Ciudad Bolívar
[key], city, capital of Bolívar state, E Venezuela, an inland port
on the Orinoco River. It is the commercial center of the eastern llanos, the
Orinoco basin, and the Guiana Highlands.
Wood products and leather are produced, and hides, cattle, and gold are
exported. The city was founded in 1764 and called Angostura. The congress of
Angostura (1819) made Simon Bolívar president of Venezuela
and later in the same year decreed the formation of the republic of Gran
Colombia, also with Bolívar as president. The city was renamed after
him in 1846. The Angostura suspension bridge (2,336 ft/712 m long; completed
1967) is one of the longest in South America.
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