City South America
Maracaibo
Maracaibo is a big, hot city in Venezuela. It sits beside a huge lake!
Maracaibo is a city in Venezuela, the capital of Zulia State, on the narrow channel that joins Lake Maracaibo to the sea. Larousse calls it the country's second city. The 2011 census counted 1,898,770 people in Maracaibo together with its neighbor San Francisco.
Maracaibo, capital of Zulia State, Venezuela, lies on the narrows linking the Caribbean Sea with Lake Maracaibo (Larousse). The urban area of Maracaibo with San Francisco had 1,898,770 inhabitants at the census of 30 October 2011 (City Population, from Venezuela's Instituto Nacional de Estadística). Universalis describes it as the commercial and administrative center of western Venezuela, which grew fast after oil was found around the lake.
Photo: Vostrikov, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Maracaibo
Maracaibo is a city in Venezuela, in South America.
It is beside a giant lake called Lake Maracaibo.
Maracaibo is a city in Venezuela and the capital of Zulia State, says Larousse. It stands on the narrow channel, called the narrows, that joins Lake Maracaibo with the Caribbean Sea.
Larousse calls Maracaibo the country's second city. The 2011 census counted 1,898,770 people in Maracaibo together with its neighbor San Francisco, which City Population counts as one urban area.
Larousse: city of Venezuela, capital of Zulia State, on the narrows linking the Caribbean Sea (mer des Antilles) with Lake Maracaibo; 1,459,448 inhabitants (2011 census); 2,192,000 in the agglomeration (2010 estimate); the country's second city; a commercial, university and industrial center. City Population (Instituto Nacional de Estadística), urban parishes of Maracaibo including San Francisco: 890,653 (1981), 1,249,670 (1990), 1,571,885 (2001), 1,898,770 (30 October 2011); at the 2011 census second after Caracas (1,942,652). The two 2011 figures differ because they count different areas.
- Country
- Venezuela; capital of Zulia State (Larousse)
- People in Maracaibo with San Francisco (census 2011)
- 1,898,770
- Where
- on the narrows that link the Caribbean Sea with Lake Maracaibo (Larousse)
- Rank
- the country's second city (Larousse)
City lights, a theater and a lakeside park
Look at all the lights! This is Maracaibo at night.
The city has a theater, art museums and a park by the lake.
This photo of Maracaibo at night was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons in March 2008 by Vostrikov. Rows of tall buildings with lit windows stand behind dark trees, with many glowing street lamps and thin towers topped with red lights.
On Wikidata, the Baralt Theatre and the Centro de Arte Lía Bermúdez, an art center, are both about 3 kilometers east-northeast of the city's point. The Zulian Museum of Contemporary Art is about 5 kilometers north, and the Vereda del Lago, a park, about 5 kilometers east-northeast.
Commons: File:MaracaiboNocturna.jpg, own work by Vostrikov, uploaded 28 March 2008; no description or date given; categories 'Buildings in Maracaibo' and 'Night in Maracaibo' (set by another user in 2012); GFDL / CC BY-SA 3.0 / FAL. Wikidata, from the city point (Q171632): Centro de Arte Lía Bermúdez (Q5761996) 2.68 km ENE; Baralt Theatre (Q3826139) 2.93 km ENE; Zulian Museum of Contemporary Art (Q6033872) 4.83 km N; Vereda del Lago (Q32039399), a park, 5.05 km ENE.
- In the photo
- Maracaibo at night (the file's name, 'MaracaiboNocturna'; uploaded in March 2008)
- Baralt Theatre
- about 2.9 km east-northeast of the city's point (Wikidata)
- Vereda del Lago
- a park about 5 km east-northeast of the city's point (Wikidata)
From lake port to oil city
Long ago, boats carried coffee from Maracaibo.
Then people found oil near the lake, and the city grew and grew.
Universalis says Maracaibo was founded in 1574 (Wikidata gives an earlier year, 1529). For a long time it was the port for farm goods from the lands around the lake and even from eastern Colombia, above all coffee. It grew slowly: only 50,000 people at the start of the 20th century.
Oil fields along the lake's western shore were worked from 1914. After that, says Universalis, Maracaibo grew very fast: 130,000 people in 1941 and 425,000 in 1961.
