Maracaybo, a fortified city of Venezuela, is situated on the west shore of the strait which connects the lake and gulf of Maracaybo. It is a handsome town, with many gardens and squares, a college, hospitals, a theatre, a German club-house, the usual government buildings, a custom-house, wharves, and a number of manufactories. The climate is hot, the soil sandy, and the place unhealthy, owing mainly to the unsanitary domestic arrangements. The trade is chiefly in the hands of Germans, Danes, and North Americans. The staple export is coffee (£1,367,291 in 1889); boxwood, lignum vitæ, cedar, and other woods, besides divi-divi, hides and skins, and some cocoa, gums, and fish sounds, are the other exports, the value of which (including coffee) in 1889 reached about £1,500,000. Fully seven-eighths of these go to the United States, although most of the merchandise imported comes from Great Britain, Germany, and France. Pop. (1888) 34,284.
The Gulf of Maracaybo is a wide inlet of the Caribbean Sea, extending from the peninsulas of Paraguaná and Guajira to the strait by which it is connected with the lake. The latter forms the floor of a great valley, shut in by lofty mountains. Its waters are sweet, and deep enough for the largest vessels; but the bar at the mouth, where a swift current runs, makes entrance difficult. The gulf and lake were discovered in 1499 by Ojeda, who found here houses built on piles, and so gave the district the name Venezuela ('Little Venice'), which was afterwards extended to the entire country.