Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and various islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It comprises an area of 912,050 km2 (352,140 sq mi), with a population estimated at 31.8 million in 2025. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is Caracas. The continental territory is bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Colombia, Brazil on the south, Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east, and on the east by Guyana. Venezuela consists of 23 states, the Capital District, and federal dependencies covering Venezuela's offshore islands. Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America; the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north, including in the capital.
The territory of Venezuela was colonized by Spain in 1522, amid resistance from Indigenous peoples. In 1811, it became one of the first Spanish-American territories to declare independence from the Spanish and to form part of the first federal Republic of Colombia (Gran Colombia). It separated as a fully sovereign country in 1830. During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political turmoil and autocracy, remaining dominated by regional military dictators until the mid-20th century. From 1958, the country had a series of democratic governments, as an exception where most of the region was ruled by military dictatorships, and the period was characterized by economic prosperity. Economic shocks in the 1980s and 1990s led to major political crises and widespread social unrest, including the deadly Caracazo riots of 1989, two attempted coups in 1992, and the impeachment of a president for embezzlement of public funds charges in 1993. Confidence in the existing political parties collapsed during the 1998 Venezuelan presidential election, in which Hugo Chávez was elected and which became the catalyst for the Bolivarian Revolution. During the 1999 Constituent Assembly, a new Constitution of Venezuela was written and ratified.
The government's populist social welfare policies were temporarily bolstered by soaring oil prices, temporarily increasing social spending and reducing economic inequality and poverty in the early years of the Chávez regime. Poverty began to rapidly increase, however, in mid- to late 2014. The 2013, 2018 and 2024 presidential elections were all widely disputed, with opposition candidates being arrested or exiled. This led to widespread protest and international condemnation, which triggered another nationwide crisis. In January 2026, the United States captured President Nicolás Maduro. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as acting president.
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Venezuela is officially a federal presidential republic, but has experienced democratic backsliding into an authoritarian state under the Chávez and Maduro administrations. It ranks poorly on international measurements of freedom of the press, civil liberties, and control of corruption. Venezuela is a developing country, has the world's largest known oil reserves, and has been one of the world's leading exporters of oil. Previously, the country was an underdeveloped exporter of agricultural commodities such as coffee and cocoa, but oil quickly came to dominate exports and government revenues. Venezuela struggles with hyperinflation, shortages of basic goods, unemployment, poverty, disease, high child mortality, malnutrition, environmental issues, severe crime, widespread corruption, and U.S. sanctions which have precipitated the Venezuelan refugee crisis where more than 7.9 million people had fled the country. The crisis in Venezuela has contributed to a rapidly deteriorating human rights situation.
Etymology
According to the most popular and accepted explanation, in 1499, an expedition led by Alonso de Ojeda visited the Venezuelan coast. The stilt houses in the area of Lake Maracaibo reminded the Italian navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, of the city of Venice, Italy, so he named the region Veneziola, or "Little Venice". The Spanish version of Veneziola is Venezuela.
Martín Fernández de Enciso, a member of the Vespucci and Ojeda crew, gives a different account. In his work Summa de geografía, he states that the crew found Indigenous peoples who called themselves the Veneciuela. Thus, the name "Venezuela" may have evolved from the native word.
Previously, the official name was Estado de Venezuela (1830–1856), República de Venezuela (1856–1864), Estados Unidos de Venezuela (1864–1953), and again República de Venezuela (1953–1999).
History
Pre-Columbian history
Evidence exists of human habitation in the area now known as Venezuela from about 15,000 years ago. Tools have been found on the high riverine terraces of the Rio Pedregal in western Venezuela. Late Pleistocene hunting artifacts, including spear tips, have been found at a similar series of sites in northwestern Venezuela; according to radiocarbon dating, these date from 13,000 to 7,000 BC.
It is estimated that one million people lived in the region before Spanish conquest. In addition to Indigenous peoples known today, the population included groups such as the Kalina (Caribs), Auaké, Caquetio, Mariche, and Timoto–Cuicas. The Timoto–Cuica culture was the most complex society, with planned permanent villages surrounded by irrigated, terraced fields. Houses were made of stone and wood with thatched roofs. They were peaceful and depended on growing crops. Regional crops included potatoes and ullucos. They left behind art, particularly anthropomorphic ceramics, but no major monuments. They spun vegetable fibers to weave into textiles and mats for housing. They are credited with having invented the arepa, a staple in Venezuelan cuisine.
After the conquest, the population dropped markedly, mainly through the spread of infectious diseases from Europe. Two main north–south axes of pre-Columbian population were present, who cultivated maize in the west and manioc in the east. Large parts of the llanos were cultivated through a combination of slash and burn and permanent settled agriculture.
