Ciudad Guayana

Ciudad Guayana

Seal
Ciudad Guayana

Location in Venezuela

Coordinates: 8°22′N 62°39′W / 8.367°N 62.650°W / 8.367; -62.650Coordinates: 8°22′N 62°39′W / 8.367°N 62.650°W / 8.367; -62.650
Country  Venezuela
State Bolívar
Founded July 2, 1961
Government
 • Mayor José Ramón Lopéz
Population (2001)
 • Total 1,050,283
 • Demonym guayanés
Time zone VST (UTC-4:30)
 • Summer (DST) not observed (UTC-4:30)
Area code(s) 0286
Climate Aw

Puerto Ordaz (Spanish pronunciation: [sjuˈðað ɣwaˈʝana]) is a city in Bolívar State, Venezuela.Is a Venezuelan city that is in the west of the Municipality Caroní and that conforms next to San Felix what is called Ciudad Guayana. Puerto Ordaz is one of the Latin American cities best planned by the maximum criteria of urban organization. It is an ordered city of the Bolivar state, in the east of Venezuela. Founded in 1952 as a port of mining export on the banks of the Caroní River, at the point where it flows to the Orinoco River; Puerto Ordaz is home to mining and hydroelectric companies. Its airport serves as a link between the small airports in the jungle area of State Bolivar and the rest of the country. 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 Félix at the east and the new town of Puerto Ordaz (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpwerto orˈðas]) at the west, which lies on the confluence of the Caroní and Orinoco Rivers and is the site of the Llovizna Falls.[1] There are bridges across the Caroni and a new bridge across the Orinoco (Second Orinoco crossing). The city stretches 40 kilometers along the south bank of the Orinoco. With approximately one million people, it is Venezuela's fastest-growing city due to its important iron and steelworks and aluminium industries. The city has a large hydroelectric power plant, Macagua Dam. Guayana City is one of Venezuela's five most important ports, since most goods produced in Bolívar are shipped through it, onto the Atlantic Ocean via the Orinoco river.

Due to its planned nature, the city has a drastically different feel to it than many other South American cities. The towers of the Alta Vista district recall Barranquilla, and many of the residential neighborhoods have architecture and landscaping that are similar to suburbs in the United States in the 1950s, including 'cookie cutter' homes, sidewalks, and patterned lawns. This is an artifact due to the presence in the 1960s and early 1970s of US Steel, an American company with iron mining operations in the region.[2] US Steel built housing for hundreds of its American expatriate workers and families, who lived in Puerto Ordaz and other communities until the nationalization of the Venezuelan steel industry forced the company and its workers to leave.

Guayana City is served by Manuel Carlos Piar Guayana Airport.

Economic activity

Many of Venezuela's prime industries are based in Puerto Ordaz. These include Alcasa, Venalum, Bauxilum, Carbonorca (primary aluminium manufacturers and anode suppliers for the aluminium industry), Ferrominera (iron ore processing), and Ternium Sidor (Orinoco Steelmaking). The country's main electricity producer, Edelca, and the regional development office, CVG (Corporación Venezolana de Guayana), are also located in Puerto Ordaz..

Port

The port of Puerto Ordaz in a combination of piers (muelles), all under the control of CVG, of which only one is considered for public use. The others are directly related to the CVG production companies in principal all aluminium related, approximately 9 piers in total. One of the most frequently used piers is Ferrominera at the mouth of the Caroni river. Another is Ternium Sidor (recently nationalised into a CVG company, and the only steel works) at mile 197.

Hydroelectric Centrals

In Puerto Ordaz is located the Electricity industry of Caroní (Edelca) which manage several of the hydroelectric centrals over the Caroní river: Macagua I and II and Caruachi, all of the 3 located on the urban side of Ciudad Guayana. Edelca also built and administers Guri (currently the world's 4th biggest dam, in terms of the capacity of hydroelectric generation) and gave origin to the Guri reservoir, the second biggest lake in Venezuela.

