Anzoategui State covers a vast region that runs from the northern coasts on the Caribbean Sea to the banks of the Orinoco River to the south. It is a fascinating and prodigious territory, offering some of the most lovely beaches of Venezuela's Oriente, a dynamic oil industry that includes points of exploitation, refinement and exportation, and traditions that have taken root and grown throughout its history. The state's name honors Jose Antonio Anzoategui, one of Venezuela's eminent military leaders during the Independence War, whose name is linked with Barcelona and memories of colonial times. Set between such opposites as the Caribbean and the Orinoco, tourism and oil industries, history and future, this incredible Venezuelan region is an enclave of contrasts.

For the pleasure of nature lovers, a wonderful world of ecosystems has fascinated both foreign and locals since the place was first populated. It runs between Barcelona and Puerto La Cruz and then goes east into Sucre State. This is the ecstatically beautiful Mochima National Park with its innumerable bays, coves, islands, and beaches that beckons all to come and enjoy its waters and byways.

Barcelona, the state's capital, represents traditions recently unsettled by the industrial force of the oil industry cryogenic facilities and by the growth of the tourism industry along the coast. Since 1970, inspired by the beauty of the coastal area, visionary entrepreneurs have developed a giant tourist complex close to a seaside promontory known as El Morro. From the outskirts of Barcelona, projects based on the idea of recreation and pleasure were soon extended to the eastern side of El Morro. There, Puerto La Cruz began its advance to its contemporary status, which has given a new profile to the small idyllic seafront of olden times. Toward the south of this city the extensive campus of the Universidad de Oriente (UDO), where great numbers of today's generation get prepared for the future, makes up the third point of a triad that defines the futuristic focus of the region: education, tourism and the oil industry.

As you drive through the state, historic, archaeological and architectonic monuments are found interwoven with a variety of ecosystems showing an astonishing parade of flora and fauna. Landscapes are characteristically tropical and memorable, their image remaining in one's mind as souvenirs of an amazing land combining beauty and natural riches. Coral reefs, windswept island beaches, mangrove swamps, tropical dry forests, and plains that extend beyond the horizon are as much a part of the scenery as the oil ports. Driving through the western llanos or up into the Turimiquire Massif to see their sights and wildlife, becomes a preamble to discovering the innumerable natural riches of the Orinoco River.

Spread along this changing landscape, the state's inhabitants work eagerly to build a better life in modern times, but continue to nurture fascinating festivals, holidays and folk traditions from their cultural and historical heritage.