Spanish colonization

Populated mainly by groups of Timote, Cuica and Chibcha origin and as the Machirí, Umuquena and Táriba, the territory was extensively colonized in the sixteenth century.

With the foundation of San Cristóbal in 1561 by Captain Juan Maldonado Ordoñez y Villaquirán and La Grita in 1576 by Francisco de Cáceres, the agricultural exploitation of the area began, giving rise to the creation of new settlements. Since its foundation in 1576, La Grita was the capital of the Province of La Grita, so the importance of this city was primitive in the region until the arrival of European trading companies to the state, which settled mainly in the more accessible and better communicated San Cristóbal.

In 1781 Juan Jose Garcia de Hevia led the Insurrection of the Communards of Los Andes, an anti-colonial revolutionary movement that sought to liberate Venezuela from the colonialism of the Spanish Empire, under the search for tax relief.

During the Venezuelan War of Independence, Simon Bolivar invaded the country through the Táchira in his Admirable Campaign.

18th and 19th centuries

Despite the progressive population growth of the region, its importance as Venezuela's main coffee producer for over two hundred years and the arrival of important European trading houses in the 19th century, the state remained relatively isolated from the rest of the country, with greater cultural influence received from Colombia for many years.

German attic style heritage house built between 1884 and 1888 in San Cristóbal, Táchira State

In a country that now depends on an economy based on oil income, the Táchira was privileged to have the first oil wells in Venezuela. At the end of the 19th century the national oil industry was born in the place now called La Petrolia.

On March 11, 1856, by decree of the Sovereign Congress of the Republic, the Province of Táchira was created, formed with the cantons of San Cristóbal, San Antonio, Lobatera and La Grita. It was decided that the capital of the Province would be San Cristóbal and there the headquarters of all the organs of the Provincial Government were established, with a general population of 42,731 inhabitants. The decree of the congress with date 11 of March was sanctioned by the National Executive day 14. General Jose Tadeo Monagas governed in the Country, who named to exercise the position of the Province, to the citizen Pascual Casanova, assuming the position of Governor of the State Táchira, this civil employee was named May 9 being sworn in its position the 1 of July 1856.

In 1881, during the second presidency of General Antonio Guzmán Blanco, the National Constitution was reformed, establishing that the Republic is composed of nine great States; one of them was the great State of the Andes, with the sections Trujillo, Mérida and Táchira, each section being divided into districts. The executive power of the Táchira section was exercised by General Rosendo Medina, who was replaced by General Francisco Alvarado, who was short-lived because President Guzmán Blanco imposed his delegate in the Táchira, General Marcos Rodríguez. The arrival of General Ignacio Andrade to the presidency of the Republic favored the State, since the first National Magistrate to weaken the political-administrative structures of former President Joaquín Crespo, influenced the Congress to achieve a new territorial division.

In 1895, the Gran Ferrocarril del Táchira was inaugurated, its construction began in 1893 with an extension of 105 kilometers between La Fría and Encontrados to mobilize the great crops of Tachira coffee.

Marcos Pérez Jiménez in 1952

In 1899, Cipriano Castro began the invasion of Venezuela from the State of Táchira with an armed group that confronted the regime of Ignacio Andrade. The successive presidents of Venezuela of Tachira origin initiate a process of greater integration of the state to the country with the construction of better communication routes and the implementation of control measures on the agricultural trade of the state that was almost totally exported. Táchira State plays an important role in the early parts of Venezuelan history. This state produced more presidents than any other state during the 20th century: Cipriano Castro, Juan Vicente Gómez, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, Isaías Medina Angarita, Eleazar López Contreras, Carlos Andrés Pérez, and Ramón José Velásquez.

At the end of the 19th century, the people of Táchira State were tired of being left out of the main country's decisions. Consequently, a group of men decided to start a revolution called the "Revolución Restauradora" (The Restorative Revolution). The idea was to take power and enhance the importance of the Andean Region in the country. It was led by Cipriano Castro and was successful.

Until the start of the 20th century, it was highly difficult traveling between Táchira State and others and even within the state itself. This condition led to cultural differences between the people of Táchira and those from the rest of Venezuela. The former were more influenced by Colombian culture, a more accessible region through Norte de Santander province.

