Valera

Valera, city, central Trujillo estado (state), northwestern Venezuela. It is located on the Río Motatán on a northern spur of the Cordillera de Mérida.

Founded in 1820, the city did not experience significant growth until after the completion of the Trans-Andean Highway in 1925. The state’s largest city, Valera overshadows the state capital, Trujillo, 12 miles (19 km) to the east-northeast. It is the leading commercial centre for the agricultural hinterland, in which sugarcane, cacao, coffee, fruit, and grains are cultivated. Flour milling is a principal industry. The area has traditionally supplied about one-fourth of the country’s wheat. The city is just a few miles south of the Pan-American Highway, providing easy access to the growing towns around Lake Maracaibo and in the Cordillera de Mérida. Valera also has an airport. Pop. (2001) 124,254; (2011) 132,562.