Valencia (Spanish pronunciation: [baˈlensja]) is the capital city of Carabobo State and the third-largest city in Venezuela.

The city is an economic hub that contains Venezuela's top industries and manufacturing companies. The population of Valencia and the nearby metropolitan area reached 1,827,165 in 2010, and it is expected to grow dramatically in the years to come. It is also the largest city in the Valencia-Maracay metropolitan region, which with a population of about 4.5 million is the country's second largest after that of Caracas. Caracas lies some 172 kilometres (107 miles) away to the east.