Maturín

Maturín () is a city in Venezuela, the capital of the Venezuelan state of Monagas and a centre for instrumental exploration and development of the petroleum industry in Venezuela. The metropolitan area of Maturín has a population of 401,384 inhabitants. Maturín is also a busy regional transportation hub, connecting routes from the northeastern coast to the Orinoco Delta and the Gran Sabana.

== History == === Founding === December 7, 1760, is the official date of the founding of Maturín (according to the Venezuelan Academy of History) by the Franciscan missionary Lucas de Zaragoza. However, the Jesuit priest Pablo Ojer found a document in the General Archive of the Indies which proves an earlier founding date for the city in 1722. This primitive town was called and its founder was the Spanish governor Juan de la Tornera y Sota. San Juan de la Tornera de Maturín was a city for Spaniards, but it did not survive very long because of the lack of population and few economic resources. Initially, (Lucas de Zaragoza gave this name to Maturín) was a Spanish mission created for the conversion of the nearby native and Warao people. The Spaniards decided to move to Maturín and in the 19th century it received the category of city and the name of .