Universalis (article by Bernard Marchand): founded in 1574 (Wikidata P571: 1529, a disagreement left open here); outlet for the farm products of the lands around the lake and even of eastern Colombia: coffee above all, grain, fodder and livestock products; a sand bar closing the lake forced goods to be moved between ships, which profited the city; slow growth until 1920 (only 50,000 inhabitants at the start of the 20th century); the oil fields along the lake's western shore, worked from 1914, profited the city indirectly; growth then among the fastest in the world: 130,000 (1941), 425,000 (1961), 1,609,000 at the 2001 census (City Population gives 1,571,885 for the urban parishes). The bar has since been dredged, large ships enter the lake and most oil travels by pipeline.
- Founded
- 1574, says Universalis (Wikidata gives 1529)
- Oil
- oil fields along the lake's western shore worked from 1914 (Universalis)
- Growth
- 130,000 people in 1941 and 425,000 in 1961 (Universalis)
A bridge, ships and a metro
A very long bridge crosses the water near Maracaibo.
Big ships sail into the lake, and a train called the metro carries people around the city.
Larousse says a road bridge spans the narrows between the lake and the sea, and Universalis calls it a gigantic bridge that opened up access to the city. Wikidata dates the bridge to 1962 and places it about 9 kilometers southeast of the city's point.
The sand bar that once closed the lake has been dredged, says Universalis, so large ships can sail in. Inside the city, the Maracaibo Metro is a light rail system.
Larousse (lac de Maracaibo): the lake is linked to the Gulf of Venezuela by narrows spanned by a road bridge. Universalis: the city, west of the narrows, was opened up by a gigantic bridge over the lake; the bar has been dredged, large ships enter the lake, oil is carried largely by pipeline. Wikidata: the bridge (Q317207), inception 1962, 9.07 km SE of the city point; Maracaibo Metro (Q1940526), a light rail system, point 1.36 km WSW.
- Bridge
- a road bridge spans the narrows (Larousse); built in 1962 (Wikidata)
- Ships
- the sand bar has been dredged, so large ships enter the lake (Universalis)
- Maracaibo Metro
- a light rail system (Wikidata)
Hot all year, with a rainy autumn
Maracaibo is hot every month of the year!
Very little rain falls from January to March.
The World Meteorological Organization's averages for Maracaibo, for 1961 to 1990, show daytime highs between 34 °C and 36 °C in every month, and nights of about 21 °C to 24 °C. April is the hottest, with highs of about 36 °C.
About 580 millimeters of rain fall in a year, on about 77 days. October is the wettest month, with 114.4 millimeters, while February has only 2.7.
WMO World Weather Information Service, Maracaibo (Instituto Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología, INAMEH; period 1961-1990 as given in the data; rain days at least 1 mm): mean daily maximum 34.0 °C (Nov) to 36.1 °C (Apr); mean daily minimum 21.2 °C (Jan) to 23.9 °C (Jul). Precipitation 2.7 mm (Feb) to 114.4 mm (Oct); sum 580.4 mm; 1 (Jan-Mar) to 13 (Oct) rain days, 77 a year.
- January, average daily high and low (WMO, Maracaibo, 1961–1990)
- 34.6 °C and 21.2 °C
- April, average daily high and low (same table)
- 36.1 °C and 23.8 °C
- Rain in a year (twelve months added up)
- about 580 mm, on about 77 days
Oil, trade and coffee
Lots of oil comes from the land and water around Lake Maracaibo.
People in Maracaibo also roast coffee and make food.
Larousse calls Lake Maracaibo Venezuela's leading oil region, and Maracaibo a center of trade, study and industry, with oil refining, chemicals, food and shipbuilding.
Universalis says the many people who live from oil on the lake's eastern shore made Maracaibo the great trading and government center of western Venezuela. Food industries grew there too: breweries, coffee roasting and slaughterhouses. After oil, raising livestock is the area's second resource.
Larousse: the lake is the country's leading oil region; the city a commercial, university and industrial center (oil refinery, chemicals, food, shipbuilding). Universalis: oil did not profit the city directly, but the many people living from oil on the lake's eastern shore made Maracaibo the great commercial and administrative center of western Venezuela; food industries grew on that role (breweries, coffee roasting, slaughterhouses); after oil, livestock is the basin's second resource; Andean coffee still passes through Maracaibo, but its role is now secondary. Neither entry is dated, so the lists may describe an earlier period.
- Lake Maracaibo
- the country's leading oil region (Larousse)
- Work
- trade, a university and industry: oil refining, chemicals, food and shipbuilding (Larousse)
- Food industries
- coffee roasting and other food industries (Universalis)
Maracaibo on the map
Find Venezuela on the globe, at the top of South America. Maracaibo is in its far west, by a big lake.
