Juan Antonio Sotillo Municipality

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Municipio Juan Antonio Sotillo
Location of Juan Antonio Sotillo within Anzoátegui [[Image:{{{skyline_photo}}}\|250px\|{{{skyline_caption}}}]] {{{skyline_caption}}}
Country	Venezuela
State	Anzoátegui
Shiretown	Puerto La Cruz
Area	244 km² (151.6 sq mi)
Population (2007)	247,979
Density	1,016.31/km² (1,635.6/sq mi)
Mayor	Nelson Moreno Mierez (MVR)
Time zone	VST (UTC-4:30)
Area code(s)	0281
Website	juansotillo-anzoategui.gob.ve

The Juan Antonio Sotillo Municipality is one of the 21 municipalities (municipios) that makes up the eastern Venezuelan state of Anzoátegui and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 247,979.^[1] The town of Puerto La Cruz is the shire town of the Juan Antonio Sotillo Municipality.^[2]

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

[edit] History

The history of Puerto La Cruz began when the Spaniards arrived in Venezuela. In 1780, the Christian Mission of Pozuelos (Pozuelos means small wells) was founded, with natives being being the majority of the population.

On April 9, 1862, a group of 26 families from Margarita Island decided to settle in Pozuelos Bay.

The Virgen del Amparo (Virgin of Amparo) and the Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) were adopted as the main religious identities of the town. On November 8 of every year since then is celebrated as the Dia de la Virgen del Amparo (Day of the Virgin of Amparo) and May 3 as the Dia de la Santa Cruz (Day of the Holy Cross).

In 1868, the first Church was built and the name of the town was changed to Puerto de la Santa Cruz (Port of the Holy Cross), but as the years passed people got used to calling it just "Puerto La Cruz".

[edit] Demographics

The Juan Antonio Sotillo Municipality, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, has a population of 247,979 (up from 217,182 in 2000). This amounts to 16.8% of the state's population.^[3] The municipality's population density is 1,635.6 people per square mile (1,016.31/km²).^[4]

[edit] Government

The mayor of the Juan Antonio Sotillo Municipality is Nelson Moreno Mierez, re-elected on October 31, 2004 with 49% of the vote.^[5]^[6] The municipality is divided into two parishes; Capital Puerto La Cruz and Pozuelos.^[7]