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Caripito is a city in the state of
Monagas ) , anthem = '' Himno del Estado Monagas'' , image_map = Monagas in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_m ...
,
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. It has around 50,000 inhabitants. It is the third largest city in the state, after
Maturín Maturín () is a city in Venezuela, the capital of the Venezuelan state of Monagas and a centre for instrumental exploration and development of the petroleum industry in Venezuela. The metropolitan area of Maturín has a population of 401,384 inha ...
and
Punta de Mata Punta de Mata is the municipal capital of the municipality of Ezequiel Zamora in the state of Monagas in Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a c ...
.


History

Caripito is first recorded as a mission town, but the existence of this first settlement was short as it was destroyed by a major fire on 17 March 1783. Caripito has been known by a number of names, including La Palencia, San Juan, Caripe Horno, and finally Caripito, as a diminutive of the nearby
Caripe Caripe is a town in Caripe Municipality in the mountainous north of the state of Monagas in eastern Venezuela. The official name of the town is Caripe del Guácharo 'Caripe of the Oilbird', referring to a colony of nocturnal birds which lives in a ...
. The town achieved political and territorial recognition when the Colón municipality was created in 1896. In 1910, the first school in Caripito was established. In 1924 the
Standard Oil Company Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
began oil exploration activities in the area and Caripito experienced a slight repopulation. When oil exploitation began in 1928 Caripito received an important boost to its urban development from the arrival of migrant labor, particularly from the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
islands. In 1929, the Standard Oil Company began to build a storage yard and deep-water
pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...
on the San Juan River and on October 15, 1930, the first tanker left the port with 20 thousand barrels of
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
bound for
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
. The establishment of the Harbor Master's Office, independent from that of
Güiria Güiria is the capital city of Valdez Municipality in the Venezuelan state of Sucre. Güiria was the place where the military campaign for South American independence set out to Upper Peru and also a starting point of the 1901 Venezuelan Civil W ...
, as well as the development of modern health services, hotels, power plants, transport links, military garrison, schools, an airport, and other civic amenities accelerated the development of the city, drawing migrant families from the states of
Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the List of cities in Bolivia, 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . T ...
and
Nueva Esparta The Nueva Esparta State (in Spanish: ''Estado Nueva Esparta'', ), is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, and the largely uninhabited Cubagua. The state has the smallest area, and is located off the northe ...
as well as the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
. In 1931 the
Standard Oil Company Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
opened a local
oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...
with an initial capacity of 26 thousand barrels per day, the second of its kind after the San Lorenzo refinery built in the State of
Zulia Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It ...
in 1917. In 1935 a Caripito terminal was opened on the San Juan River where
Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...
seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...
s could arrive from Central America and the Caribbean. In 1936 Caripito International Airport was selected by
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
as the second stop on her trip around the world, spending the night at the Standard Oil Company facilities. The event was widely publicized in the world press and the company provided logistical support to continue the flight through South America. In 1938, the
Creole Petroleum Corporation The Creole Petroleum Corporation was an American oil company. It was formed in 1920 to produce fields on Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. The company was acquired by Standard Oil of New Jersey in 1928. Until 1951 Creole Petroleum was the world's number ...
increased the capacity of Caripito to 70 thousand barrels per day, making it the most important refinery in
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
until the expansion of the
Amuay Amuay () is a fishing town located in the Paraguana Peninsula, in Falcón state, Venezuela. It is a natural bay, also has a fishing port and the bigger part of the Paraguana Refinery Complex ''(one of the largest oil refineries in the world - ) ...
and Cardón refineries was completed in the mid-1950s. Caripito became the capital of the under a decree of January 19, 1940, signed by Governor José María Isava on January 30. Between 1941 and 1961 the population of Caripito doubled as a result of intense economic activity, but by the mid-1970s a third of the population had emigrated due to decline in oil production. In 1976, Creole's assets were
nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
and were managed by Lagoven, later by Corpoven and now by
PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA, ) (English: Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil as well as exploration and production ...
in association with
Repsol Repsol S.A.
El Nuevo Herald, 2012-05-31
Originally an init ...
. After closing the refinery in 1976 and the oil terminal in 2002, attempts have been made to boost agricultural activity to take advantage of the fertile land.


Public and historic spaces

* Iglesia Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Church Sacred Heart of Jesus): It was built in 1936. * Monumento al Nazareno (Monument to the Nazarene): Built in 2005. It is an image of the Nazarene, 20 meters high.


References

{{reflist Cities in Monagas Populated places established in 1734