Caracas

Caracas
Capital City
Santiago de León de Caracas
Top left:Plaza Francia del Caracas (Caracas Francia Square), Top right:City Municipality Office, Middle left:Paseo Los Procres, Middle right:Caracas Legislative Palace, Bottom:A panoramic view of Caracas, from El Avila National Park
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s): La Sultana del Ávila (The Avila's Sultana) La Sucursal del Cielo (Heaven's Branch on Earth)
Motto: Muy Noble y Leal Ciudad
Caracas
Coordinates: 10°30′N 66°55′W / 10.500°N 66.917°W / 10.500; -66.917Coordinates: 10°30′N 66°55′W / 10.500°N 66.917°W / 10.500; -66.917
Country	Venezuela
State	Capital District
Founded	25 July 1567
Founded by	Diego de Losada
Government
• Type	Mayor-council
• Body	Government of the Capital District / Mayorship of the Metropolitan District
• Chief of Government / Mayor	Daniel Aponte / Antonio Ledezma
Area
• Capital City	777.1 km2 (300.0 sq mi)
• Metro	4,715.1 km2 (1,820.5 sq mi)
Elevation	900 m (3,000 ft)
Highest elevation	1,400 m (4,600 ft)
Lowest elevation	870 m (2,850 ft)
Population (2011)
• Capital City	1,943,901
• Density	4,212.9/km2 (10,911/sq mi)
• Metro	2,923,959
• Metro density	1,123.4/km2 (2,910/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Caraquenian (Spanish: caraqueño (m), caraqueña (f))
Time zone	VST (UTC−04:00)
Postal codes	1000 - 1090, 1209
Area code	212
ISO 3166 code	VE-A
Website	Capital District Metropolitan District
The area and population figures are the sum of the figures of the five municipalities (listed above) that make up the Distrito Metropolitano.

Caracas (Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈɾakas]; locally: [kaˈɾaːkaʰ]), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital, the center of the Greater Caracas Area, and the largest city of Venezuela. Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range (Cordillera de la Costa). Terrain suitable for building lies between 760 and 910 m (2,490 and 2,990 ft) above sea level. The valley is close to the Caribbean Sea, separated from the coast by a steep 2,200-metre-high (7,200 ft) mountain range, Cerro El Ávila; to the south there are more hills and mountains.

The Metropolitan District of Caracas is made up of five municipalities: Libertador Municipality which is the only administrative division of the Venezuelan Capital District, and four other municipalities, which are within in Miranda State: Chacao, Baruta, Sucre, and El Hatillo. Libertador holds many of the government buildings and is the Capital District (Distrito Capital). The Distrito Capital had a population of 2,013,366 as of 2011^[update], while the Metropolitan District of Caracas was estimated at 3,273,863 as of 2013. The Metropolitan Region of Caracas has an estimated population of 5,243,301.