Venezuela Country Overview
Where is Venezuela located? The Bolivian Republic of Venezuela, or simply Venezuela for short, is a country located in South America. Venezuela borders the Caribbean. On the time zone map, Venezuela is located in a world time zone called “Venezuela Time”. In this time zone there is a difference of -4.5 hours to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Clocks in Venezuela are four and a half hours behind the world clock. Even in the summer months, this time difference to the world time remains, since there is no time change to summer time.
Bordering Countries of Venezuela
According to abbreviationfinder, Venezuela is a South American country located on the northern coast of the continent, bordered by Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south and the Caribbean Sea to the north. Venezuela is home to many diverse ecosystems, ranging from lush tropical rainforests in its Amazon region to semi-arid savannas in its central plains.
Venezuela has strong economic ties with its bordering countries due to its vast natural resources and strategic location at the heart of Latin America. Trade between Venezuela and its neighbours is essential for both sides, with Colombia being Venezuela’s biggest trading partner. In addition, there are also strong cultural ties between Venezuela and its neighbouring countries due to their shared history and culture.
The relationship between Venezuela and its neighbours is mostly friendly despite occasional disputes over matters such as border control or illegal immigration. In recent years there have been efforts by both sides to improve relations as well as increased trade between them for mutual benefit. For example, Venezuela has signed several free trade agreements with neighbouring countries that have helped boost economic growth in both nations. Furthermore, there have been efforts by all sides to promote regional stability through joint military exercises or peacekeeping operations in conflict zones such as Guyana or Brazil.
Population Distribution
As of 2023, the latest population of Venezuela is 28,644,603, based on our calculation of the current data from UN (United Nations).
| Total population | 28,644,603 |
| Population growth rate | -0.18% |
| Birth rate | 18.80 births per 1,000 people |
| Life expectancy | |
| Overall life expectancy | 74.23 years |
| Men life expectancy | 71.12 years |
| Women life expectancy | 77.50 years |
| Age structure | |
| 0-14 years | 27.04% |
| 15-64 years | 65.58% |
| 65 years and above | 7.38% |
| Median age | 27.20 years |
| Gender ratio (Male to Female) | 0.98 |
| Population density | 31.41 residents per km² |
| Urbanization | 87.70% |
| Ethnicities | |
| 75-80% European-African-indigenous, 15-20% European, 3-5% African descent, 1.5% indigenous | |
| Religions | |
| nominal Catholics (Roman Catholic) 96%, Protestants 2%, others 2% | |
| Human Development Index (HDI) | 0.726 |
| HDI ranking | 96th out of 194 |
People in Venezuela
When the Spaniards and other Europeans settled in what is now Venezuela from the 16th century onwards, they mingled with the indigenous peoples who had lived here for millennia. The descendants of whites and indigenous peoples are today the largest population group in the country with 51.5 percent.
43.6 percent are white. Many Spaniards (especially from the Canary Islands) and Italians emigrated to Venezuela after World War II. 3.6 percent of the population are of African origin and thus Afro-Venezuelan. Most of them are descendants of slaves who have been brought here since the 16th century. They live mainly on the Caribbean coast.
Are there still indigenous people in Venezuela?
Only 2.7 percent belong to one of the indigenous peoples. More than 30 indigenous peoples have been counted in Venezuela. Among them are the Wayúu in the very north-west, with 415,000 people, the largest indigenous group in the country. The Warao in the Orinoco Delta still number around 36,000 people.
Other indigenous peoples are the Pemón in the southeast with around 30,000 people, the Caribs west of the Orinoco Delta with around 5,000 people in Venezuela, the Piraoa (15,000 on the border with Colombia on the Orinoco), north of these the Guahibo (around 6,000, proper name: Wayapopihíwi), Yekuana (6000) and Yanomami (14,000) on the border with Brazil on the Orinoco.
- Children: Every woman in Venezuela has an average of 2.3 children. With us, every woman has an average of 1.4 children. So the families in Venezuela are a bit bigger than ours.
- City and Country: Almost 89 percent of Venezuela’s residents live in cities. So only 11 percent of the population live in rural areas. The mountain valleys are most densely populated. The capital Caracas is also located in such a mountain valley. Maracaibo and Valencia are the next largest cities. In the highlands of Guyana, which makes up around half of the country’s area, only about 5 percent of the population live!
Languages in Venezuela
Spanish is the official language in Venezuela. 95 percent of the population speak Spanish as their mother tongue. However, the Spanish spoken in Venezuela is different from Spanish in Spain.
What are Voseo, Seseo and Yeísmo?
Voseo – they say vos instead of tu for “you” – is spoken in Venezuela only in the northwest. In some parts of the country usted is also used for tu. The Seseo is typical everywhere (c before e and i is pronounced like s, not like the English th). It is also typical that the g (before e and i) and the j, which are spoken in Spanish like the ch in “ach”, are more breathtaking in Venezuela. And while in Spanish one uses a double l (as in llamar) aslj is pronounced in Venezuela as j. By the way, that’s called yeísmo.
It is also typical in Venezuela to leave out endings (for example, one says pa instead of para). A d in the middle of a word is often left out: Helado (ice cream) is then pronounced like ela-o. As a diminutive in Venezuela, -ico is used instead of -ito if the last syllable contains a t, so rata (the rat) becomes ratica (the little rat, the “little rat”).
The indigenous languages as well as English, Italian and Portuguese also had an influence on Venezuelan Spanish. Many loan words come from these languages.
Indigenous languages
Many of the indigenous peoples also speak their own languages. There are still 31 indigenous languages in Venezuela. Most of the speakers have the Wayúu, which speaks the people of the same name. Warao and Pemón are also spoken by the peoples of the same name. The Yanomami even have five languages!
Religions in Venezuela
79 percent of the population are Catholics (Roman Catholic). 13 percent belong to a Protestant church. 2 percent belong to another religion. 6 percent do not belong to any church.