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Zulia State (, ; Wayuu language: Mma’ipakat Suuria) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,704,404, making it the most populous state in the country. Zulia is also notable for being one of the few states in Venezuela where voseo—the use of vos as the second-person singular pronoun—is widespread. The state is coterminous with the eponymous region of Zulia.
Zulia is located in northwestern Venezuela, bordering Lake Maracaibo, the largest body of its kind in Latin America. The lake's basin holds some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the Western Hemisphere.
Zulia is economically significant due to its oil and mineral exploitation, but it is also one of Venezuela's major agricultural regions. The state contributes notably in livestock, , fruits, meat, and milk.
Dalfinger led expeditions from Coro to Maracaibo between 1528 and 1529, and later along the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo to the mouth of the Motatán River. These were the first sustained contacts between Europeans and the Indigenous peoples of the lake region after its initial discovery. These daring ventures, which required considerable courage and effort, inspired the chronicler Juan de Castellanos, who included them in his epic poem Elegies of Illustrious Men of the Indies, completed around 1590.
During the Spanish colonial period, the territory was part of the Venezuela Province until 1676, when it was merged into the Province of Mérida del Espiritu Santo de la Grita, forming the Maracaibo Province (Espiritu Santo de Maracaibo). Dictionary of European Imperialism Venezuela Barinas supreme court Historic references
The territory that now forms the State of Zulia was established as the Province of Maracaibo in 1678 and, along with Mérida, became part of the Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada. The region was governed by the President of Royal Audiencia, whose official seat was in Santa Fé de Bogotá. Its jurisdiction extended — often in an inconsistent and impractical manner — over the provinces of Guayana Province, Cumaná, Maracaibo, and the islands of Margarita Island and Trinidad.
The administrative challenges posed by this scattered and diverse territory led the Court of Madrid to reorganize the structure. By Royal Decree on September 8, 1777, the Provinces of Maracaibo, Cumaná, Guayana and the Islands of Margarita and Trinidad were incorporated into the newly established Captaincy General of Venezuela (Caracas).
By Royal Decree on February 15, 1785, the city of Barinas and its dependencies, which had belonged to the Province of Maracaibo, were separated to form a new province. In exchange, the city of Trujillo, previously part of the Province of Caracas, was incorporated into the Province of Maracaibo. By 1789, the province encompassed the territory of the present-day Venezuelan states of Zulia, Apure, Barinas, Táchira, Mérida, and Trujillo.
In 1810, Mérida and Trujillo were separated as new provinces. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Province of Maracaibo included, in addition to its capital, the cities of Mérida, Trujillo, San Cristóbal, El Rosario de Perijá, and Sinamaica, along with their respective dependencies. After Mérida declared its independence, it was formally separated as its own province, while Maracaibo remained under Spanish control until January 18, 1821, when it joined Gran Colombia, proclaiming its independence from the Government of Madrid.
When Gran Colombia was dissolved in 1830, Maracaibo became a province composed of its own territory and that of Trujillo. One year later, the Trujillo Section was elevated to the status of a separate province, definitively separating from Maracaibo. With the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1830, the region was officially named Maracaibo Province and became one of the 11 original provinces of Venezuela.
In 1835, the territory of Maracaibo Province was divided into five cantons: Maracaibo, Perijá, Zulia, Gibraltar, and Altagracia. By decree on April 9, 1850, the parishes of La Ceiba and La Ceibita, previously belonging to Maracaibo, were transferred to the Province of Trujillo, giving the Andean province access to Lake Maracaibo.
The Venezuelan federal constitution of April 22, 1864, changed the designation of "province" to "state", creating the "State of Maracaibo" on the same territory previously held by the province. At the end of that same year, the state's legislature decided to rename it the "Sovereign State of Zulia", although this name lasted only a few months. Ernesto Garcia McGregor, Government of Zulia, History of the Zulia state. Archived from the original on September 11, 2008.
