Barinas

Barinas, estado (state), western Venezuela. It is bounded on the north by Trujillo, Portuguesa, and Cojedes states, east by Guárico, south by Apure, and west by Táchira and Mérida. It lies mainly in the Llanos (plains), although there are highlands in the northwest. In the early 17th century the area became known for the excellent quality of tobacco grown there, and it enjoyed great prosperity from both legal and illegal trade and from the royal tobacco monopoly until the war for independence in the early 19th century.

The state is plagued by alternate drought and flooding; wide stretches of savanna are inundated during the rainy season, from May to October. With the control of malaria, the rapid growth of the petroleum industry and of manufacturing, and the government’s investment in the Llanos, especially in irrigation works in the northwest, the economy of Barinas has developed and diversified beyond its original base of cattle raising. Barinas has long ranked among Venezuela’s most important states in cattle production, but agriculture is also important. In addition to tobacco, leading crops include beans, sunflowers, cotton, corn (maize), coffee, plantains, sesame, and rice. The greatest changes have resulted from the discovery of oil in the state in 1948. A pipeline moves the oil some 200 miles (320 km) northward to refineries at Morón, near Puerto Cabello. The state’s network of roads focuses on Barinas, the state capital. Sierra Nevada National Park in the northwest is shared with Mérida state. Area 13,600 square miles (35,200 square km). Pop. (2001) 624,508; (2011) 816,264.