Puerto Ordaz City view from sky
Orinokia bridge

Transportation

Puerto Ordaz is crisscrossed from north to south and east to west by numerous avenues. Some of them are:

On December 3, 2006, the Orinokia bridge, which crosses the Orinoco river, was inaugurated.

The area is served by Manuel Carlos Piar Guayana Airport.

Recreation

In Puerto Ordaz the principal recreation centers are:

Colleges

Puerto Ordaz is also well known for having one of the best engineering schools in Latin America. The main universities are:

Regional hubs:

Puerto Ordaz is headquarters of colleges like:

Technical Institutes

Tourism

The Cachamay falls of the Caroní River

Inside the city both the Llovizna and Cachamay Parks are located displaying their picturesque waterfalls. Other local attractions are the Caroní Ecomuseum located at the Macagua Dam. Near the city from the Angosturita bridge to the San Félix port the union of the Caroní and Orinoco rivers can be seen; the different colors of the water of both rivers make a very distinct demarcation line. Taking Puerto Ordaz as a starting point, the Orinoco Delta can be visited as well as Canaima's National Park and Guri's reservoirs. Other points of interest are the colonial castles at the Orinoco riverside and the "Cerro del Elefante" (Elephant's hill) which can be reached in a 4x4 vehicle. The Castles of Guayana are located at the right side of the Orinoco River, about 35 kilometers from San Félix.

Hotels

History

The first explorations of Diego de Ordaz were organized in 1531. An expedition led by Juan González Sosa discovered previously unknown jungles and plains on the banks of the Orinoco River. In 1535, another expedition into the region was led by Lieutenant Alfonso Herrera. It was after the movements of conquest and colonization, when Antonio de Berrio Oruña founded Santo Tome de Guayana at the confluence of the Caroni and Orinoco, in the country of Carapana near the Indian village of Cachamay.

The city was founded multiple times in different places, due to the continuous attacks of pirates and conquerors which destroyed it as they went down the Orinoco River in search of El Dorado. In 1618, when he was near the old Guiana, an English expedition sent by Walter Raleigh sacked and destroyed the city entirely. In 1764, the residents were relocated to Angostura, now Ciudad Bolivar, due to the continuous attacks of English and Dutch pirates. The last foundation took place at its original site on July 2, 1961 and was called Ciudad Guayana. West of the city is the Matanzas Industrial Zone, the urban area of Puerto Ordaz in the middle east and San Felix.

For the design and city planning Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana requested the participation of the Center for Urban Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA). The large and extensive program of building highways and avenues, residential areas, schools, hospitals and recreational facilities, continues with the same intensity since its inception, ready to house 2.5 million people in 2020. Since 1961, the city has been known as the one of the fastest growing in the world.

Ciudad Guayana and the surrounding site have special interest to visitors. Within the city, the Caroni park consisting of parks Drizzle, Cachamay and Loefling, which are a representative sample of the majesty and beauty of the Rio Caroni. Other amusement park attractions include the Foundation and Paseo Malecon San Felix. For those interested in the basic industries of Venezuela some of these have a visitation schedule that could be found through their respective managements of Public Relations. Nearby, less than 100 kilometers away it is Ciudad Bolívar, the historic site of Bolivar state. On the other side of the river is the Mission of Caroni (Caroni ruins), the Castillos de Guayana and forest plantations.

The Puerto Ordaz area was built and planned by the Companies Orinoco Mining Company and the Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana to the mid-twentieth century.

The November 13, 2006 the Orinoco bridge, the second largest in the country, which facilitates communications Ciudad Guayana with the opposite bank of the Orinoco River in Anzoategui and Monagas states opened.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dydyński, Krzysztof, & Beech, Charlotte (2004). Venezuela, p. 293. Lonely Planet.
  2. ↑ http://www.randytrahan.com/ocov/gen_interest.htm
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