Maracay

Related Category: South American Political Geography

(märäkī´), city (1990 pop. 354,196), capital of Aragua state, N Venezuela, at the eastern end of Lake Valencia. It is a commercial, agricultural, and industrial city. Its products include sugar, rubber, paper, and cloth. Maracay was modernized in the early 20th cent. by the dictator Juan Vicente Gómez, who built an opera house, a bull ring, gardens, and a triumphal arch.