In 1874, the name was officially changed again to “Zulia State”. By federal government order in 1881, the state was merged with Falcón to form the combined Falcón-Zulia State. Its autonomous status was restored on April 1, 1890, when Congress passed legislation separating it from Falcón. The state underwent further territorial changes toward the end of the 19th century, until its current delimitation was finalized in 1899. Since then, it has been officially known as “Estado Zulia”.
The region also contains lagoons, swamps, and marshes in its lower-lying areas, particularly near the mouths of rivers and in wetland zones such as the Ciénagas del Catatumbo National Park. Zulia features both arid zones and areas of high humidity, reflecting its complex topography and climatic variation. It includes densely populated urban centers, such as Maracaibo, with over 10,000 inhabitants per square kilometer, and vast semi-populated territories like the Perijá mountains and the swamps of Juan Manuel, where population density drops below 10 inhabitants per square kilometer. Some parts of the state are economically prosperous, while others experience significant poverty and underdevelopment, due in part to uneven regional development.
The Lake Maracaibo Basin covers much of the northern and western parts of the state, from the Guajira Peninsula to the Perijá Mountains. The Venezuelan Andean states of Táchira, Mérida and Trujillo border Zulia at the southern end of Lake Maracaibo.
The name Venezuela is believed to have originated from Lake Maracaibo. When Spanish conquistadors sailed into the area, they encountered indigenous communities living in stilt-supported huts along the lake's shore. Reminded of Venice, they named the region "Little Venice" or Venezuela. (2025). 9780520255609, University of California Press. ISBN 9780520255609 The lake contains several islands, some of which are inhabited.
Near the mouth of the Catatumbo River, where it flows into Lake Maracaibo, occurs the famous Catatumbo lightning ( Relámpago del Catatumbo), which is represented on Zulia's flag and coat of arms by lightning bolts.
Due to its geographical location, Zulia possesses significant geostrategic and geopolitical advantages. The region's diverse geography, geology and hydrography offer a wide range of natural resources, supporting agriculture, livestock, forestry, mining, fishing and tourism. Its infrastructure, particularly lake and marine routes, facilitates international trade, making Zulia an important economic hub in western Venezuela.
Geomorphology, Zulia can be described as a depression centered around the Lake Maracaibo basin, surrounded by mountains and coastal lowlands. Its geological evolution is linked to the collision of the South American Plate with the Caribbean Plate and remnants of the Nazca Plate. Tectonic activity during the Upper Eocene and Miocene–Pliocene periods shaped the Andes and Perijá Mountains and defined the current landscape of the Maracaibo basin and surrounding plains.
These orogenic processes caused the Perijá Mountains to rise less dramatically than the Andes, resulting in more moderate topography.To the southeast, the Sierra de Ziruma extends as a pre-mountain range composed mainly of Tertiary rocks. According to the most recent classifications, Zulia comprises three primary physical-natural regions: the Perijá Mountain Range, the Corian Sierras, and the Maracaibo basin with its adjoining coastal plains near the Gulf of Venezuela.
The Perijá mountain range is considered a tectonic horst, beginning in the valley of the Intermedio River, extending and narrowing in a south–north direction until it reaches the Montes de Oca, beyond which lie the lowlands of the Guajira isthmus. The range comprises five major landscape units: the Sierra de Motilones, Sierra de Perijá, Sierra de Valledupar, Montes de Oca, and the surrounding foothills and valleys.
The northwestern area has slightly uneven terrain, with hills in some sectors, a sparse hydrographic network, sandy soils, and low organic matter content.
In contrast, the southern zone, located between the Palmar River and the Catatumbo River, consists of extremely flat, low-lying land. Areas closest to Lake Maracaibo are prone to flooding during the rainy season or when rivers overflow, resulting in the formation of alluvial sandy-clay soils.
