MARGARITA, an island in the Caribbean Sea, about 8 miles oft' the coast of Venezuela, constituting along with the lesser islands Blanquilla and Hermanos the new state of Nueva Esparta. It has an area of 400 square miles, consists of two portions united by a low and narrow isthmus, is generally mountainous, and attains its greatest elevation of 1630 feet in Mont Macanao. The pearls from which Margarita takes its name, and which proved a considerable source of wealth in the 16th and 17th centuries, are no longer sought after; but the ordinary fisheries are actively prosecuted, and since the War of Independence, agriculture, trade, and industry have all greatly improved. Pompatar is the only harbour, Pueblo del Norte and Pueblo de la Mar being rather open roadsteads. Asuncion, the chief town, contains about 3000 inhabitants. The population of the island was 16,200 in 1807 (about 8000 being whites), and that of the state 30,983 in 1873.

Discovered by Columbus in 1498, Margarita was in 1524 bestowed by Charles V. on Marceto Villalobos. In 1561 it was ravaged by Lopez de Aguirre, a notorious freebooter, and in 1662 the town of Pompatar was destroyed by the Dutch. Long included in the government of Cumana, Margarita attained administrative independence only in the 18th century. In the War of Independence the inhabitants made an effective stand against Murillo; and to this they owe the honour of having their island erected into the state of New Sparta....