Rubio is a town 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 ...

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Táchira Táchira State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal, Táchira, San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,9 ...

. Founded in 1794 by Gervasio Rubio, this town is the

shire town A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in ...

of the Junín Municipality and, according to the 2001 Venezuelan

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the municipality has a population of 68,869.http://www.tachira.gov.ve/paginaweb/tachira/estadisticas/Estadisticas_Municipios/junin.pdf Rubio is one of the largest towns in the state of Táchira. Its importance derives from its coffee production and the nearby commerce that exists with Colombia. Venezuela's former president,

Carlos Andrés Pérez Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez (27 October 1922 – 25 December 2010) also known as CAP and often referred to as ''Venezuelan Spanish#Some examples of Spanish words common in Venezuela.2C including some native Venezuelanisms .28slang.29, El ...

, was also born in Rubio. Rubio has beautiful natural tunnels called La Cueva de los Miagros. There are some rivers and waterfalls on the outskirts of town. The town has many bridges especially in Old Rubio. For this reason it is called "Ciudad Pontalida" or "City of Bridges." Rubio is located in the west of Estado Táchira and is a 40-minute drive from San Cristóbal, the capital of Táchira.

History

Rubio was founded by Gervasio Rubio in 1794. It was then the capital of the Táchira State, before the capital was moved to San Cristóbal. Rubio is sometimes called "La Ciudad Pontalida" ("The City of Bridges") and housed Christiansen Academy, an international school. The city's economy was once based on coffee production, and today it depends on the tertiary sector and some local agricultural production. The first oil exploration in Venezuela began in 1883 in La Petrolia by the "Compañía Nacional Minera Petrolía del Táchira," and the first well exploited was named Salvador. Due to its numerous hospitals and bank offices, as well as numerous educational institutions, it is known as the educational city of Venezuela. A notable tourist attraction is the neo-Gothic Church of Santa Bárbara, featuring locally made clay bricks.

Demographics

The Junín Municipality, according to the 2001 Venezuelan census, has a population of 68,869 (up from 53,981 in 1990). This amounts to 6.9% of Táchira's population. The municipality's population density is 566.2 people per square mile (218.63/km²).

Government

Rubio is the

of the Junín Municipality in Táchira. The mayor of the Junín Municipality is Angel Marquez Elected in 2017 after winning the elections against Jobel Sandoval at the end of 2017 The economy of the city is based on coffee production. The first exploitation of oil in Venezuela (1883) was in La Petrolia by the company "Compañia Nacional Minera Petrolía del Táchira" and the first well was called "Salvador" ("Savior").

Sites of interest

Religious buildings

*Catedral de Santa Bárbara de Rubio

Squares and parks

*Plaza Simón Bolívar *Parque la Petrolia *Plaza Urdaneta *Plaza Gervasio Rubio

Notable people

, President of Venezuela (1974-1979) and (1989-1993). *

Leonardo Ruiz Pineda Leonardo Ruiz Pineda (28 September 1916 – 21 October 1952) was a Venezuelan lawyer and politician, member and one of the founders of the party Acción Democrática (AD), of which was Secretary General and leader of the clandestine resistance ...

, Political Leader in Venezuela Founder of AD *

Carlos Zapata Carlos Zapata (born 1961 in Rubio, Venezuela) is an American architect, with his office headquartered in New York City. Zapata is known for his work on the Bitexco Financial Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, the Cooper Square Hotel (now the Standar ...

, Architect. * Konrad Bernheimer, Art Dealer and Collector * Roberto Giusti, Journalist and Author

References

External links

junin-tachira.gob.ve

More information on the Junín Municipality
* {{Authority control Cities in Táchira Populated places established in 1794 1794 establishments in the Spanish Empire Rubio, Venezuela