These geological deposits contain a significant accumulation of hydrocarbons, making the Maracaibo Basin one of the richest petroleum regions in South America. The tectonic fossa is a result of orogenesis directly related to the uplift of the Perijá and Andean mountain ranges during the Tertiary period (late Eocene and Oligo-Miocene), as well as the uplift of the Falcón mountain ranges (Oligo-Miocene). This basin occupies approximately 12,870 km² of surface area.
In the eastern alluvial plains (municipalities of Miranda, Cabimas, Santa Rita, and Lagunillas), the plains are formed by sediments from the Araure, Mene, Ulé, Tamare, Pueblo Viejo, Machango, and Misoa rivers.
These plains are flat, of recent geological origin, and low in elevation, generally ranging from 50 to 100 meters above sea level.
To the southeast of the Santa Ana, towards the southern area of the lake, the Catatumbo river system, to which the Socuavó, Tarra River, and Zulia rivers drain, also provides significant volumes of water and sediments to the marshes. Toward the southeast of the lake, in the sector located between the Pocó and Escalante rivers, there is close contact with the northwestern Andean slope, and there is a reduced relief of excrement cones, terraces and torrential lava flows that sometimes manifest themselves in low, rounded hills.
The geographical location and the diversity of natural landscapes present in Zulia, along with the presence of Lake Maracaibo, contribute to the wide variety of climates in the state. According to Köppen climate classification, these include desert climates (Bwhi), semi-and tropical climates (BSh), tropical savannah and sub-humid forest climates (Aw), tropical rainforest and savannah (Aw), tropical monsoon (Am), tropical rainforest (Af), very humid tropical temperate (Cfa), humid tropical temperate (Cwa), and undefined mountain climates.
Lake Maracaibo and its basin work together to produce high levels of rainfall. However, in the northern part of the state, the wind combined with flat terrain causes arid conditions, with average annual precipitation ranging between 200 mm and 600 mm and annual evaporation surpassing precipitation. For example, Maracaibo recorded an average annual evaporation of 2,339 mm during the 1993-2003 period.
Precipitation distribution in Zulia is influenced by latitude, showing an increase from north to south in the average annual precipitation of the Maracaibo (488 mm), Cabimas (528.9 mm) and Santa Bárbara (1,366.5 mm) stations. This trend follows a latitudinal gradient, except for the El Tucuco station (2,032.9 mm), where elevated rainfall is explained by its altitude (205 meters above sea level), with orography enhancing precipitation.
Zulia's Hydrography network comprises numerous river basins and sub-basins covering parts of Zulia, Lara, Táchira, Mérida, Trujillo, and parts of Colombia, primarily drained by the Catatumbo River and its tributaries. All of these rivers flow into the interconnected system of Lake Maracaibo, the strait of Maracaibo, and El Tablazo Bay.
Some sources classify the Maracaibo system as consisting of four closely related water bodies: the Gulf of Venezuela, El Tablazo Bay, the Maracaibo Strait, and Lake Maracaibo. Although the estuarine zone is primarily made up of the strait and bay, the estuarine biota cannot be fully understood without considering all adjacent waters.
The Gulf of Venezuela plays a key role in the oceanic dynamics of the region, due to the depth, movement and chemical composition of its waters. These physical and chemical features influence the gulf's capacity to absorb and dilute pollutants. Located north of the Maracaibo depression, the Gulf of Venezuela spans approximately 17,840 km2, excluding El Tablazo Bay. It has a roughly rectangular shape, with a major axis oriented northeast–southwest. Its outer boundary with the Caribbean Sea is defined by a line stretching from Punta Espada to Punta Macolla, measuring 111.12 km.
The gulf experiences a variety of water movements, including tides, sea currents, and mass water inversions, which contribute to its oxygenation and pollutant dilution capacity. Due to the arid climate of the surrounding continental territory, few rivers flow directly into the gulf. The main hydrological contributions come from the mountainous regions of Falcón State.
Within the Lake Maracaibo basin, 21 major sub-basins have been identified, some extending beyond the political boundaries of Zulia. The most significant is the Catatumbo River Basin, covering 25,708.36 km2-representing more than a quarter (32.60%) of the total Maracaibo basin area.
