Costa Oriental del Lago de Maracaibo (in English Eastern Coast of Maracaibo Lake) is a metropolitan area and subregion made up of seven municipalities within the Venezuelan state of Zulia. It is the main traditional area of the oil industry in Zulia and where most oilfield operations are based. It's bordered to the west by Lake Maracaibo, the east with the states of Falcón and Lara, the north with the Gulf of Venezuela, and the south with Trujillo state. The "COL" conurbation has 758,957 inhabitants, while the "COL" as a subregion has 910,752 inhabitants.
Cities It is a densely populated area covering approximately one third of the population of Zulia state (almost one million), with 2 large cities and numerous towns and villages. The principal cities of the area are:
Cabimas (pop. 280,171)La ciudad de Cabimas ocupa todas las parroquias con excepción de Arístides Calvani que es el área rural y Punta Gorda ocupada por el pueblo de Punta Gorda. Ciudad Ojeda (pop. 152,890)Population of the parishes Alonso Ojeda and Libertad Mene Grande (pop. 61,960)Population of the parishes Libertador, Pueblo Nuevo and Marcelino Briceño Los Puertos de Altagracia (pop. approx. 56,210)Population of the Parish Altagracia Lagunillas (pop. 53,717)Population of the Parish Venezuela Bachaquero (pop. 48,402)Population of the parishes Rafael Urdaneta and La Victoria Santa Rita (pop. 30,777) El Danto (pop. 30,022) Tía Juana (pop. 24,775)Population of the Parish Manuel Manrique Sabaneta de Palmas (pop. 20,033)Population of the Parish San Jose of Miranda Municipality
Municipalities The 7 municipalities of the area are:
MunicipalityArea (km2)http://www.ine.gob.ve/documentos/see/sintesisestadistica2011/estados/zulia/index.htm Sintesis Estadistica de Zulia: POBLACIÓNPopulation 2013 Population density 2013 (/km2) Miranda1966101,24851.49 Santa Rita50554,748108.41 Cabimas604299,108495.21 Simón Bolívar25847,535184.24 Lagunillas975245,283251.57 Valmore Rodriguez112764,91857.65 Baralt281697.91234.76 Costa Oriental del Lago8251910,752110.38
See also List of metropolitan areas of Venezuela
References Humberto Ochoa Urdaneta. (1995). Memoria Geográfica de la Costa Oriental del Lago de Maracaibo. Emilio Strauss, William Fuenmayor, José Romero. (2000). Atlas del Estado Zulia.