The Aroa River (Spanish: Río Aroa) is a river in northwestern Venezuela. It runs parallel and west of the Yaracuy River. The Aroa River empties into the Caribbean Sea.
Aroa River | |
---|---|
Native name | río Aroa (Spanish) |
Location | |
Country | Venezuela |
Physical characteristics | |
Mouth | |
• location | Boca de Aroa, Falcón, Venezuela |
• coordinates | 10.684818°N 68.296895°W / 10.684818; -68.296895 |
The river drains part of the Lara-Falcón dry forests ecoregion.[1]
In the 16th century it was known that there was gold in the Yaracuy, Santa Cruz and Aroa rivers, and in 1605 gold deposits were found in a small valley leading to the Aroa River.[2] The king gave the Aroa mines in perpetuity to Dr. Francisco Marín de Narváez and his heirs in exchange for 40,000 pesos.[3]
In 1824 the mines were leased to British entrepreneurs who exploited deposits of copper.[4] They used the Aroa River to carry the ore by barge to the coast, where it was loaded onto ships.[5] The town of Aroa was the first town in the country to obtain electricity and telephone service. A cableway was built linking the mines to the town.[5]
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