Cojedes State (Estado Cojedes, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Carlos.
Cojedes State covers a total surface area of 14,800 km2 and, in 2011, had a census population of 323,165.
The name Cojedes, has its origin in the Cariban languages, which means: people of ceramics or people of ceramists. Name that also possesses one of the most important rivers of this federal entity of the plain, (Cojedes River) The same river that is born with the name of Rio Turbio; it passes through Barquisimeto and rises in the northern slope of the Portuguesa mountain range; when it reaches the plain of Barquisimeto it receives the flow of Rio Claro and so goes until it enters the territory of Cojedes, where it is joined by the Tucuragua and the Nirgua.