Colonization
In 1498, during his third voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus sailed near the Orinoco Delta and landed in the Gulf of Paria. Amazed by the great offshore current of freshwater which deflected his course eastward, Columbus expressed in a letter to Isabella and Ferdinand that he must have reached Heaven on Earth (terrestrial paradise):
Great signs are these of the Terrestrial Paradise... for I have never read or heard of such a large quantity of fresh water being inside and in such close proximity to salt water; the very mild temperateness also corroborates this; and if the water of which I speak does not proceed from Paradise then it is an even greater marvel, because I do not believe such a large and deep river has ever been known to exist in this world.
Spain's colonization of mainland Venezuela started in 1522, establishing its first permanent South American settlement in the present-day city of Cumaná.
German colonization
In the 16th century, the king of Spain granted a concession to the German Welser family. Klein-Venedig became the most extensive initiative in the German colonization of the Americas from 1528 to 1546. The Welsers were bankers to the Habsburgs and financiers of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, who was king of Spain and had borrowed heavily from them to pay bribes for his imperial election. In 1528, Charles V granted the Welsers the right to explore, rule and colonize the territory, as well as to seek the mythical golden town of El Dorado.
The first expedition was led by Ambrosius Ehinger, who established Maracaibo in 1529. After the deaths of first Ehinger in 1533 then Nikolaus Federmann, and Georg von Speyer in 1540, Philipp von Hutten persisted in exploring the interior. In absence of von Hutten from the capital of the province, the crown of Spain claimed the right to appoint a governor. On Hutten's return to the capital Santa Ana de Coro in 1546, the Spanish governor Juan de Carvajal had Hutten and Bartholomeus VI. Welser executed. Subsequently, Charles V revoked the Welser family concession. The Welsers transported German miners to the colony, in addition to 4,000 African slaves to plant sugar cane plantations. Many German colonists died through wars with the Indigenous inhabitants or from tropical diseases.
16th century native caciques (leaders) Guaicaipuro and Tamanaco attempted to resist Spanish incursions, but the newcomers ultimately subdued them. In the 16th century Indigenous peoples such as the Mariche people converted to Roman Catholicism. Some resisting tribes or leaders are commemorated in place names, including Caracas, Chacao and Los Teques. The early colonial settlements focused on the northern coast, but in the mid-18th century, the Spanish pushed farther inland along the Orinoco River. Here, the Ye'kuana organized resistance in 1775–76.
Spain's eastern Venezuelan settlements were incorporated into New Andalusia Province. Administered by the Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo from the early 16th century, most of Venezuela became part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in the early 18th century and was then reorganized as an autonomous Captaincy General starting in 1777. Caracas, founded in the central coastal region in 1567, was well-placed to become a key location, being near the coastal port of La Guaira and in a valley, in a mountain range, providing defensive strength against pirates and a more fertile and healthy climate.
Independence and 19th century
After unsuccessful uprisings, Venezuela under the leadership of Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan marshal who had fought in the American and French Revolutions, declared independence as the First Republic of Venezuela on 1811-07-11. This began the Venezuelan War of Independence. A devastating 1812 Caracas earthquake, together with the rebellion of the Venezuelan llaneros, helped bring down the republic. Simón Bolívar, leader of the independentist forces, launched his Admirable Campaign in 1813 from New Granada, retaking most of the territory and being proclaimed as El Libertador ("The Liberator"). A Second Republic of Venezuela was proclaimed on 7 August 1813, but lasted only a few months before being crushed by royalist caudillo José Tomás Boves and his personal army of llaneros.
The end of the French invasion of homeland Spain in 1814 allowed a large expeditionary force to come under general Pablo Morillo, with the goal to regain the lost territory in Venezuela and New Granada. As the war reached a stalemate on 1817, Bolívar reestablished the Third Republic of Venezuela on the territory still controlled by the patriots, mainly in the Guayana and Llanos regions. This republic was short-lived as only two years later, during the Congress of Angostura of 1819, the union of Venezuela with New Granada was decreed to form the Republic of Colombia.
The war continued until full victory and sovereignty was attained after the Battle of Carabobo on 24 June 1821. On 24 July 1823, José Prudencio Padilla and Rafael Urdaneta helped seal Venezuelan independence with their victory in the Battle of Lake Maracaibo. New Granada's congress gave Bolívar control of the Granadian army; leading it, he liberated several countries and founded the Republic of Colombia (Gran Colombia).
