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Venezuela
Table of Contents
Venezuela

Table of Contents
 * Introduction & Quick Facts
   
 * Land
    * Relief
   
    * Drainage
   
    * Soils
   
    * Climate
   
    * Plant and animal life
      * Flora
      * Fauna
      * Conservation
   
    * Settlement patterns
      * Regional disparities
      * Urbanization
      * Decentralization

 * People
    * Immigration and ethnic composition
   
    * Demographic trends
   
    * Languages
   
    * Religion

 * Economy
    * Resources
      * Minerals
      * Power
   
    * Agriculture, fishing, and forestry
   
    * Industry
   
    * Services
      * Finance
      * Trade
   
    * Transportation

 * Administration and social conditions
    * Government
   
    * Education
   
    * Health and welfare

 * Cultural life
    * Daily life
   
    * The arts
   
    * Cultural institutions
   
    * Sports and recreation
   
    * Press and broadcasting

 * History
    * The colonial era
   
    * The independence movement
   
    * The caudillos (1830–1935)
      * Páez and the Conservatives
      * The Monagas and the civil wars
      * The reigns of Guzmán Blanco and Crespo
      * The Andinos
   
    * Venezuela since 1935
      * Technocrats and party politics
      * Economic boom and bust
      * The Hugo Chávez presidency
      * The presidency of Nicolás Maduro

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 * Venezuela summary
 * Facts & Stats

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Home Geography & Travel Countries of the World


VENEZUELA

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Alternate titles: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, República Bolivariana de
Venezuela
Written by
Jennifer L. McCoy
Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University. Director, Latin
American and Caribbean Program, The Carter Center. Author of Venezuelan
Democracy Under Stress.

Jennifer L. McCoy,
Edwin Lieuwen
Professor of Latin-American History, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
Author of Venezuela and others.

Edwin Lieuwen,
John D. Martz
Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Pennsylvania State University,
University Park. Author of Acción Democratica: Evolution of a Modern Political
Party in Venezuela and others.

John D. MartzSee All
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have
extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that
content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify
and edit content received from contributors.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: Feb 19, 2023 • Article History
Table of Contents
flag of Venezuela
Audio File: National anthem of Venezuela
See all media
Head Of State And Government: President: Nicolás Maduro2 ...(Show more) Capital:
Caracas ...(Show more) Population: (2023 est.) 33,740,000 ...(Show more)
Currency Exchange Rate: 1 USD equals 2434515.247 Venezuelan bolivar ...(Show
more) Form Of Government: federal multiparty republic with a unicameral
legislature (National Assembly [1671]) ...(Show more)
See all facts & stats →
Summary


READ A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THIS TOPIC





Angel Falls, Venezuela

Venezuela, country located at the northern end of South America. It occupies a
roughly triangular area that is larger than the combined areas of France and
Germany. Venezuela is bounded by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the
north, Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the southwest
and west. The national capital, Caracas, is Venezuela’s primary centre of
industry, commerce, education, and tourism.


Venezuela

Venezuela administers a number of Caribbean islands and archipelagos, among
which are Margarita Island, La Blanquilla, La Tortuga, Los Roques, and Los
Monjes. Since the early 19th century Venezuela has claimed jurisdiction over
Guyanese territory west of the Essequibo River totaling some 53,000 square miles
(137,000 square km)—nearly two-thirds of the land area of Guyana. Venezuela also
has had a long dispute with Colombia over the delimitation of maritime
boundaries in the Gulf of Venezuela and around the archipelago of Los Monjes.

A physiographically diverse country, Venezuela incorporates the northern Andean
mountain chains and interior highlands, the main portions of the Orinoco River
basin with its expansive Llanos (plains), Lake Maracaibo, which is the largest
lake in South America, and the spectacular Angel Falls, the world’s highest
waterfall. The republic’s development pattern has been unique among Latin
American countries in terms of the speed, sequence, and timing of economic and
demographic growth. In the 20th century Venezuela was transformed from a
relatively poor agrarian society to a rapidly urbanizing one, a condition made
possible by exploiting huge petroleum reserves. These changes, however, were
accompanied by imbalances among the country’s regions and socioeconomic groups,
and Venezuela’s cities swelled because of a massive and largely uncontrolled
migration from rural areas, as well as mass immigration, much of it illegal,
from Colombia and other neighbours.



Venezuela, like many other Latin American countries, has a high percentage of
urban poverty, a massive foreign debt, and widespread governmental patronage and
corruption. Venezuela’s social and political ills have been compounded by
natural disasters such as the floods that devastated sections of Caracas, La
Guaira, and other coastal areas in late 1999. On the other hand, from 1958 to
the early 21st century the republic was more democratic and politically stable
than most other Latin American nations, and its economy benefited from a
thriving petroleum industry that capitalized on the world’s largest known oil
reserves. Venezuela’s position in the world became more precarious during the
second decade of the 21st century as a result of the controversial rule of
revolutionary leader Hugo Chávez, a significant decline in the fortunes of its
petroleum industry, and the increasing authoritarianism of Chávez’s successor,
Nicholás Maduro.

Britannica Quiz
Countries & Their Features



LAND


Physical features of Venezuela

tablelands, southern Venezuela

The Venezuelan landscape includes towering mountains, tropical jungles, broad
river plains, and arid coastal plains, all of which provide a diversity of
natural habitats and a range of challenges to social integration and economic
development.




