Táchira State covers a total surface area of 11,100 square kilometres (4,300 sq mi) and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,908.

There is also a strong industrial sector which focuses on the processing of potato, sugar, milk, and cheese and the production of textiles.

[citation needed] On the other hand, it is believed that Táchira comes from a Chibcha word that comes from the term "tachure", which identifies a purple dye plant that has medicinal uses, known as tun-túa or sibidigua (Jatropa gossypifolia).

[citation needed] Populated mainly by groups of Timote, Cuica and Chibcha origin and as the Machirí, Umuquena and Táriba, the territory was extensively colonized in the sixteenth century.

With the foundation of San Cristóbal in 1561 by Captain Juan Maldonado Ordoñez y Villaquirán and La Grita in 1576 by Francisco de Cáceres, the agricultural exploitation of the area began, giving rise to the creation of new settlements.

In 1781 Juan Jose Garcia de Hevia led the Insurrection of the Communards of Los Andes, an anti-colonial revolutionary movement that sought to liberate Venezuela from the colonialism of the Spanish Empire, under the search for tax relief.

Despite the progressive population growth of the region, its importance as Venezuela's main coffee producer for over two hundred years and the arrival of important European trading houses in the 19th century, the state remained relatively isolated from the rest of the country, with greater cultural influence received from Colombia for many years.

It was decided that the capital of the Province would be San Cristóbal and there the headquarters of all the organs of the Provincial Government were established, with a general population of 42,731 inhabitants.

In 1895, the Gran Ferrocarril del Táchira was inaugurated, its construction began in 1893 with an extension of 105 kilometers between La Fría and Encontrados to mobilize the great crops of Tachira coffee.

In 1899, Cipriano Castro began the invasion of Venezuela from the State of Táchira with an armed group that confronted the regime of Ignacio Andrade.

This state produced more presidents than any other state during the 20th century: Cipriano Castro, Juan Vicente Gómez, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, Isaías Medina Angarita, Eleazar López Contreras, Carlos Andrés Pérez, and Ramón José Velásquez.

During the Tertiary period, the uplifts of failed blocks formed deep valleys like those of the Uribante and Torbes rivers, with very steep slopes.

The northern slopes come into contact with the lowlands located south of Lake Maracaibo, with large marshy areas, while the southeastern sector, from the eastern slope of the Uribante branch, is a transition zone between the piedmont (the lowlands of the mountainous formation) and the western high plains.

However, in cities like Pregonero, El Cobre, La Grita and others located at higher altitudes, the temperature is considerably lower (up to 10 °C).

The Tachira Andes were formed during the Eocene period (between 56 million and 40 million years ago approximately), when the Nazca tectonic plate and the Caribbean plate began to slowly slide under the South American plate, raising older formations and bending the sedimentary and igneous rocks that form today's mountains (several of the highest peaks and moors in the State of Tachira are from the Phanerozoic eon, from the Precambrian period, about 539 million years ago).

San Cristóbal was founded on March 31, 1561, by the captain and advanced Juan Maldonado y Ordóñez, which makes it one of the oldest cities in Venezuela.

[citation needed] The Táchira has a very active economy because it is a border state where there is a great flow of capital, goods and services that exist between Venezuela and Colombia passing through this region.

The first uninterrupted religious services, began in April 1561 in the Fort of Tapias, after the foundation of the city of San Cristobal.

[citation needed] The state of Táchira offers different tourist attractions among which the walks on the mountain routes and the moors El Zumbador, Los Rosales, La Negra, el Tamá stand out; the cattle areas of the road to the plain and the South of the Lake (from Maracaibo), the Pan-American route, the traditional and costumbrist towns (Peribeca, San Pedro del Río, El Cobre, Pregonero), the architecture of San Cristóbal, La Grita, the numerous restaurants of typical Andean food, the sporting events held in the city of San Cristóbal (mainly the meetings of the Deportivo Táchira Fútbol Club, of the Venezuelan First Division League), the fairs and patron saint's celebrations, mainly the San Sebastián International Fair (FISS), among many others.

[citation needed] The Ateneo del Táchira is the oldest in Venezuela, apart from being the first cultural center erected in the mentioned entity.

[citation needed] During January the Capital city of San Cristóbal celebrates its fiesta, which is recognized nationally for its industrial, commercial and agricultural exhibitions.

Among other disciplines the Vuelta al Táchira in bicycle stands out, of great importance at national level, and that marks the beginning of the UCI America Tour.

In addition to those mentioned, there is the Diario de los Andes, originally from Trujillo state, which has its own editorial and circulation for Táchira.

Thus, as early as 1954 in the city of Rubio, the station Ecos de Junín began to broadcast, which was later taken to San Cristóbal.