MARACAIBO, or NUEVA ZAMORA, a town of Venezuela, in South America, capital of the province of the same name, is situated on the W. shore of the strait connecting the Lake of Maracaibo with the sea, 175 miles E.N.E. of Santa Marta, and 320 W. by N. of La Guaya; N. Lat. 10. 41., W. Long. 71. 40. The town is situated on a dry and sandy soil; and the houses are for the most part built of wood, and are thatched with reeds. This gives the town a mean appearance, and renders it very subject to fires. The only public buildings worthy of mention are,—the parish church (an elegant edifice), a chapel, a Franciscan convent, and an hospital. The harbour is deep, but there is a shifting bar at its mouth which prevents large vessels from entering; the anchorage is safe, however, being sheltered by three islands, called San Carlos, Zapara, and Bajo Seco, on each of which stands a castle for its defence. The town carries on a considerable trade, being the principal port for the provinces of Merida and Truxillo, and some of the districts of New Grenada. Cocoa, coffee, honey, sugar, tobacco, ropes, &c., are brought from the interior to Maracaibo, and are thence exported by foreign vessels to other countries. A considerable number of ships are built here. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in nautical pursuits, and are said to form excellent sailors. Many of them also find employment in tending the large herds of cattle which are bred in the neighbourhood. The climate of Maracaibo is oppressively hot; and in the summer season earthquakes are frequent, as well as violent thunder-storms, accompanied with torrents of rain. The province of Maracaibo extends round the lake of the same name, and is low, flat, and unhealthy. Area, 33,082 square miles. It is inhabited chiefly by natives; and had in 1854 a population of 59,311. Pop. of town 14,000.

Lake or Lagoon of, the largest sheet of water in South America, being nearly 100 miles in length, and 80 in breadth at the widest part, lies between 9. and 10. 40. N. Lat., 71. and 72. 25. W. Long. This lake is of an oval form, communicating with the sea by means of a narrow channel, 46 miles in length, and varying from 4 to 14 in breadth. It would be navigable for the largest vessels were it not for a shifting bar at the mouth of the strait, over which there is only about 14 feet of water. The waters, by reason of the numerous rivers which flow into the lake, are fresh and sweet; but towards the northern extremity, especially during the prevalence of N. winds, they are somewhat brackish. The total number of rivers that fall into the lake is said to be 105 perennial streams, and 400 which are dry during some part of the year. Of the former, the principal are—the Catatumbo, the Zulia, the Escalante, and the Metatan. The shores of the lake are for the most part barren, and during part of the year the whole of its banks are inundated to the distance of 10 or 20 miles. On the N.E. there is a remarkable mine of mineral pitch, which sends out in the night such a brilliant phosphoric light as to serve as a guide to the navigators of the lake, and hence it is called the Lantern of Maracaibo. The lake is not subject to tempests of any great severity; and it abounds in fish and water-fowl. It was first entered by Ojeda and Vespucci in 1499, who gave the name of Venezuela, or Little Venice, to the surrounding country, by reason of the appearance of the Indian villages built on piles driven into the lake, which reminded them of Venice.

The Gulf of Maracaibo, which is also called the Gulf of Venezuela, is an inlet of the Caribbean Sea, having its entrance between Cape San Romano and Point Espada, a distance of 60 miles. It is about 75 miles in length from N. to S., and 150 in breadth. It contains several small islands, and communicates at the S. with the Lake Maracaibo.