Territorial History

Táchira as part of the Province of Mérida in 1840

• In 1856 it was part of the Province of Táchira within the territories of La Grita, Lobatera, San Antonio and San Cristóbal.
• In 1863 it acquired the category of State, a fact that was ratified in 1864 when it became part, as an independent state, of the United States of Venezuela.
• Between 1867 and 1868 it was part of the State of Zulia.
• In 1881, when the country was divided into 9 states, it became part, together with Guzmán (Mérida) and Trujillo, of the Great State of Los Andes.
• In 1899, the State of Los Andes was dissolved and Táchira recovered its status as an independent State, which it maintains to this day.
• It has remained a state since 1899, although like other states in Venezuela it did not achieve full autonomy until the early 1990s.

Relief

Its territory has an area of 11,100 km2, where the Andean physiographic character predominates, with heights above 2,000 m. The mountainous relief is the southern continuation of the Merida mountain range, which penetrates from the north in a southwesterly direction, exceeding 4,000 m in the La Negra moor.

Mountain formations, El Tamá National Park, Táchira State

In the extreme southwest, the Táchira depression was formed, which includes the tectonic trench through which the river of the same name runs and the entire relatively low area located between this trench and the valleys of the Lobaterita, the Torbes Medio and the Quinimarí Medio. The depression of the Torbes River separates the main range of the Mérida Range from the Tamá Range. During the Tertiary period, the uplifts of failed blocks formed deep valleys like those of the Uribante and Torbes rivers, with very steep slopes. In addition, there are relatively open basins with gently sloping terrain (San Cristóbal-Táriba-Rubio). The northern slopes come into contact with the lowlands located south of Lake Maracaibo, with large marshy areas, while the southeastern sector, from the eastern slope of the Uribante branch, is a transition zone between the piedmont (the lowlands of the mountainous formation) and the western high plains.

Climate

The climate presents great variations, mainly due to the modifications by the height, in populations of the route to the plain, in the piedmont (El Piñal, San Joaquin de Navay among others), can reach temperatures of 30 °C like in the Pan-American route (La Fría, Coloncito). In the capital, San Cristóbal, the average daytime temperature is 24 °C and the nighttime temperature is 18 °C. However, in cities like Pregonero, El Cobre, La Grita and others located at higher altitudes, the temperature is considerably lower (up to 10 °C).

Vegetation

Juan Pablo Peñaloza National Park

The mountain vegetation includes specimens such as the Lasso pine and eucalyptus. The apamates and the creole cedar are abundant. Mangos, guamas, pomarrosas, guavas and other fruit trees are common in most of the state.

Hydrography

The hydrography is varied, there are several rivers of considerable course; the Torbes river, the Caparo river, the Uribante and the Doradas rivers among others, there are also some lakes and reservoirs, like the Uribante reservoir, the Caparo reservoir, the Garcia lagoon, the Rosal lagoon, the Ríobobo lagoon, among others.

General Juan Pablo Peñaloza National Park, Táchira, State

Laguna Grande

Extreme geographical landmarks

Far North, confluence of the Rio Grande with the Rio Escalante (Pan-American); Far South, confluence of the Rio Burgua with the Los Pensamientos stream (Fernández Feo); Far East, confluence of the Rio Doradas (Cauce Viejo) with the Rio Caparo (Libertador); Far West, eastern bank of the Rio Táchira in front of the Cerrito, village Sabana Larga (Pedro María Ureña). Distance between the extreme points of the State: north-south, 147.88 km; east-west: 129.03 km.

Geology

The Tachira Andes were formed during the Eocene period (between 56 million and 40 million years ago approximately), when the Nazca tectonic plate and the Caribbean plate began to slowly slide under the South American plate, raising older formations and bending the sedimentary and igneous rocks that form today's mountains (several of the highest peaks and moors in the State of Tachira are from the Phanerozoic eon, from the Precambrian period, about 539 million years ago).^[7]

The tectonic forces generated by this collision created: the shapes of the highest mountains and peaks (El Pico El Púlpito, 3,912 m, in the northeastern end, and Cerro El Cobre, 3,612 m, in the southwestern end. Both are known as 'The Guardian Pillars of the Tachira'); a tectonic depression (known as the Tachira Depression, from the Pliocene); intramountain areas surrounded by higher ground, known as valleys (from the Pleistocene era). These are where the largest towns and cities are located); and the plains or lowlands of the north - lakes or the lake - and the south of the state - river plains - (areas of piedmont formed between the Miocene and Pliocene).

