capital of Norte de Santander departamento, northeastern Colombia, on the Venezuela border. Founded in 1733 as San José de Guasimal, it became San José de Cúcuta in 1793. In 1875 it was destroyed by an earthquake but then was rebuilt with parks and wide avenues. The nucleus of a livestock and agricultural (primarily coffee and tobacco) zone, Cúcuta has many small industries, is the closest urban centre to the oil fields to the north, and is the home of the Francisco de Paula Santander University (1962). The city, reputed to be a centre of activities involving contraband, has highway (including the Pan-American Highway), railway, river, and air connections to Venezuela, as well as to other cities in northeastern Colombia. Pop. (2003 est.) 682,671.