| Official Name: | Carúpano |
| Pushpin Map: | Venezuela |
| Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name: | Venezuela |
| Subdivision Name1: | Sucre |
| Subdivision Name2: | Bermúdez |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 23 December 1647 |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Nircia Villegas (PSUV) |
| Area Total Km2: | 203 |
| Population As Of: | 2010 |
| Population Total: | 173.877 hab. |
| Population Density Km2: | 856 |
| Timezone: | VST |
| Utc Offset: | -4:30 |
| Coordinates: | 10.6722°N -63.2403°W |
| Elevation M: | 10 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Demonym |
| Population Blank1: | Carupanero(a) |
| Area Code: | (+58) 294 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 6150 |
| Blank1 Name: | Climate |
| Blank1 Info: | Aw |
| Website: | bermudez-sucre.gob.ve |
| Footnotes: | The area and population figures are for the municipality |
Carúpano is a city in the eastern Venezuelan state of Sucre. It is located on the Venezuelan Caribbean coast at the opening of two valleys, some 120 km east of the capital of Sucre, Cumaná.[1] This city is the shire town of the Bermúdez Municipality and, according to the 2010 Venezuelan census, the municipality has a population of 173,877 inhabitants.[2] Carúpano is considered the gateway to the Paria Peninsula and its main commercial and financial center.
It was somewhere on the Peninsula of Paria, near Carúpano, where Christopher Columbus first set foot on the American continent for the only time, during his third voyage (in all his other trips he only explored the Caribbean islands).
It was in Carúpano where Simón Bolívar, the liberator of Venezuela, issued a decree ending slavery in 1814.[3]
In 1815, King Ferdinand VII of Spain, sent a fleet of 18 warships and 42 cargo ships to Carupano and Isla Margarita with the mission of pacifying the revolts against the Spanish monarchy in the South American colonies.
In May 1962 Carúpano was the scene of a short-lived military rebellion against the government of Rómulo Betancourt, in which rebel military officers took over the city. The incident is known as El Carupanazo.
In July 1997, a violent earthquake struck the city and most of the state. This earthquake was centered in the town of Cariaco, where most of the deaths and damage occurred.[4] [5]
Cacao, coffee, sugar, cotton, timber and rum[6] have been important exports of Carúpano since colonial times.[7] Carupanese rums are highly appreciated nationwide, so the internal consumption usually leaves little surplus rum for export.
Currently the local General José Francisco Bermúdez Airport does not carry regular commercial flights.[8]
The Bermúdez Municipality, according to the 2001 Venezuelan census, has a population of 175,877 (up from 100,794 in 1990). This amounts to 15.5% of Sucre's population. The municipality's population density is 1,559 people per square mile (601.95/km2).
Carúpano is the administrative centre of Bermúdez Municipality. The mayor of the Bermúdez Municipality is Nircia Villegas, elected in 2017.[9]
The House of Cable was where the first submarine cable between Europe and America arrived, joining the French city of Marseille with Carúpano, back in the late 19th century. This house is today the headquarters of the Tomas Merle foundation and the Paria Project, two organizations that promote tourism and industry.
Middle Schools and High Schools:
Famous Carupaneros include Wolfgang Larrazábal, former president of Venezuela; Jictzad Viña, Miss Venezuela 2005; Antonio José de Sucre, one of the paramount leaders of the South American war of independence, was thought to have lived there but hailed from Cumana; Andrés Eloy Blanco, one of the most important Venezuelan poets also came from Cumana; Eladio Lárez, president of Radio Caracas Television, one of Venezuela's largest television networks; and Washington Nationals major league baseball catcher Jesús Flores.