Venezuela

Written By : Heather D. Heckel, Edwin Lieuwen, Jennifer L. McCoy, John D. Martz

Alternative Titles: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, República Bolivariana de 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 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, have been accompanied by
imbalances among the country’s regions and socioeconomic groups, and Venezuela’s cities have
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 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, the republic since 1958 has been more democratic and politically stable than most other
Latin American nations, and its economic prospects remain strong, particularly in regard to the
petroleum industry.

The land

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.

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.

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.

Climate

Venezuela lies well within the tropics, and the country’s temperatures are relatively uniform with
little seasonal variation. Elevation, however, produces significant local differences in
temperature, precipitation, and vegetation. More than nine-tenths of Venezuela has a mean
annual temperature above 75 °F (24 °C). The average mean temperature for Caracas, lying in a
high valley, is about 72 °F (22 °C), whereas the nearby port of La Guaira averages some 81 °F
(27 °C). Mérida, at more than 4,900 feet (1,500 metres), averages 66 °F (19 °C), while low-lying
Maracaibo, at sea level, averages 82 °F (28 °C). A considerable part of the mountain region has
temperate conditions, but the cold (arctic) zone of higher elevations is much smaller than in other
Andean countries. Diurnal temperature ranges are more pronounced than month-to-month
variations, a characteristic trait of the tropics.
Venezuela’s climatic year is divided into two seasons: the wet season, which lasts from May to
October and even continues sporadically through November; and the dry season, which begins in
December and continues until the end of March. Regional variations in precipitation are marked,
however. Only the northeastern coastal areas receive appreciable rainfall in the summer. The
northwestern coast is more arid, with some places receiving less than 20 inches (500 mm) of
precipitation annually. La Guaira, for example, receives an average of only 11 inches (280 mm).
Rain shadow areas behind coastal and upland ranges are also quite dry, while their corresponding
windward slopes are generally well watered. Inland the Llanos and the southern interior of the
country generally receive sufficient rainfall to support tropical savanna, lush tropical rainforest
(selva), and cropland and pastures. Seasonal cycles of flood and drought are common in the
Llanos region, and tropical conditions occasionally bring heavy downpours to other areas, such
as the northern coast, which experienced deadly floods and mud slides in December 1999.

The people

This section discusses migration, ethnic groups, population growth, and the languages and
religions of Venezuela. For treatment of the lifestyles and artistic achievements of the
Venezuelan people, see Cultural life.

Cultural life

As Venezuelans moved from the countryside to the cities, they developed a modern urban
lifestyle; large middle-class neighbourhoods developed alongside burgeoning poor ranchos.
Many middle- and upper-class Venezuelans acquired wealth from oil in the 1950s–70s, which
enabled them to travel easily, especially to the United States, and to own cars and houses. The
economic downturn since the 1980s has interrupted that easy lifestyle, however, and poverty has
grown.

In Venezuela the admixture of African, European, and Indian cultural traditions is often
called criollo (Creole), although that term in most Latin American contexts denotes people of
European ancestry. Venezuelans boast criollo foods, dances, and, especially, music. National
foods include arepa (a cornmeal bread) and hallaca (sweet cornmeal dough cooked in banana
leaves). Other typical foods include passion fruit and tamarinds, tequeños (cheese pastries),
pabellón (a stew of beef, rice, and black beans served over fried plantains), and pulpo (octopus)
cooked in citrus juice. During the pre-Lenten Carnival more elaborate dishes are served, such as
paella and talcari de chivo (“kid stew”). Locally produced beer and rum are popular, as is coffee
served in many different styles, each with its own name reflecting the amount of milk added to
the coffee.

Although North American music is popular and widespread in Venezuela, the Caribbean
salsa and merengue forms are also commonly heard. The national Venezuelan folk dance and
musical style is the joropa, but each region of the country has its own distinctive musical
expression. (See also Native American arts: Northern South America.)