuente arrived in Esmeralda accompanied by 60 Spaniards and the Caciques Wadena and Wasaha, who lead a group of 3,000 natives. With this, the redevelopment of Esmeralda commenced.

The municipality is recongnized as a territorial division by the government of Antonio Guzmán Blanco on December 10, 1880 of what is now the Amazonas State.

[edit] Demographics

The Alto Orinoco Municipality, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, has a population of 17,797 (up from 15,281 in 2000). This amounts to 12.5% of the state's population.^[3] The municipality's population density is 0.6 people per square mile (0.3/km²).^[4]

[edit] Government

The mayor of the Alto Orinoco Municipality is Jaime Turon, re-elected on October 31, 2004 with 40% of the vote.^[5]^[6] The municipality is divided into five parishes; Capital Alto Orinoco, Huachamacare, Marawaka, Mavaca, and Sierra Parima (previous to December 18, 1997, the Alto Orinoco Municipality contained only a single parish).^[7]