Caripito Venezuela
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Caripito is a city in the state of
Monagas Monagas State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Monagas State covers a total surface area of and, as of the 2011 census, had a population of 905,443. Monagas State is surrounded by Sucre State in the north, Anzoátegui State in the ...
,
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
. 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.


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 ...
. 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 was a corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller. The ...
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 ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
islands. In 1929, the Standard Oil Company began to build a storage yard and deep-water
pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...
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) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...
bound for
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
. The establishment of the Harbor Master's Office, independent from that of
Güiria Güiria is the capital city of Valdez Municipality in the Venezuelan States of Venezuela, state of Sucre (state), Sucre. Güiria was the place where the Spanish American wars of independence, military campaign for South American independence set ...
, 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 ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...
and
Nueva Esparta The Nueva Esparta State (in Spanish: ''Estado Nueva Esparta'', ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, Venezuela, Coche, and the lightly inhabited Cubagua. The state is located off the ...
as well as the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. In 1931 the
Standard Oil Company Standard Oil Company was a corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller. The ...
opened a local
oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...
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 (, ; 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 is also one of t ...
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 more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...
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 tech ...
s could arrive from Central America and the Caribbean. In 1936 Caripito International Airport was selected by
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...
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, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
until the expansion of the Amuay 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 contrasts with priv ...
and were managed by Lagoven, later by Corpoven and now by
PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (acronym PDVSA, , English language, 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 e ...
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

{{Authority control Cities in Monagas Populated places established in 1734