• Highest point: El Púlpito Peak (3,912 m, Páramo de Batallón Mountain Range, Jáuregui and Uribante Municipalities).

Executive power

It is composed of the Governor of Táchira and a group of state secretaries. The Governor is elected by the people by direct and secret vote for a period of four years and has the possibility of re-election for equal periods and a recall referendum in the middle of his term, being in charge of the state administration.

The State chooses its own Legislative Council as well as a Governor who is the Chief Executive of the State and is elected every 4 years; as of 1989, before that year he was elected by the President in office, his last Governor appointed by President Carlos Andrés Peréz, was Governor Jorge Enrique Romero, since 1989 he is chosen under direct elections, the current Governor Laidy Gómez is elected for the period (2017 - 2021) with the support of her party AD and other political organizations related to the Venezuelan opposition.

Legislative Council

The State Legislature is the responsibility of the unicameral Legislative Council of the State of Táchira, elected by the people by direct and secret vote every (4) four years, and they may be re-elected for new consecutive periods, under a system of proportional representation of the population of the State and its municipalities. The State has 13 legislators.

Táchira State Police Logo

State Police

The state of Táchira, in accordance with Article 164 of the Venezuelan Constitution and Article 45 of the Constitution of the state of Táchira of 2014, has its own police force, called Politáchira, created in July 1960. Its functions are regulated by state and national laws, namely the Law of the Autonomous Institute of Police of the State of Táchira, the former; and the Organic Law of the Police Service, the latter. It reports to the Secretariat of State Security and is primarily responsible for regional security.

Like the other 23 federal entities of Venezuela, the State maintains control over own police force, which is supported and complemented by the National Police and the Venezuelan National Guard.

State Capital

The city of San Cristóbal is the capital of the state. It is an important economic pole for the country since it is located in the Colombian-Venezuelan border axis and, therefore, it is a commercial city where small and medium entrepreneurs develop important commercial transactions. It has a metropolitan population that exceeds 400,000 inhabitants. Its topography extends under a succession of river terraces and has an average temperature of 23 °C. It is at an altitude of 825 meters above sea level, which gives it a pleasant climate. San Cristóbal was founded on March 31, 1561, by the captain and advanced Juan Maldonado y Ordóñez, which makes it one of the oldest cities in Venezuela.

San Cristóbal, the state capital

Nowadays, the city of San Cristóbal is recognized by its wide academic and cultural activity. Its universities are recognized: Universidad de los Andes (Táchira nucleus), Universidad Nacional Experimental del Táchira (UNET) and Universidad Católica del Táchira (UCAT), among others, as well as for its San Sebastián International Fair.

Main towns

The San Cristóbal metropolitan area, made up of the municipalities of Andrés Bello, Cárdenas, Córdoba, Guásimos, Libertad, Independencia, Tórbes and San Cristóbal, will have around 263,7659 inhabitants in 2011, which represents the largest population concentration in the state.

According to the data projected by the INE for the year 2013 the main population centers are

Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles Church, in La Grita

• San Cristóbal: 263 765 inhabitants.
• Táriba: 97 356 inhabitants.
• Rubio: 95 041 inhabitants.
• San Antonio del Táchira: 69 661 inhabitants.
• San Juan de Colón: 69 387 inhabitants
• La Fría: 60 392 inhabitants.
• La Grita: 54 366 inhabitants.
• Ureña: 51 900 inhabitants.
• Palmira: 50 899 inhabitants.
• El Piñal: 50 417 inhabitants.

Race and ethnicity

According to the 2011 Census, the racial composition of the population was:^[8]

Ethnography

The majority of the state's population is white, European contribution is notably higher than that of Indigenous and African Venezuelans. It is one of the Venezuelan states with the highest proportion of whites, mostly of Southern European descent.

