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Santiago Mariño Municipality

Municipio Santiago Mariño
Municipality
Flag of Santiago Mariño Municipality
Flag
Official seal of Santiago Mariño Municipality
Seal
Location in Aragua
Location in Aragua
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Country  Venezuela
State Aragua
Municipal seat 494.0 square kilometre
Area
 • Total http://santiagomarino-aragua.gob.ve/portal-alcaldias/ km2 (Formatting error: invalid input when rounding sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total 211,010
Time zone UTC−4 (VET)
Area code(s) 0244

The Santiago Mariño Municipality is one of the 18 municipalities (municipios) that makes up the Venezuelan state of Aragua and, according to the 2011 census by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 211,010. The town of Turmero is the shire town of the Santiago Mariño Municipality and Chuao where some of the finest cocoa beans in the world are produced. The municipality is named for Venezuelan independence hero Santiago Mariño.

Demographics

The Santiago Mariño Municipality, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, has a population of 191,731 (up from 165,436 in 2000). This amounts to 11.5% of the state's population. The municipality's population density is 385.78 inhabitants per square kilometre (999.2/sq mi).

Chuao

Chuao is a small village founded in the 16th century famous in the world for its cacao plantations. The village is surrounded by mountains and dense rainforests to the south Caribbean Sea near the Henri Pittier National Park. There is no road access and visitors must come by boat from the town of Puerto Colombia along the coast, or by foot, crossing the mountains and the luxurious cloud forest from Turmero near Maracay.

In the Chuao plantation there are currently pure Criollo and hybrid varieties of cacao being grown. Criollo beans from Chuao are of very high quality, and are considered Venezuela's finest beans together with Porcelana Blanca beans from Lake Maracaibo (another genetically pure variety of Criollo). Amedei, an Italian chocolate maker, and Chocolate NAIVE, a Lithuanian bean-to-bar chocolate maker, offer chocolate bars made with Chuao cacao. Naive was the winner of the European gold medal at the International Chocolate Awards 2014.

In November 2000, the cacao beans coming from Chuao region were awarded an appellation of origin under the title "Cacao de Chuao" (from Spanish Cacao de Chuao) effectively making this one of the most expensive and sought after types of cacao.

Gallery

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Municipio Santiago Mariño para niños

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