Zulia's edaphic diversity reflects the state's physiography and climatic conditions. To differentiate the existing soil types, the territory is typically divided into sectors. Although these areas may not be spatially continuous, they share similarities in soil characteristics.
It is estimated that the total area of mangroves in Zulia occupies 116.3 km2 (44.9 mi2), located in the Cocinetas, Peonias, Sinamaica and Los Olivitos lagoons, as well as the mouth of the Limón River. The coastal wetlands of the entire Maracaibo system are estimated to cover 5,683 km2 (2,194 mi2), with notable areas in the southern lake region including the swamps of Juan Manuel de Aguas Claras and Aguas Negras. Mangrove vegetation is generally dense and composed of predominant species such as red mangrove ( Rhizophora mangle), black and pink mangrove ( Avicennia germinans), white mangrove ( Laguncularia racemosa), and the buttonwood mangrove ( Conocarpus erectus).
The dry semi-deciduous lowland forest category occupies the largest area in the region, approximately 18,872.7 km2 (7,286.8 mi2). These plant formations are found along the western coast in the municipalities of Páez, Mara, Maracaibo, Jesús Enrique Lossada, San Francisco, La Cañada de Urdaneta, Rosario de Perijá, Machiques de Perijá, and parts of Catatumbo and Jesús María Semprúm.
On the eastern coast, they are distributed in the municipalities of Miranda, Santa Rita, Cabimas, Simón Bolívar, Lagunillas, and parts of Valmore Rodríguez. In the municipality of Páez, these formations occur in dry climates with an annual average temperature of 28 °C (82.4 °F), average annual rainfall of 125 mm to 250 mm (5 inches to 10 inches), and on Aridisol and Entisol soils. Vegetation varies in size, density, and species composition from the coastal zone to the foothills of the Oca mountains.
Among the mammals, the giant anteater (’‘Myrmecophaga tridactyla’’), found especially in the northeast of the Lake Maracaibo basin, is threatened by poaching and often found dead on roadways. The ocelot (’‘Leopardus pardalis’’) inhabits thorn forests, scrublands, and even mangrove forests. Though once more common, it is now threatened by indiscriminate hunting and habitat destruction, despite being under a permanent hunting ban.
Other mammals of lower concern include the endemic brownish-gray gray brocket (’‘Mazama gouazoubira’’), found in arid areas and hunted for its highly valued meat, and the white-tailed deer (’‘Odocoileus virginianus gymnotis’’), which has declined by nearly 50% in Zulia's arid zones due to unregulated hunting. The desert yellow bat (’‘Rhogeessa minutilla’’), found in the northeast and northwest, has seen habitat loss due to livestock expansion.
Among birds, the most threatened is the red siskin (’‘Carduelis cucullata’’), prized for its bright plumage and used historically as hat decorations. Other notable species include the American flamingo (’‘Phoenicopterus ruber’’), found in the Los Olivitos lagoon (Miranda Municipality) and Gran Eneal lagoon (Páez Municipality). While not endangered, flamingos face habitat degradation, prompting conservation efforts. Reptiles include the American crocodile (’‘Crocodylus acutus’’), now largely restricted to the Pueblo Viejo reservoir (Lagunillas), where it is endangered due to poaching for its skin. Also present is the red-footed tortoise (’‘Geochelone carbonaria’’), found in dry forests and illegally collected. Two species named in honor of the region are the turtle ‘‘Mesoclemmys zuliae’’ and the lizard ‘‘Maracaiba zuliae’’.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Zulia", p. 294).
In the humid and sub-humid subregions—southeast, south, and southwest of Lake Maracaibo—animal populations overlap with those in dry areas, especially birds. However, additional species appear, such as the white-bellied spider monkey (’‘Ateles belzebuth hybridus’’), native to humid forests of the Lake Maracaibo Basin, including those in the Perijá Mountains.