Public Universities

• National Experimental University of Táchira - UNET
• University of Los Andes, Táchira Nucleus - ULA
• Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador, Instituto Pedagógico Rural "Gervasio Rubio" - UPEL
• University Institute of Agro-Industrial Technology - IUTAI
• Universidad Nacional Experimental Politécnica de la Fuerza Armada, Núcleo Táchira - UNEFA
• National Open University, Centro Local San Cristóbal - UNA
• Simón Rodríguez National Experimental University, La Grita Center
• Degree in Nursing, Romulo Gallegos University
• Bolivarian University of Venezuela UBV Núcleo Táchira
• Manuela Saenz Polytechnic University of the Territory UPT
• National Experimental Security University UNES

Private Universities

• Bicentennial University of Aragua, San Táchira Agreement
• Cecilio Acosta Catholic University, San Cristobal Extension - UNICA
• Catholic University of Táchira - UCAT
• Santiago Mariño Polytechnic University Institute, San Cristóbal Extension - IUPSM
• Monsignor de Talavera University College, San Cristóbal Campus - CUMT
• Antonio José de Sucre University Institute of Technology, San Cristóbal Extension - IUTAJS
• Border University Institute - IUFRONT
• University Institute of Industrial Technology - IUTI
• Gran Colombia University Institute - IUGC
• Jesús Enrique Lossada University Institute, San Cristóbal Extension - IUJEL
• Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo University Institute of Technology, San Cristóbal Extension - IUTEPAL
• International Center for Continuing Education - Caribbean International University Curaçao - CIDEC-

Important buildings

Some important buildings in the capital are:

Facade of the Old Vargas Hospital

• San Cristobal Civic Center
• Covered markets: (La Guayana, Metropolitano, Los Pequeños Comerciantes, La Ermita, Santa Teresa).
• "Genaro Mendez" Passenger Terminal"
• Hospital Central de San Cristóbal Dr. José María Vargas (HCSC)
• Sports facilities built for the 2005 Andes National Games, and 2007 Copa America: (Gymnastics Pavilion, indoor soccer stadiums, handball...)
• Metropolitan Baseball Stadium
• New Town Sports Complex.

Building heritage

• The Ateneo del Táchira or Old Reading Room
• Steinvorth House
• Tachira Anthropological Museum
• Civic Center
• Bridge Liberator
• Christ King Monument-Capacho
• Plaza Monumental de Toros de Pueblo Nuevo
• Bridge Liberator
• Bolivarian Lyceum "Simon Bolivar"
• National School of Dance (ENDANZA Táchira)
• Navy Lighthouse Monument

Natural heritage

Some natural heritages of the Táchira are:

El Chorrerón Waterfall

• Abra de Rio Frio natural monument.
• Chorro El Indio National Park.
• El Tamá National Park.
• Páramo El Zumbador.
• Juan Pablo Peñaloza National Park.
• Casa del Padre (Father's House)
• Thermal waters in Aguas Calientes Ureña
• Cavernas de la Loma del Viento-Casa de John Rivera

Print media

The state's newspapers are based in San Cristóbal, these are the Diario Católico and the Diario La Nación. In addition to those mentioned, there is the Diario de los Andes, originally from Trujillo state, which has its own editorial and circulation for Táchira.

Television

There are regional open-signal television channels:

Televisora Regional del Táchira (TRT), the oldest. TVCT Canal 21, a television plant with an open signal. Buena TV, the most recently created channel. As well as other community channels, such as Vida TV in Rubio and Montaña TV in Cordero. Similarly in Ureña there is a television station that covers the border, on both sides Intercanal Channel 10.

Currently the Colombian channels are transmitted as Channel 1, Citytv and Channel TRO for this state.

Radio

The radio is the most traditional means of communication in the state, the first receptions were made through the radio service of Venezuela in 1926. In 1933, Radio Táchira, with a small transmitter with a range of less than one kilometer, began to operate informally in the state capital.10 It was the first radio station in the region and one of the pioneers of radio in Venezuela; later, in 1935, it began its formal transmissions, La Voz del Táchira (called Radio Táchira since 1971). Among the most representative capital stations (in AM) are Ecos del Torbes (founded in 1947), which can currently be heard from anywhere in the world and has its own news website; there are also the stations Radio Táchira, Radio Noticias 1060 (formerly Ondas de América and Radio San Cristóbal (in operation since 1954) that belong to the same González Lovera radio circuit and Radio San Sebastián.

Radio station in Tachira State

In the interior of the state, radio has also reached an important development. Thus, as early as 1954 in the city of Rubio, the station Ecos de Junín began to broadcast, which was later taken to San Cristóbal. In 1965, Radio Frontera emerged in San Antonio del Táchira and in 1970 Radio Sucesos de Táriba and Radio el Sol de La Fría.

FM began to develop in the 1990s with the launch of station 102.1 Stereo, known today as La Mega 102.1FM (currently part of the Mega Circuit). Since then, FM has been widely developed both in the capital and in the interior of the state.