Venezuela

sovereign state in northern South America

Venezuela is a country in northern South America. Its official name is República Bolivariana de Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela). The official language is Spanish, and the capital is Caracas.

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela[1]
República Bolivariana de Venezuela  (Spanish)
Coat of arms of Venezuela
Coat of arms
Motto: Ninguno
[None]
Traditional: Dios y Federación
[God and the Federation]
Anthem: Gloria al Bravo Pueblo  (in Spanish)
Glory to the Brave People
Venezuela
Venezuela
Capital
and largest city
Caracas
National languageSpanish[2]
Ethnic groups

Demonym(s)Venezuelan
GovernmentFederal presidential constitutional republic
• President
Disputed
Delcy Rodríguez
Independence
• from Spain
5 July 1811
• from Gran Colombia
13 January 1830
• Recognized
30 March 1845
20 December 1999
Area
• Total
916,445 km2 (353,841 sq mi) (33rd)
• Water (%)
0.32[3]
Population
• 2011 estimate
27,150.095 (43rd)
• 2001 census
23,054,985
• Density
30.2/km2 (78.2/sq mi) (181st)
GDP (PPP)2010 estimate
• Total
$346.973 billion[1]
• Per capita
$11,889[1]
GDP (nominal)2010 estimate
• Total
$285.214 billion[1]
• Per capita
$9,773[1]
Gini (2010)39[2]
medium
HDI (2011)Increase 0.735
high · 73rd[3]
CurrencyBolívar[4][5] (VES)
Time zoneUTC– 4 (VET)
Driving sideright
Calling code+58
ISO 3166 codeVE
Internet TLD.ve
^ The "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" has been the full official title since the adoption of the new Constitution of 1999, when the state was renamed in honor of Simón Bolívar.
^ The Constitution also recognizes all indigenous languages spoken in the country.
^ Area totals include only Venezuelan-administered territory.

The country has a wide range of geography including islands in the Caribbean Sea, coastal areas, highlands, and parts of the Andes Mountains. Venezuela is famous for being the home of Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall, in the Bolivar state.

Venezuela produces a large amount of oil every year, and it has one of the largest oil supplies in the world. The country has a very large supply of fossil fuels, gasoline, and minerals. Venezuela's economy is based on oil, cotton, cocoa, sugar, coffee, and tobacco.

Some other languages spoken in Venezuela are Carib, Guahibo, Warao, Wayuu, Pemon, and Piaroa. Most people are Roman Catholic at 96%, and a small minority is Protestant at 2%.

People and History change

Ancient Venezuelans came from the east, west, south, and north. Christopher Columbus was the first European to enter Venezuela, but there were already people living there for a long time. The Spaniards first conquered Venezuela. Slaves were brought from Africa.

Venezuela's inhabitants are very racially mixed. This comes from the colonial period. When whites (the British, Spaniards, French, etc.) conquered America's territory, they took their black African slaves to America to work. During Venezuela's colonial time, black people did not have any rights. They just worked for food. The native people were taught Roman Catholicism. For a long time, society was headed by white creoles, people in Venezuela who were descended from Spaniards but considered Venezuela home. The other Venezuelan people did not like that, and they started thinking about independence. On July 24, 1823, Venezuela won its independence, led by Simón Bolívar.

Venezuela's modern history was shaped by a number of people, including President Romulo Betancourt, who replaced a military dictatorship with a democracy. By the 1970s, Venezuela had become rich off of oil revenue, but it had problems in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1999 Hugo Chávez became president and tried to remake Venezuela as a socialist state. While popular at first, the economic changes Chavez and the next president, Maduro, passed caused a massive economic depression in the mid-2010s. The current president is disputed.

Demographics change

The population of Venezuela is about 28,000,000 people.[6][7] The ethnic groups of the population are:

  • 65%: multiracial.
  • 21%: European.
  • 10%: African.
  • 3%: Amerindian.

Map change

 
An enlargeable basic map of Venezuela

Gallery change

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Venezuela". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  2. "Gini coefficient for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela". Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2012-04-15.
  3. "Human Development indicator for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela". United Nations. 2011. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  4. "BCV decidió retirar la expresión "soberano" del bolívar actual" (in Spanish). Caracas. El Universal. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  5. "ISO 4217 amendment number 168" (PDF). Switzerland: SIX Interbank Clearing. 2 August 2018: 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "Para el 30 de octubre de 2011, 28.946.101 Total preliminar de personas en Venezuela". www.ine.gob.ve. Archived from the original on 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
  7. 27,951,000 according to "República Bolivariana de Venezuela.". www.imf.org. Retrieved 2 January 2020.