Sucre went on to liberate Ecuador and become the second president of Bolivia. Venezuela remained part of Gran Colombia until 1830, when a rebellion led by José Antonio Páez allowed the proclamation of a newly independent Venezuela, on 22 September; Páez became the first president of the State of Venezuela. Between one-quarter and one-third of Venezuela's population was lost during these two decades of war (including about half the Venezuelans of European descent), which by 1830 was estimated at 800,000. In the Flag of Venezuela, the yellow stands for land wealth, the blue for the sea that separates Venezuela from Spain, and the red for the blood shed by the heroes of independence.
Slavery in Venezuela was abolished in 1854. Much of Venezuela's 19th-century history was characterized by political turmoil and dictatorial rule, including the independence leader José Antonio Páez, who gained the presidency three times and served 11 years between 1830 and 1863. This culminated in the Federal War (1859–63). In the latter half of the century, Antonio Guzmán Blanco, another caudillo, served 13 nonconsecutive years, between 1870 and 1887, with three other presidents interspersed.
In 1895, a longstanding dispute with Great Britain about the Essequibo territory, which Britain claimed as part of British Guiana and Venezuela saw as Venezuelan territory, erupted into the Venezuela crisis of 1895. The dispute became a diplomatic crisis when Venezuela's lobbyist, William L. Scruggs, sought to argue that British behavior over the issue violated the United States' Monroe Doctrine of 1823, and used his influence in Washington, D.C., to pursue the matter. Then, U.S. president Grover Cleveland adopted a broad interpretation of the doctrine that declared an American interest in any matter within the hemisphere. Britain ultimately accepted arbitration, but in negotiations over its terms was able to persuade the U.S. on many details. A tribunal convened in Paris in 1898 to decide the issue and in 1899 awarded the bulk of the disputed territory to British Guiana.
In 1899, Cipriano Castro, assisted by his friend Juan Vicente Gómez, seized power in Caracas. Castro defaulted on Venezuela's considerable foreign debts and declined to pay compensation to foreigners caught up in Venezuela's civil wars. This led to the Venezuela crisis of 1902–1903, in which Britain, Germany and Italy imposed a naval blockade before international arbitration at the Permanent Court of Arbitration was agreed. In 1908, another dispute broke out with the Netherlands, which was resolved when Castro left for medical treatment in Germany and was promptly overthrown by Juan Vicente Gómez, who ruled until 1935.
20th century
The discovery of massive oil deposits in Lake Maracaibo during World War I proved pivotal for Venezuela and transformed its economy from a heavy dependence on agricultural exports. It prompted a boom that lasted into the 1980s; by 1935, Venezuela's per capita gross domestic product was Latin America's highest. Gómez benefited handsomely from this as corruption thrived, but at the same time the new source of income helped him centralize the state and develop its authority.
Gómez remained the most powerful man in Venezuela until his death in 1935. The gomecista dictatorship (1935–45) system largely continued under Eleazar López Contreras but was relaxed from 1941 under Isaías Medina Angarita. Angarita granted a range of reforms, including the legalization of all political parties. After World War II, immigration from southern Europe and poorer Latin American countries markedly diversified Venezuelan society.
In 1945, a civilian-military coup overthrew Angarita and ushered in a period of democratic rule (1945–48) under the mass membership party Democratic Action, initially under Rómulo Betancourt, until Rómulo Gallegos won the 1947 Venezuelan presidential election (the first free and fair elections in Venezuela). Gallegos governed until overthrown by a military junta led by Luis Felipe Llovera Páez, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, and Gallegos' Defense Minister, Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, in the 1948 Venezuelan coup d'état.
The most powerful man in the military junta (1948–58) was Pérez Jiménez; he was suspected of being behind the death of Chalbaud, who died in a bungled kidnapping in 1950. When the junta unexpectedly lost the 1952 presidential election, it ignored the results and Jiménez was installed as president. Jiménez was forced out on 23 January 1958. In an effort to consolidate a young democracy, the three major political parties (Acción Democrática (AD), COPEI and Unión Republicana Democrática (URD), with the notable exception of the Communist Party of Venezuela), signed the Puntofijo Pact power-sharing agreement. AD and COPEI dominated the political landscape for four decades.
During the presidencies of Rómulo Betancourt (1959–64) and Raúl Leoni (1964–69), substantial guerilla movements occurred. Most laid down their arms under Rafael Caldera's first presidency (1969–74). Caldera had won the 1968 election for COPEI, the first time a party other than AD took the presidency through a democratic election. The new democratic order had its antagonists. Betancourt suffered an attack planned by the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1960, and the leftists excluded from the pact initiated an insurgency by organizing themselves into the Armed Forces of National Liberation, sponsored by the Communist Party and Fidel Castro. In 1962 they tried to destabilize the military corps, with failed revolts. Betancourt promoted a foreign policy, the Betancourt Doctrine, in which he only recognized elected governments by popular vote.
