Maracaibo "The Beloved Land of the Sun"

Maracaibo is nicknamed La Tierra del Sol Amada.
Maracaibo is a city and municipality located in northwestern Venezuela off the western coast of the Lake of Maracaibo. It is the second-largest city in the country after the national capital Caracas and the capital of Zulia state. Maracaibo has become a large metropolitan city, comprising two municipalities: to the north the municipality of Maracaibo and to the south the San Francisco municipality (established in 1995). In recent years, due to political/economic and cultural reasons, many have moved to Maracaibo from rural areas and other cities (including Caracas).

Maracaibo also boasts one of the best universities in the country, the state university. La Universidad del Zulia(LUZ) is well renowned for its excellent law and medical schools. Other major universities and schools include Universidad Rafael Belloso Chacin, (URBE), with its excellent engineering school, and Universidad Rafael Urdaneta, with one of the country's leading psychology schools.

Due to the regionalistic nature of Marabinos, they strongly support their native teams. Maracaibo, and the rest of Zulia, are represented in baseball by the Águilas del Zulia, a Venezuelan winter league team that plays in the Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional,and is based in the Estadio Luis Aparicio El Grande. Regional teams include the Unión Atlético Maracaibo and the Zulia FC in football, and the Gaiteros del Zulia in basketball, a team that participates in the Liga Profesional de Baloncesto de Venezuela, whose home is the 5.000-people Pedro Elías Belisario Aponte stadium.

The city of Maracaibo is located at the denominated Maracaibo plain. It has low fertility, typical of a dry-tropical forest. It presents a great number of rivers, sewers and gorges. The city dominates the entrance to Lake Maracaibo. Maracaibo is one of the cities of Venezuela where the highest temperatures are registered. It has a semiarid climate, only attenuated by the moderating influence of the lake, its average historical temperature is 29 °C. In the past the climate of the city, as well in all the coast of the Lake Maracaibo, was unhealthy, due to the combination of high temperatures with high humidity, being a zone of importance. At the present time, the effects of urban development, and control of plagues, has almost eradicated that. The registered high temperature of the city is 41.0 °C, and the low 18.0 °C. Culture in Maracaibo is very indigenous and unique, is recognized in every state and city in Venezuela, and is very influential with its gaitas, desserts, style, living, and customs  .An interesting aspect of the city, is the humor and the musical culture of its people, the Gaita Zuliana, is a traditional christmas music  from the region.