Maracaibo lies at about 10.63° north and 71.63° west, in the west of Venezuela, on the narrows between Lake Maracaibo and the sea.
Larousse calls the lake a vast lagoon covering about 13,000 square kilometers, joined to the Gulf of Venezuela by the narrows. Universalis says the city stands on the west side of the narrows.
Maracaibo lies at about 10.63° N, 71.63° W (Wikidata point of Maracaibo, Q171632). Larousse: Lake Maracaibo, a vast lagoon of about 13,000 km², linked to the Gulf of Venezuela by narrows spanned by a road bridge. Universalis: the city lies west of the narrows; the relief makes the products of the whole basin, the richest Venezuelan region, converge on the port.
- Latitude
- about 10.63° north
- Longitude
- about 71.63° west
- Lake Maracaibo
- a vast lagoon of about 13,000 km² (Larousse)
Amazing facts
-
Lake Maracaibo is so big, it is joined to the sea!
Larousse calls Lake Maracaibo a vast lagoon of about 13,000 square kilometers, joined to the Gulf of Venezuela by narrow waters.
Larousse: a vast lagoon of about 13,000 km², linked to the Gulf of Venezuela by narrows spanned by a road bridge.
-
In Maracaibo, even January days are very hot!
In the WMO averages for 1961 to 1990, January days in Maracaibo reach about 34.6 °C.
WMO, Maracaibo, 1961–1990: mean daily maximum 34.6 °C in January and 36.1 °C in April.
-
Maracaibo once grew into one of the fastest-growing cities in the world!
Universalis says that after the oil fields opened, Maracaibo's growth became one of the fastest in the world: from 130,000 people in 1941 to 425,000 in 1961.
Universalis: growth among the world's fastest after oil: 130,000 (1941), 425,000 (1961).
Words to know
- narrows
- a narrow stretch of water that joins two larger bodies of water
- lagoon
- a body of water partly cut off from the sea
- oil field
- an area where oil is found under the ground and pumped out
- refinery
- a factory that cleans and changes oil into fuels and other products
- light rail
- a train system with small, light trains that run in a city
- census
- an official count of all the people living in a place
Discovery challenge
-
Maracaibo is a city in which country?
Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia State, is in which country?
Maracaibo, on the narrows of the lake of the same name, is in which country?
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Sweden
Show the answer
Venezuela
Venezuela!
Venezuela.
Venezuela.
-
What big water is beside Maracaibo?
Maracaibo stands on the narrows of which lake?
Which lagoon of about 13,000 km² does Maracaibo stand beside?
- Lake Maracaibo
- Lake Victoria
- Lake Baikal
Show the answer
Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo!
Lake Maracaibo.
Lake Maracaibo.
-
What did people find near the lake that made Maracaibo grow?
Which resource, worked from 1914, made Maracaibo grow fast?
Which resource does Larousse say makes the lake the country's leading region?
- Oil
- Gold
- Ice
Show the answer
Oil
Oil!
Oil, from fields along the lake's western shore.
Oil: Larousse calls the lake the country's leading oil region.
-
Which month brings the most rain to Maracaibo?
In the 1961–1990 averages, which is Maracaibo's wettest month?
Which month has the highest mean precipitation in the WMO 1961–1990 normals for Maracaibo?
- October
- February
- July
Show the answer
October
October!
October, with 114.4 millimeters.
October, 114.4 mm.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Maracaibo on the narrows of Lake Maracaibo in western Venezuela.
- Describe how finding oil changed the size of a city.
- Explain what a lagoon, narrows and an oil refinery are.
- Read a climate table for a city that is hot all year.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might a city grow very fast after oil is found nearby?
- How would a long bridge change life for people on both sides of the water?
- How would you stay cool in a city where it is hot every month?
Try at home or in class
- Growth chart: draw bars for 130,000 (1941), 425,000 (1961) and 1,898,770 (2011) and compare them.
- Lake map: find Lake Maracaibo on a map and trace the narrows that join it to the sea.
- Rain bars: draw a bar for each month's rain in Maracaibo and find the wettest and driest months.
Key vocabulary: narrows, lagoon, oil field, refinery, light rail, census
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Maracaibo , Larousse encyclopédie
- lac de Maracaibo , Larousse encyclopédie
- MARACAIBO , Encyclopædia Universalis
- Venezuela: States, Major Cities & Towns , City Population (Thomas Brinkhoff), from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística
- Maracaibo: climatological information (1961–1990) , World Meteorological Organization, World Weather Information Service
- File:MaracaiboNocturna.jpg (Vostrikov) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.