The 1973 Venezuelan presidential election of Carlos Andrés Pérez coincided with an oil crisis, in which Venezuela's income exploded as oil prices soared; oil industries were nationalized in 1976. This led to massive increases in public spending but also increases in external debts, until the collapse of oil prices during the 1980s crippled the economy. As the government started to devalue the currency in 1983 to face its financial obligations, standards of living fell dramatically. Failed economic policies and increasing corruption in government led to rising poverty and crime, worsening social indicators, and increased political instability.
In the 1980s, the Presidential Commission for State Reform (COPRE) emerged as a mechanism of political innovation. Venezuela decentralized its political system and diversified its economy, reducing the size of the state. COPRE operated as an innovation mechanism, also by incorporating issues into the political agenda, that were excluded from public deliberation by the main actors of the democratic system. The most discussed topics were incorporated into the public agenda: decentralization, political participation, municipalization, judicial order reforms and the role of the state in a new economic strategy. The social reality made the changes difficult to apply.
Economic crises in the 1980s and 1990s led to a political crisis. Hundreds of people were killed by security forces and the military in the Caracazo riots of 1989, during the second presidential term of Carlos Andrés Pérez (1989–93) and after the implementation of economic austerity measures. Hugo Chávez, who in 1982 had promised to depose the bipartisanship governments, used the growing anger at economic austerity measures to justify a coup attempt in February 1992; a second coup d'état attempt occurred in November.
Pérez was impeached under embezzlement charges in 1993, leading to the interim presidency of Ramón José Velásquez (1993–94). Coup leader Chávez was pardoned in March 1994 by President Rafael Caldera (1994–99, his second term), with a clean slate and his political rights reinstated, allowing Chávez to win and maintain the presidency continuously from 1999 until his death in 2013. Chávez won the elections of 1998, 2000, 2006 and 2012 and the presidential referendum of 2004.
Bolivarian government under Chávez: 1999–2013
Chávez was elected president in 1998 under a collapse in confidence in the existing parties, which also launched the Bolivarian Revolution, beginning with a 1999 constituent assembly to write a new constitution. The revolution refers to a left-wing populist social movement and political process led by Chávez, who founded the Fifth Republic Movement in 1997 and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela in 2007. The Bolivarian Revolution is named after Simón Bolívar.
According to Chávez and other supporters, the revolution sought to build a mass movement to implement Bolivarianism—popular democracy, economic independence, equitable distribution of revenues, and an end to political corruption. They interpret Bolívar's ideas from a populist perspective, using socialist rhetoric. This led to formation of the Fifth Republic of Venezuela, commonly known as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, that continues to the present day. Venezuela has been considered the Bolivarian Republic following the adoption of the Constitution of 1999.
Following Chávez's election, Venezuela developed into a dominant-party system, dominated by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Chávez was briefly ousted from power in a 2002 Venezuelan coup attempt following demonstrations by his opponents. Efforts by interim president Pedro Carmona to nullify the 1999 constitution and undo Chávez's reforms provoked popular outcry and caused support by the military for the coup to wane. Chávez returned after two days as a result of demonstrations by Chávez supporters and actions by the military. Chávez remained in power after a national strike lasted from December 2002 to February 2003, including a strike/lockout in the state oil company PDVSA. Following the failed coup attempt, Chávez sought to limit the influence of his political opponents by promoting state television and restricting the influence of privately owned media. Chávez survived further political tests, including a 2004 recall referendum. He was elected for another term in December 2006. The first US sanctions against Venezuelan officials were imposed in 2008.
Income inequality declined and Venezuelans' quality of life improved at the third fastest rate worldwide during Chávez's administration. From 2006 to 2011, Venezuela moved up seven spots on the Human Development Index, to 73 out of 187. The poverty rate declined from 48.6% to 29.5% from 2002 to 2011. The economy grew by 95% from 2003 to 2010. Social spending per person tripled, and access to healthcare and education improved. Chávez initiated Bolivarian missions, programs aimed at helping the poor. The missions increased health coverage, improved education and virtually eliminated illiteracy, but failed to meet their housing goals. During Mission Robinson, nearly 1.5 million adults learned to read.
From 2006 to 2013, PDVSA's external debt increased from $3 billion to $35 billion. The economy had become dependent on the exportation of oil, with crude accounting for 86% of exports, and a high price per barrel to support social programs. The reliance of Chávez's socioeconomic policies on oil sales and importing goods resulted in large amounts of debt, no change to corruption in Venezuela and culminated into an economic crisis.
