Puerto La Cruz | |||||||||
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City
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Coordinates: 10°12′0″N 64°38′0″W / 10.20000°N 64.63333°WCoordinates: 10°12′0″N 64°38′0″W / 10.20000°N 64.63333°W | |||||||||
Country | Venezuela | ||||||||
State | Anzoátegui | ||||||||
Municipality | Juan Antonio Sotillo Municipality | ||||||||
Founded | 1862 | ||||||||
Area | |||||||||
• Total | 244 km2 (94 sq mi) | ||||||||
Elevation | 10 m (30 ft) | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• Total | 454,312 | ||||||||
• Density | 1,900/km2 (4,800/sq mi) | ||||||||
Demonym(s) | Portocruzano/a | ||||||||
Time zone | UTC (UTC-4:30) | ||||||||
Postal code | 6023 | ||||||||
Area code | 0281 | ||||||||
Climate | BSh |
City
Puerto La Cruz (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpwerto la kɾus]) is a port city located in Anzoátegui State, in Venezuela. It is the seat of the Juan Antonio Sotillo Municipality. The city has road connections to the state capital, Barcelona, to Lecheria and to Guanta.
The city of Puerto La Cruz is located on the southern shore of the Caribbean. The elevation of the city varies between 767 and 64 metres (2,516 and 210 ft). The city position is at Latitude 10° 13' N and Longitude 64° 37' W. Typical temperatures vary between 25–28 °C (77–82 °F). Borders are represented by Mochima National Park, the North Eastern region, and the Coastal Mountains.
The history of this settlement began with the arrival of the Spanish to the northern coast of what would eventually become Venezuela.
In 1780, the Christian Mission of Pozuelos (English: small wells) was founded by indigenous natives.
On 9 April 1862, a group of 26 families from Margarita Island decided to settle in Pozuelos Bay. As time progressed, this settlement adopted the Virgen del Amparo (English: Virgin of Amparo) and the Holy Cross (Spanish: Santa Cruz) as their religious symbols, celebrating their patron saint on 8 November (Spanish: Dia de la Virgen del Amparo) and iconography on 3 May (Spanish: Dia de la Santa Cruz).
By 1868 the first church was built, and slowly the name of the town was changed to Puerto de la Santa Cruz (English: Port of the Holy Cross), later shortened to Puerto La Cruz.
Puerto La Cruz is home to Puerto La Cruz refinery, one of the largest oil refineries in the country, which, with its 200,000 barrels (32,000 m3) per day processing capacity, supplies the domestic market and exports to other Caribbean countries such as Cuba and the Antilles. Also, at 50 kilometres (31 mi), José Plant is one of the primary processing facilities of the largest Venezuelan oil company, PDVSA and is a major refining hub for the crude extracted in the states of Monagas and Anzoátegui.