The Perijá subregion, a mountainous area, supports diverse ecosystems with mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Notably, the spectacled bear (’‘Tremarctos ornatus’’) is critically endangered due to illegal hunting, despite being found in protected zones under Venezuelan law.
The current Constitution of the State of Zulia was promulgated on August 13, 2003, and partially amended in 2011. It repealed the 1989 constitution and its partial amendments from 1993 and 2001.
To hold the office of governor, a person must be a Venezuelan citizen by birth with no other nationality, in full enjoyment of civil rights, over 25 years of age, and must have resided in the state for at least four years prior to the election (according to Article 69 of the Zulian constitution. Religious ministers and individuals holding national, state, or municipal office must step down from their positions before running.
The governor serves a four-year term and may be re-elected an unlimited number of times. According to the state constitution, the governor is supported by a Council of Secretaries, including the General Secretariat of Government, and secretariats for Education, Infrastructure, Administration, Citizen Security and Defense, Culture, Higher Education Promotion, Health, Environment, Lands, and Territorial Planning, among others.
The Legislative Council consists of 15 members known as “Legislators.” In the most recent election, the state was divided into 11 electoral districts. Voters in each district elect a number of legislators proportional to the population of their respective municipalities, according to the official census by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). Legislators serve renewable four-year terms and are elected by popular vote in accordance with the Zulian and national constitutions.
Like the other 23 federal entities of Venezuela, Zulia maintains its own police force, which is supported and complemented by the Bolivarian National Police and the Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela.
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| El Toro |
| Cabimas |
| Encontrados |
| San Carlos del Zulia |
| Pueblo Nuevo El Chivo |
| Sinamaica |
| La Concepción |
| Casigua-El Cubo |
| Concepción |
| Ciudad Ojeda |
| Machiques |
| San Rafael del Moján |
| Maracaibo |
| Los Puertos de Altagracia |
| La Villa del Rosario |
| San Francisco |
| Santa Rita |
| Tía Juana |
| Bobures |
| Bachaquero |
The high potential of the soils in the southern region of Lake Maracaibo supports significant agricultural and livestock development. Zulia ranks first nationally in the production of several agricultural and livestock products: oil palm, grapes, milk, cheese, cattle, sheep, and poultry farming; second in eggs; and third in banana, plantains (’‘cambur’’), and goats. Other crops include sugarcane, coconut, cassava (’‘yucca’’), cotton, beans, melon, and sorghum. Forest production is also notable. Maritime resources make Zulia the second-largest supplier of fish in Venezuela. In Lake Maracaibo, the main species caught include bass, horse mackerel, mackerel, blue crab, smallmouth bass, mojarra (’‘morning’’), and seabass. In the Gulf of Venezuela, the catch includes dogfish, horse mackerel, grouper, and snapper. Shrimp was once abundant prior to the 1970s, but overfishing led to a marked decline in their population.
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The main highways include:
Other airports include Oro Negro Airport in Cabimas (Costa Oriental del Lago) and Miguel Urdaneta Fernández Airport in Santa Bárbara del Zulia (southern Lake region).
Zulia also has several local open signal television stations, including NCTV (Niños Cantores Televisión), Channel 11 VHF. Other stations include Televiza (Channel 7 VHF), Telecolor (Channel 41 UHF), Global TV (Channel 65 UHF), and Catatumbo Televisión (Channel 31 UHF). Cable stations include ATEL (Americana de Televisión) and Coquivacoa Televisión, all based in Maracaibo.
On the Eastern Coast of the Lake, there are stations such as Zuliana de Televisión (Channels 28 and 30 UHF), and cable channels like TV COL (Televisora de la Costa Oriental del Lago) and Ciudad TV. In the western zone of the Perijá region, there are several radio stations and cable operators, including Ganadera 88.1, Sierra 99.1, Momentos 107.3, Selecta 102.7, Oye 90.9, Fe y Alegría 105.5, Rosario 95.5, Multivisión (cable operator), and Imagen TV (cable channel).
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