The financial crisis led to a decline in the price of oil. Unlike countries such as China and Bolivia who used well-timed public sector stimulus to avoid economic contractions during this period, Venezuela's public sector growth fell, and the economy at large contracted. Venezuela's currency was overvalued, causing its exports to be unusually expensive and its imports unusually cheap, making diversification away from oil more challenging.
In the subsequent decade, the government was forced into currency devaluations.
These devaluations did not improve the situation of the people who rely on imported products or locally produced products that depend on imported inputs, while dollar-denominated oil sales account for the majority of exports.
Profits of the oil industry were lost to "social engineering" and corruption, instead of investments needed to maintain oil production.
Chavez was elected to a third term in October 2012, but was not sworn in due to medical complications and his death was officially announced as 5 March 2013.
Nicolás Maduro was picked by Chavez as his successor, appointing him vice president in 2013.
Bolivarian government under Maduro: 2013–2026
Maduro became president of Venezuela on 14 April 2013, when he won the presidential election after Chavez' death with 51% of the vote, against Henrique Capriles at 49%. The Democratic Unity Roundtable contested Maduro's election as fraudulent, but an audit of 56% of the vote showed no discrepancies and the Supreme Court of Venezuela ruled Maduro was the legitimate president.
Venezuela's history of devaluation of the hard and sovereign bolívar currency continued and food shortages became widespread.
Since February 2014, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have protested over high levels of crime, corruption, hyperinflation, and chronic scarcity of basic goods due to government policies. Demonstrations and riots have resulted in over 40 fatalities in the unrest between Chavistas and opposition protesters and opposition leaders, including the arrests of Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma. Human rights groups condemned the arrest of López. In late 2014, US President Barack Obama's administration imposed additional unilateral sanctions on the Venezuelan officials involved in the crackdown on the protests. In the summer of 2015, the Venezuelan military initiated an operation in response to opposition paramilitary attacks on police and civil society establishments. In the 2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election, the opposition gained a two-thirds majority. The opposition sought to reverse many Chavez era laws, such as the nationalization of telecommunications and news broadcasting, and secure amnesty for imprisoned opposition leaders charged with corruption or leading violent protests. It also considered a recall campaign against Maduro, but this was infeasible since 7.5 million new voters had been registered since the last recall effort, increasing the number of signatures needed for a recall election. The first law passed by the opposition granted amnesty from prosecution for offenses committed since January 1999, including participation in the 2002 coup attempt.
In January 2016, Maduro declared an "economic emergency", revealing the extent of the crisis and expanding his powers. The government established committees to oversee local food distribution, called CLAPs. Government officials blamed economic sabotage by business interests for the economic crisis, citing examples of eggs and milk being destroyed on the orders of business owners. Corruption also played a role, with shortages incentivizing selfish behavior and the exploitation of social programs. Venezuelans, including some Chavistas criticized the government for being too soft on corruption. In July 2016, Colombian border crossings were temporarily opened to allow Venezuelans to purchase food and basic health items. In September 2016, a study indicated 15% of Venezuelans were eating "food waste discarded by commercial establishments". 200 prison riots had occurred by October 2016.
The Maduro-aligned Supreme Tribunal, which had been overturning National Assembly decisions since the opposition took control in 2015, took over the functions of the assembly, creating the 2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis. In August 2017, the 2017 Constituent National Assembly was elected and stripped the National Assembly of its powers. The election raised concerns of an emerging dictatorship. In December 2017, Maduro declared opposition parties barred from the following year's presidential vote after they boycotted mayoral polls. Opposition leaders and some international media consider Maduro's government a dictatorship.
In August 2017, US President Donald Trump's administration imposed more economic sanctions against the PDVSA and Venezuelan officials. US sanctions against Venezuela would escalate over the next two years as part of the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" strategy against the Maduro government. Sanctions in 2017 disallowed US citizens from buying Venezuelan debt and blocked dividend payments to US nationals, crippling PDVSA finances. Another round of sanctions in 2018 and 2019 amounted to an embargo on gold, oil, finance, defense and other public and private entities. $22 billion worth of Venezuelan assets held overseas were frozen. The Trump administration pressured non-US entities to reduce their purchases of Venezuelan oil and intimidated European financial institutions into dropping Venezuelan clients. Francisco Rodríguez (Venezuelan economist) said that sanctions were responsible for 59% of the decline in Venezuelan oil production after August 2017. Sanctions have resulted in international banks blocking payments for medicines, fearing retribution from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control.
