Cúcuta

**Cúcuta** (pron. IPA koo`koo-tä), or **San Jose de Cúcuta**, is the capital of the Norte de Santander Department, in Colombia. Cúcuta is an important city in northeastern Colombia because of where it is; on the border with Venezuela. People from Cúcuta are called *cucuteños*.

The area has grown fast since the 1960s, especially the suburbs of Villa del Rosario and Los Patios.

The city has developed  with the building of six overpasses, a convention center, a new bus terminal, a new Integrated Massive Transportation System called Metrobus, the modernization of state owned schools, the recovery of Cucuta's downtown, and the duplication of the capacity of the General Santander Stadium. New industries are expected to come from Venezuela and to place their factories in Cucuta aiming at exporting through the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement between Colombia and the United States.

## History 
Simón Bolívar captured Cúcuta in 1813 and set out from there on his march to Caracas. At Cúcuta the constituent congress of 1821 met to draft the constitution of Greater Colombia (present day Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia).

The city was largely destroyed by an earthquake on 18 May 1875, but was soon rebuilt.

In 1939, Cúcuta had 59,323 people. In 1990, it had 532,564. In 2005, the metropolitan area had 950,000 people.

### Battle of Cúcuta 
The Battle of Cúcuta was important for the moral importance that gave Bolivar advantages to release to Venezuela. The battle began at 9:00 AM of the 28 of February 1813 and finished at noon. There were 400 men in the control of Simón Bolivar and 800 under Spanish General Ramon Correa. Two died and 14 were hurt in the liberating troops and 20 dead and 40 hurt in the Spanish troops.

### Earthquake of Cúcuta 
Also known as the **Earthquake of the Andes** happened the May 18 of 1875 at 11:15 AM. It completely destroyed Cúcuta, Villa del Rosario, San Antonio del Tachira and Capacho also causing serious damage to the Venezuelan people in San Cristóbal, La Mulata, Rubio, Michelena, La Grita, and Colón, among others. It was felt in Bogota and Caracas.

## Geography 
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Cúcuta is on a plateau in the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes. The official metropolitan area includes the municipalities of Villa del Rosario, Los Patios, El Zulia, and Puerto Santander. All four neighboring municipalities contain extensive rural areas despite recent urbanization.

Cúcuta and Norte de Santander have many rivers, none of them with pollution problems, being the Pamplonita River, the Guaramito River, the San Miguel River and the Zulia River the most important.

Cúcuta has a municipal area of 1176&nbsp;km² and is at 302 feet above sea level. The average temperature of 28&nbsp;°C (82.4&nbsp;°F) with an average humidity of 65%. Its medium annual precipitation is of 1,041mm. There are two rain seasons, between March-May and September-November. The dry months of the year are December and January with a medium precipitation of 58mm.

## Economy
Cúcuta has an agroindustry that mainly produces milk products and liquors. The border  with Venezuela means the major Colombian commercial centers, banks, and warehouses have offices in the city.

**US - Colombia Free Trade Agreement implications for Cúcuta**

Colombia signed a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. There was opposition from Venezuela. Despite its opposition, industries from that country are constructing their infrastructure in Cúcuta to export their products to the United States, registering their products as if they were Colombian, an strategy that would allow them to export without paying certain tariffs. For that reason, Cúcuta is expected to become an industrial city. Virgilio Barco, a former president of Colombia, Marino Vargas Villalta, businessman; his grandson, Juan Jose Germán Vargas, tennis player and the musician Elias M. Soto.

## References
## Other websites 
* City Hall of Cúcuta