Venezuela
Venezuela is a South American country with a long coast on the Caribbean Sea, and shares borders with Colombia to the west and Brazil to the south. Its territory covers 912,050 square kilometers (352,143 square miles), comprised of the central plains; the northwest lowlands, the Andes and coastal mountain ranges, and the tropical areas of the eastern and southern parts of the country. The population is 24.3 million, about 68 percent of whom are a mixture of European and African ancestry. About 20 percent are white, 10 percent are black, and just 1 percent are indigenous. In terms of religion, the majority is Catholic although Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism are growing in popularity. Venezuela is separated into 23 states and a Federal District (which contains both Caracas, the capital city, and 5 million residents).
History
Venezuela was founded in 1830, when the nation of Gran Colombia—ruled by revolutionary leader Simon Bolívar (1783–1830) after the 1810–1821 war of independence against Spain—was divided into three regions: Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. Venezuela did not easily adjust to its newfound status and was wrought with conflict among the caudillos (provincial strongmen) and factions of both Liberal and Conservative parties for much of its first century as an established country.
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