RELIEF

Venezuela’s topography can be divided into three broad elevational divisions:
the lowland plains, which rise from sea level to about 1,650 feet (500 metres),
the mountains, which reach elevations of some 16,400 feet (5,000 metres), and
the interior forested uplands, with scattered peaks above 6,550 feet (2,000
metres). Within these broad divisions, seven physiographic regions can be
distinguished: the islands and coastal plains, including the Orinoco delta; the
Lake Maracaibo Lowlands; the Mérida and Perijá ranges of the Andes Mountains;
the coastal mountain system (with its Coastal and Interior ranges); the
northwestern valleys and hill ranges, also called the Segovia Highlands; the
Llanos; and the Guiana Highlands.


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The islands and coastal plains are located in the north. They include the
Caribbean “Islands to the Leeward,” such as Margarita and La Tortuga, and
several peninsulas, including the head-shaped Paraguaná in the northwest and, in
the northeast, Araya and Paria, the latter a finger of land pointing at
Trinidad. The coastal plains extend from the Colombian border and the Gulf of
Venezuela eastward to the foothills of the coastal mountains, which are broken
in the east by the Unare River basin. Farther east is the Orinoco delta, which
opens onto the Atlantic Ocean through a number of distributaries (caños); an
early gateway to the settlement of the interior, it is a low, dank, and swampy
area heavily dissected by streams.

The two branches of the Andes that traverse northwestern Venezuela, including
the country’s highest peaks, are northeastward extensions of the Colombian
Andes’ Cordillera Oriental. The western branch, known as the Perijá Mountains
(Sierra de Perijá, or Serranía de los Motilones), runs along the border with
Colombia, whereas the eastern branch, the Cordillera de Mérida, extends from the
border to Lara state and divides the Lake Maracaibo basin from that of the
Orinoco River. Physiographically, the Segovia Highlands, northwest of
Barquisimeto, and the coastal ranges may also be considered parts of the Andes
chain. The highest point in the Venezuelan Andes is Bolívar Peak (La Columna),
which rises to 16,332 feet (4,978 metres) in the Cordillera de Mérida. Between
the high Andean ranges are Lake Maracaibo and its associated lowlands; this
basin is one of the main oil-producing regions of the country.

The coastal mountain system, in effect two parallel ranges—the Coastal Range and
the Interior Range—contains Venezuela’s greatest concentration of population,
although it covers only a tiny fraction of the national territory. In the
intermontane valleys are the major cities of Caracas, Valencia, and Maracay, and
all but the steepest slopes are populated. Naiguatá Peak, at 9,072 feet (2,765
metres), is the highest point in the coastal system.

The valleys and hill ranges of the northwest lie east of Lake Maracaibo and
form, in part, a transitional upland zone between the Coastal and Andean
mountains. Elevations there range from 1,600 to 5,500 feet (490 to 1,680
metres). Within this region is the only desert in Venezuela—the sand dunes
around the city of Coro.



Along the course of the Orinoco River lie the Llanos, a relatively level region
of savannas and tropical rainforests, where the land undulates only between low
mesalike interfluves and shallow, meandering, braided river courses. Cattle
raising and oil exploration predominate in this sparsely populated region, which
experiences river flooding in summer and drought in winter. From the Andean
foothills to the Orinoco delta, the Llanos extend for some 800 miles (1,300 km),
varying in width from about 100 miles (160 km) in the east to 300 miles (500 km)
in the west.

Tour the fog forests atop tepui summits and waterfalls near Angel Falls in
Venezuela's Guiana Highlands
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From the Orinoco through the southernmost (Amazonas) territory bordering
Colombia, Brazil, and Guyana are the vast Guiana Highlands, or Guayana, largely
an upland surface of rounded hills and narrow valleys formed from ancient
crystalline rocks. Occupying more than two-fifths of the country’s land area, it
is the most remote and least explored part of Venezuela. Along the southern
border with Brazil are groups of massive plateaus and steep-sided mesas, known
as tepuis (tepuyes), capped with erosion-resistant sandstone and covered with
intermingled savanna and semideciduous forest. Among the larger tepuis in the
southeast are Camón, Chimanta, and the famous Mount Roraima, which rises to
9,094 feet (2,772 metres) along the Guyanese border. Like the lowland savannas
of the Llanos, the tepuis experience extreme rainy and dry seasons.



Along the southeastern Guiana Highlands, in the region called La Gran Sabana,
are Angel Falls (Parecupá Merú), the highest waterfall in the world, measuring
3,212 feet (979 metres) from the cliffs of the massive Auyán tepui (Auyantepui)
to the valley floor below. Other major waterfalls in the region are Torón,
Karuay, and Yuri. The highlands are sparsely settled but have tremendous
resources; they abound in deposits of iron ore, gold, and diamonds, and they
possess considerable hydroelectric potential, as well as hardwood forest
resources. The Venezuelan military has long been concerned with the highlands
because of the long-standing territorial dispute with Guyana, as well as illegal
crossings of people, cattle, and narcotics over the Colombian and Brazilian
borders.



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External Websites
 * Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook - Venezuela
 * Library of Congress - Research and Reference Services - Venezuela

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Select Citation Style
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McCoy, Jennifer L. , Lieuwen, Edwin , Martz, John D. and Heckel, Heather D..
"Venezuela". Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Feb. 2023,
https://www.britannica.com/place/Venezuela. Accessed 23 February 2023.
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External Websites
 * Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook - Venezuela
 * Library of Congress - Research and Reference Services - Venezuela

Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
 * Venezuela - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
 * Venezuela - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)



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