Gulf of Venezuela
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The Gulf of Venezuela or gulf of Coquivacoa is a gulf of the Caribbean Sea bounded by the Venezuelan states of Zulia and Falcón and the Colombian Department(State) of Guajira. A 54 km (34 mi) strait connects it with Lake Maracaibo to the south.
[edit] Location
The Gulf is located in the north of South America, between the peninsulas of Paraguaná of the Falcón State in Venezuela and Guajira's in Colombia and is connected to the Lake Maracaibo through an artificial navigation canal. There is currently a dispute between Colombia and Venezuela over the gulf that has not been resolved, despite the decades-long negotiations conducted by a bilateral commission.
[edit] History
It was discovered by westerners in 1499 when an expedition commanded by Alonso de Ojeda in which he was accompanied by Amerigo Vespucci, explored the Venezuelan coasts compiling information and naming the new lands, said expedition arrived to the gulf after passing through the Netherlands Antilles and the Peninsula of Paraguaná.
Territorial waters are also in dispute over the gulf. The border dispute surged after the independence of Colombia and Venezuela from Spain in the 19th Century. The Spanish empire did not delimit the area because the Wayuu indigenous group posed resistance in the area. The land boundary was finally settled in 1941, but not the maritime.
[edit] Economic importance
The main factor that gives importance to these waters is the fact that serves to connect between the Lake Maracaibo and the Caribbean Sea, as it still is known, in the lake and adjacent areas to the east is extracted a great quantity of crude petroleum, which comes from the wells to the refineries and markets of the world through ships, but, not only is it a connection, but what also is found in the large quantities of natural gas and petroleum that are not exploited and that are maintained as strategic reserves.
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