Jesús Enrique Lossada is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the metropolitan area of

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 ...

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 ...

's second largest city. Jesús Enrique Lossada covers an area of and recorded a population of 118,756 in the 2011 Venezuelan census. It is named after (1892–1948), a distinguished lawyer, politician, professor, and writer from Maracaibo.

Geography

Jesús Enrique Lossada lies northwest 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 ...

in the

Maracaibo Basin The Maracaibo Basin, also known as Lake Maracaibo natural region, Lake Maracaibo depression or Lake Maracaibo Lowlands, is a foreland basin and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, found in the northwestern corner of Venezuela in South A ...

. The municipality borders the municipalities of

Mara Mara or MARA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Mara (''Doctor Who''), an evil being in two ''Doctor Who'' serials * Mara (She-Ra), fictional characters from the ''She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'' and ''The New Advent ...

to the north, Maracaibo and

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

to the east, La Cañada de Urdaneta to the southeast, and

Rosario de Perijá Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the country after Buenos Aires and Cordoba. W ...

to the southwest. To the west it borders the Colombian

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Cesar Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesar ...

and

La Guajira La Guajira () is a departments of Colombia, department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The ca ...

. The relief in the eastern part of the municipality is flat, while in the west it elevates to form the mountains of the

Serranía del Perijá The Serranía del Perijá, Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch ( Cordillera Oriental), in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela, ending further north in the ...

on the Colombia–Venezuela border. The western highlands are forested, while the eastern lowlands have been largely converted to agricultural land. The Guasare and Socuy rivers originate in the western highlands and flow northeastward into Mara Municipality, where they meet to form the Limón River. The

Palmar River The Palmar River () is a river of Venezuela. It drains into Lake Maracaibo. The Palmar River rises in the Serranía del Perijá. In its lower reaches it flows through an area of the Catatumbo moist forests ecoregion. It then flows through the Mar ...

, on which the Tres Ríos Reservoir is located, forms the municipal border between Jesús Enrique Lossada and Rosario de Perijá. The wet season in Jesús Enrique Lossada lasts from May to November. Rainfall increases from north to south and from east to west in the municipality, varying from annually. The average annual temperature is .

History

Ranches were first established in the late eighteenth century in what is now the territory of Jesús Enrique Lossada.

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

struck oil at La Paz in 1922 and La Concepción in 1924, and operated the oilfields there until the 1960s. Jesús Enrique Lossada was part of the former Maracaibo District until 21 June 1989, when it and Maracaibo were separated, each becoming independent municipalities.

Government

The following people have served as mayor (''alcalde'') of Jesús Enrique Lossada: *Pedro Aldana, 1989–1995 *Mario Urdaneta, 1995–2008, 2013–2017 *Rosiris Orozco, 2008–2013 *Júnior Mujica, 2017–2021

Subdivisions

Jesús Enrique Lossada is divided into four ''

parroquia (, , pl. ; , pl. ''parroquies'') or ''Parròquia'' (, pl. ''parròquies'') is a term equivalent to the English parish and is used in Andorra, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and some parts of northwestern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, ...

s'', of which La Concepción serves as the capital of the municipality.

Economy

Jesús Enrique Lossada's economy is primarily based on agriculture. Major crops include corn, cassava, tomatoes, bananas, and other fruits. In particular it is one of the largest producers of grapes in Zulia. Livestock produced in the municipality include cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and poultry.

Infrastructure

Local roads connect Jesús Enrique Lossada with its neighbouring municipalities. Troncal 6 highway passes through the southeastern corner of the municipality as it runs between Villa del Rosario in the southwest and San Francisco in the east. The Tres Ríos Reservoir is located at the confluence of the Palmar, Lajas and Caño Pescado rivers on the border between Jesús Enrique Lossada and Rosario de Perijá. Built in 2006, the dam has a capacity of and an effective height of . It supplies water for irrigation and household consumption. Jesús Enrique Lossada does not have an extensive water distribution system and water is delivered by truck to a majority of households. There is no sewer system in the municipality. The two hospitals in the municipality are both located in La Concepción.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of Zulia 1989 establishments in Venezuela States and territories established in 1989