Tumeremo is a town in the state of
Bolívar in eastern
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 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
Sifontes Municipality, and the administrative center of asserting Venezuela's claim over the disputed
Guayana Essequiba region.
History
Its first settlers were Guayan Indians and Kamaracotos, coming from the savanna of the Divina Pastora and Tupuquen located to the left margin of the river
Yuruari. They fed on hunting, fishing, and agriculture. Tumeremo was founded on January 26,
1788
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The first edition of ''The Times'', previously ''The Daily Universal Register'', is published in London.
* January 2 – Georgia ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the fourth U.S ...
under the name of "Mission of Our Lady of Bethlehem of Tumeremo" by the Capuchin monks of Catalonia, among them: Fray Mariano de Perafita, Fray Bonaventura de Carrocera, Fray
Joaquín María de Martorell, Fray Ramón Pruna and Fray Tomas de Santa Eugenia. Tumeremo means "Painted Snake", in the dialect of the first Indians who inhabited those lands. The friars establish several missions and an agricultural emporium based on livestock and cotton cultivation.
During the Campaign of Guayana, General
Manuel Piar
Manuel Carlos María Francisco Piar Gómez (April 28, 1774 – October 16, 1817) was General-in-Chief of the army fighting Spain during the Venezuelan War of Independence.
Heritage and early life
The son of Fernando Alonso Piar y Lottyn, a Spani ...
fought against the realists to seize the missions of Spain. After releasing Tumeremo, the Spanish survivors were imprisoned and sentenced to death. From there, the city was a strategic site and barracks for the patriot soldiers commanded by Simón Bolívar. From 1830 many indigenous and other populations began to emerge around Tumeremo.
In
1894
Events January
* January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire.
* January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States.
* Ja ...
, a group of British settlers who came from
British Guiana
British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana.
The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...
tried to establish themselves in what is now
Sifontes Municipality. General Domingo Antonio Sifontes claimed the area on 2 March 1894 near
El Dorado
El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions � ...
, where Venezuela established a military position. After expelling the settlers from the area, Sifontes became a local hero to Venezuelans in the area.
Climate
Tumeremo has a
tropical monsoon climate
An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Am'') marked by relatively consistent temperatures throughout the year and distinct wet and dry seasons. Tumeremo has a
wet season
The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...
from May to August, while February to April are relatively dry.
See also
*
Tumeremo massacre
References
Populated places in Bolívar (state)
{{BolívarVE-geo-stub