Map - Barinas (state) (Estado Barinas)

Barinas State (Estado Barinas, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Barinas.

Barinas State covers a total surface area of 35,200 km2 and had an estimated population of 970,689 in 2015.

The toponym "Barinas" is a variant of "varinas" (the name of an indigenous ethnic group that inhabited the Piedemonte before the arrival of the Spaniards); this may have a relationship with the name "Barima", given by the tunebos to the Santo Domingo river in the Aya myth. The meaning is unknown, but according to popular belief, it means a 'strong wind that comes from the valleys of the Santo Domingo river', referring to the Barinese wind, which blows in the Llanos Altos. According to Virgilio Tosta, the place name was first used before 1628 as an alternative name for Altamira; in contrast, according to Betancourt Martínez, it was in the foundations of Barinitas such as Nueva Trujillo de Barinas (1628) and Barinas (1759). It expanded with the creation of the Province of Barinas in 1786 and was reduced to the present region in 1859.

Because of this toponym, Senna aculeata – a low, thorny and yellow-flowered shrub in the state – is sometimes called the barinas flower, which is why it is the state flower.