Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Venezuela.
note 1: the country lies on major sea and air routes linking North and South America
note 2: Venezuela has some of the most unique geology in the world; tepuis are massive table-top mountains of the western Guiana Highlands that tend to be isolated and thus support unique endemic plant and animal species; their sheer cliffsides account for some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world including Angel Falls, the world's highest (979 m) that drops off Auyan Tepui
. Mother's mean age at first birth is (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 259 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)Location | Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, between Colombia and Guyana |
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Geographic coordinates | 8 00 N, 66 00 W |
Map references | South America |
Tarrain | Andes Mountains and Maracaibo Lowlands in northwest; central plains (llanos); Guiana Highlands in southeast |
Natural Resources | petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds |
Natural Hazards | subject to floods, rockslides, mudslides; periodic droughts |
Irrigated Land | 10,550 sq km (2012) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | Rio Negro (shared with Colombia [s] and Brazil [m]) - 2,250 km; Orinoco river source and mouth (shared with Colombia) - 2,101 km note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
Major aquifers | |
Land Boundaries | 5,267 km |
Border Countries | Brazil 2,137 km; Colombia 2,341 km; Guyana 789 km |
Coastline | 2,800 km |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 882,050 sq km |
Water Area | 30,000 sq km |
comparative Area | almost six times the size of Georgia; slightly more than twice the size of California |
Maritime Claims | |
Territorial sea | 12 nm |
Contiguous zone | 15 nm |
Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
Continental shelf | 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Pico Bolivar 4,978 m |
Lowest point | Caribbean Sea 0 m |
Mean elevation | 450 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 24.5% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 3.1% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0.8% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 20.6% (2018 est.) |
Forest | 52.1% (2018 est.) |
Other | 23.4% (2018 est.) |
Most of the population is concentrated in the northern and western highlands along an eastern spur at the northern end of the Andes, an area that includes the capital of Caracas
In Venezuela, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Unspecified Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, Indigenous
Population | |
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Pop growth rate | 2.34% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 16.7 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 6.5 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | 3.8% of GDP (2020) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 0.9 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
Total fertility rate | 2.18 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 1.06 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 75% (2010) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 51.5% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
Education expenditures | 1.3% of GDP (2017 est.) |
Net Migration rate | 13.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Venezuelan | Venezuelan(s) |
Languages | |
Religions | Roman Catholic 48.1%, Protestant 31.6% (Evangelical 31.4%, Adventist 0.2%), Jehovah's Witness 1.4%, African American/umbanda 0.7%, other 0.1%, believer 3.5%, agnostic 0.1%, atheist, 0.4%, none 13.6%, unspecified 0.6% (2023 est.) |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 25% (male 3,987,361/female 3,811,307) |
15-64 years | 65.9% (male 10,264,353/female 10,330,376) |
65 years and over | 9.1% (2024 est.) (male 1,303,737/female 1,553,172) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 57.5 |
Youth dependency ratio | 44.4 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 13.1 |
Potential support ratio | 7.6 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 31 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 30.3 years |
Female | 31.7 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 88.4% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 1.16% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 2.972 million CARACAS (capital), 2.368 million Maracaibo, 1.983 million Valencia, 1.254 million Barquisimeto, 1.243 million Maracay, 964,000 Ciudad Guayana (2023). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.05 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 0.99 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 0.84 male(s)/female |
Total population | 0.99 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 13.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 15.4 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 12.2 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 74.5 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 71.5 years |
Female | 77.7 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: NA |
Improved: rural | rural: NA |
Improved: total | total: 94.2% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: NA |
Unimproved: rural | rural: NA |
Unimproved: total | total: 5.8% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: NA |
Improved: rural | rural: NA |
Improved: total | total: 95.8% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: NA |
Unimproved: rural | rural: NA |
Unimproved: total | total: 4.2% of population (2020 est.) |
Major Infectious diseases | |
Degree of risk | high (2023) |
Food or waterborne diseases | bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A |
Vectorborne diseases | dengue fever and malaria |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 2.51 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 1.54 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 0.92 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Venezuela’s ongoing socio-economic, political, and human rights crises have resulted in widespread poverty and food insecurity and have devastated the country’s healthcare system. According to a 2018 national hospital survey, many hospitals were unable to provide basic services, and 20% of operating rooms and intensive care units were non-functional. Hospitals reported shortages in water (79%), medicines (88%), and surgical supplies (79%). The poor conditions in healthcare facilities have motivated many doctors and other health professionals to emigrate, resulting in shortages of specialists, particularly in emergency care. The scarcity of medicines, vaccines, medical supplies, and mosquito controls is leading to a rise in infectious diseases. Tuberculosis cases jumped by 68% between 2014 and 2017, and malaria rates had the largest rise in the world from 2016 to 2017 at 69%. Diptheria, which had been eradicated in the country in 1999, re-emerged in 2016, and new cases have surfaced in 2023. Infectious disease outbreaks, such as measles and malaria, have crossed into neighboring countries. Infant mortality, which had been decreasing since the 1950s, has been on the rise since 2009. Between 2015 and 2016, infant deaths increased 30%, while maternal mortality increased 65%.
As of November 2023, more than 7.7 million Venezuelan migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers had been reported by host governments, with approximately 85% relocating in Latin America and the Caribbean. Colombia has been the largest recipient, accommodating almost 2.5 million as of February 2022, followed by Peru and Ecuador. As of June 2022, almost 212,000 of the refugees and close to 1.04 million of the asylum seekers were recognized by national authorities. An additional 4.3 million Venezuelans have been granted residence permits or other types of regular stay arrangements, as of March 2023. The initial wave of migrants were highly educated professionals. These were followed by university-educated young people. As the economy collapsed in 2017-2018, Venezuelan migrants have been less-educated and from low-income households.
Want to know more about Venezuela? Check all different factbooks for Venezuela below.