Dabajuro is a city and municipality in southwestern

Falcón State Falcón State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Coro. The state was named after Juan Crisóstomo Falcón. History Early history Present day Falcón State was first explored in 1499 by Juan de la Cosa and Amé ...

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 ...

with a population of 25,469 (c. 2005).

History

While a small agricultural village existed on the site, it was really in 1914 with the arrival of the oil companies in the Buchivacoa District that Dabajuro became a town.

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

drove a need for oil, and while a number of companies prospected for oil in the area, it was

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), 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 of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...

who developed the resource. However, by 1932 with the worldwide depression, Standard Oil was gone, and the local economy had collapsed. It was only with the renewed need for oil in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

that the oil companies returned. However, by 1960 the oil fields of

Lake Maracaibo Lake Maracaibo () is located in northwestern Venezuela, between the states of Zulia, Trujillo, and Mérida. While Maracaibo is commonly referred to as a lake, its current hydrological characteristics may better classify it as estuary and/or ...

had lured the oil companies away, and Dabajuro was again economically abandoned. It was only gradually after the completion of the Falcón-Zulia Highway from

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

to Coro, that the city began to grow again on a more stable basis.

Geography

Fauna, flora and vegetation

The municipality of Dabajuro lies in the Catatumbo Moist Forests ecoregion, and the major natural habitat type is

tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in la ...

.''The Nature Conservancy'' (2009) TNC terrestrial ecoregions

Based on: Olson, D. M. and E. Dinerstein. 2002. The Global 200: Priority ecoregions for global conservation. (PDF file) Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 89:125-126. The area of the municipality has seen a historical transformation from remote woodlands (predominant in 81.5% of the area) to populated rangelands (predominant in 63.0% of the area) between 1700 and 2000.Ellis, E. C., Klein Goldewijk, K., Siebert, S., Lightman, D., & Ramankutty, N. (2010). Anthropogenic transformation of the biomes, 1700 to 2000. ''Global Ecology and Biogeography'', ''19''(5), 589-606. Common birds include Black-crested Antshrike ('' Sakesphorus canadensis''), Rufous-browed Peppershrike ('' Cyclarhis gujanensis''), Straight-billed Woodcreeper ('' Xiphorhynchus picus''), White-whiskered Spinetail ('' Synallaxis candei''), Trinidad Euphonia ('' Euphonia trinitatis''), Scrub Greenlet ('' Hylophilus flavipes'').

Climate

Minimum monthly temperature in the Dabajuro municipality lies between 10.6 and 22.4 °C, while maximum temperature is between 21.7 and 31.1 °C. Total annual precipitation fluctuates between 802 and 1300 mm. Most rain falls between September and November, while the driest quarter comprises January to March.

References

External links

Official site of Dabajuro Municipality
in Spanish. Populated places in Falcón {{Venezuela-geo-stub