Venezuela trivia: 60 facts about the South American country

Venezuella has a rough couple of years behind her and more rough years to come! The country is in constant economic danger!

1. Venezuela is officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
2. It is a country on the northern coast of South America
3. Venezuela is consisting of a continental landmass and a large number of small islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea
4. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of Caracas
5. It has a territorial extension of 916,445 km2 (353,841 sq mi)
6. The continental territory is bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean
7. On the west by Colombia
8. Brazil on the south
9. Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east and on the east by Guyana
10. With this last country, the Venezuelan government maintains a claim for Guayana Esequiba over an area of 159,542 km2 (61,600 sq mi)
11. For its maritime areas, it exercises sovereignty over 71,295 km2 (27,527 sq mi) of territorial waters, 22,224 km2 (8,581 sq mi) in its contiguous zone, 471,507 km2 (182,050 sq mi) of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean under the concept of exclusive economic zone, and 99,889 km2 (38,567 sq mi) of continental shelf
12. This marine area borders those of 13 states
13. The country has extremely high biodiversity
14. Venezuella is ranked seventh in the world’s list of nations with the most number of species
15. There are habitats ranging from the Andes Mountains in the west to the Amazon basin rain-forest in the south via extensive llanos plains, the Caribbean coast and the Orinoco River Delta in the east
16. The territory now known as Venezuela was colonized by Spain in 1522 amid resistance from indigenous peoples
17. In 1811, it became one of the first Spanish-American territories to declare independence
18. This was not securely established until 1821, when Venezuela was a department of the federal republic of Gran Colombia
19. It gained full independence as a country in 1830
20. During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political turmoil and autocracy, remaining dominated by regional caudillos (military strongmen) until the mid-20th century
21. Since 1958, the country has had a series of democratic governments
22. Economic shocks in the 1980s and 1990s led to several political crises
23. This includes the deadly Caracazo riots of 1989
24. Venezuela has two attempted coups in 1992
25. The impeachment of President Carlos Andrés Pérez for embezzlement of public funds in 1993
26. A collapse in confidence in the existing parties saw the 1998 election of former coup-involved career officer Hugo Chávez and the launch of the Bolivarian Revolution
27. The revolution began with a 1999 Constituent Assembly, where a new Constitution of Venezuela was written
28. This new constitution officially changed the name of the country to Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
29. The sovereign state is a federal presidential republic consisting of 23 states
30. The Capital District (covering Caracas)
31. And federal dependencies (covering Venezuela’s offshore islands)
32. Venezuela also claims all Guyanese territory west of the Essequibo River, a 159,500-square-kilometre (61,583 sq mi) tract dubbed Guayana Esequiba or the Zona en Reclamación
33. Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America
34. The vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north, especially in the capital (Caracas)
35. Caracas is also the largest city in Venezuela
36. Oil was discovered in the early 20th century, and today
37. Venezuela has the world’s largest known oil reserves
38. It has been one of the world’s leading exporters of oil
39. Previously, the country was an underdeveloped exporter of agricultural commodities such as coffee and cocoa
40. Oil quickly came to dominate exports and government revenues
41. The 1980s oil glut led to an external debt crisis and a long-running economic crisis
42. Inflation peaked at 100% in 1996
43. Poverty rates rose to 66% in 1995
44. By 1998 per capita GDP fell to the same level as 1963
45. Down a third from its 1978 peak
46. The recovery of oil prices in the early 2000s gave Venezuela oil funds not seen since the 1980s
47. The Venezuelan government under Hugo Chavez then established populist social welfare policies
48. It initially boosted the Venezuelan economy and increased social spending
49. It temporarily reduced economic inequality and poverty in the early years of the regime
50. However, such populist policies later became inadequate
51. They caused the nation’s collapse as their excesses are widely blamed for destabilizing the nation’s economy
52. The destabilized economy led to a crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela, resulting in hyperinflation, an economic depression
53. Shortages of basic goods
54. Drastic increases in unemployment
55. Poverty, disease, child mortality, malnutrition and crime
56. By 2017, Venezuela was declared to be in default regarding debt payments by credit rating agencies
57. In 2018, the country’s economic policies led to extreme hyperinflation,
58. The estimates expecting an inflation rate of 1,370,000% by the end of the year
59. Venezuela is a charter member of the UN, OAS, UNASUR, ALBA, Mercosur, LAIA and OEI
60. Now its on the break of a civil war