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Táchira

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Táchira

Táchira State (Spanish: Estado Táchira, IPA: [esˈtaðo ˈtatʃiɾa]) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal.

Táchira State covers a total surface area of 11,100 square kilometres (4,300 sq mi) and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,908. At the end of the 19th century, Táchira State was where oil was discovered in Venezuela. Currently, its main economic revenues come from the production of coffee and pineapple. The cattle and agricultural activities play an important role in Táchira's economy. There is also a strong industrial sector which focuses on the processing of potato, sugar, milk, and cheese and the production of textiles.

Táchira State is one of the three Venezuelan Andean states (the other two are Mérida and Trujillo). This state borders Zulia State to the north, Barinas and Mérida States to the east, Apure and Barinas States to the south, and Colombia (Norte de Santander Department) to the west.

Possible origins have been identified for the word Táchira, so one hypothesis states that the word is an indigenous word - based on Chibcha dialects - composed of three particles: ta, "farm" (as a root), chi, "ours, which belongs to us" and the suffix rá, "element that expresses place, moment or position (...)" with respect to the future. Thus, it would mean approximately a term like: "The land that will be our inheritance" or "The land of our inheritance".[citation needed]

On the other hand, it is believed that Táchira comes from a Chibcha word that comes from the term "tachure", which identifies a purple dye plant that has medicinal uses, known as tun-túa or sibidigua (Jatropa gossypifolia).[citation needed]

Populated mainly by groups of Timote, Cuica and Chibcha origin and as the Machirí, Umuquena and Táriba, the territory was extensively colonized in the sixteenth century.

With the foundation of San Cristóbal in 1561 by Captain Juan Maldonado Ordoñez y Villaquirán and La Grita in 1576 by Francisco de Cáceres, the agricultural exploitation of the area began, giving rise to the creation of new settlements. Since its foundation in 1576, La Grita was the capital of the province of La Grita, so the importance of this city was primitive in the region until the arrival of European trading companies to the state, which settled mainly in the more accessible and better communicated San Cristóbal.

In 1781 Juan Jose Garcia de Hevia led the Insurrection of the Communards of Los Andes, an anti-colonial revolutionary movement that sought to liberate Venezuela from the colonialism of the Spanish Empire, under the search for tax relief.

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