BERMUDEZ  , a N.E.

state of Venezuela, between the Carib-bean Sea and the Orinoco river, bounded E. by the gulf of Paria and the Delta-Arnacuro territory, and W. by the states of Guarico and Miranda . Pop . (est . 1905) 364,158 . It was created in 1881 by the union of the states of Barcelona, Cumana and Maturin, dissolved in 1901 into its three original states, and reorganized in 1904 with a slight modification of territory . The state includes the oldest settlements in Venezuela, and was once very prosperous, producing cattle and exporting hides, but wars and political disorders have partly destroyed its industries andimpeded their development . Its principal productions are coffee, sugar, and cacao, and—less important—cotton, tobacco, cocoanuts, timber, indigo and dyewoods . Its more important towns are the capital, Barcelona, Maturin (pop . 14,473), capital of a district of the same name, and Cumana (to,000), on the gulf of Cariaco, founded in 1520 and one of the oldest towns of the continent .