The most interesting facts about Venezuela include the world’s tallest waterfall, megadiverse flora and fauna and an everlasting storm.
Fast facts
Official name: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Capital city: Caracas
Population: 30.5 million
Area: 912,050 sq km
Major languages: Spanish
Major religions: Christianity
Time zone: UTC-4 (Venezuelan Standard Time)
Interesting facts about Venezuela
1. Before colonisation, Venezuela was inhabited by the Carib, Arawak and Chibcha peoples. There is evidence of human habitation in Venezuela going back more than 10,000 years.
2. In 1498, during his third trip to South America, Christopher Columbus became the first European to set foot in what is now Venezuela. European explorers named the region Venezuela “Little Venice”.
3. Spanish colonisation began in 1521 and lasted until 1810 when Venezuelans first declared independence from Spain.
4. Modern Venezuela was one of three countries created in 1830 following the collapse of Gran Colombia, the short-lived republic (1819–30) created by revolutionary Simón Bolívar. It included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama as well as parts of northern Peru, western Guyana and northwest Brazil.
5. The Venezuelan flag includes the tricolour initially adopted by Gran Colombia along with an arc of stars that represent the original provinces. It also includes a coat of arms that features a wheatsheaf, a horse, tools, weapons, flags, two cornucopia and branches of laurel and palm bound by ribbon.
6. In 1998 Venezuelans elected controversial left-winger Hugo Chavez, a former army officer who declared a ‘Bolivarian revolution’, named after Simón Bolívar.
7. Hugo Chavez was in office for 14 years. During this time he styled himself as a champion of the poor, investing billions of dollars of Venezuela’s oil wealth into social programmes. He died in 2013.
8. In recent years, Venezuela has struggled economically and suffered from hyperinflation. In 2020, a UN survey found a third of Venezuelans – 9.3 million people – were not getting enough to eat.
9. The humanitarian crisis has led more than 4.5 million people to flee overseas leading to a population decline.
10. Venezuela has the world’s tallest waterfall. Angel Falls has a height of 979m (3,212ft) and a drop of 807m (2,648ft).
11. They are named after American aviator Jimmie Angel. In 1933, he became the first person to fly over the falls, confirming their existence.
12. Venezuela has one of the world’s highest number of gun deaths. In 2016 it was the 6th highest, making it one of six countries that make up over 50% of the world’s firearm-related deaths. It also follows El Salvador with the most number of violent gun deaths (homicide) at 36.06%.
13. Venezuela has some of the most dangerous roads in the world (3rd) and the most dangerous in South America.
14. Venezuela is thought to have the world’s largest oil reserves at 303.2 billion barrels (17.9% of the world’s total) as well as large amounts of coal, iron ore and gold.
15. Venezuela has the world’s cheapest gasoline (petrol). For years the price has averaged around $0.01 per litre.
16. The world’s largest rodent can be found in Venezuela. The capybara can grow up to 1.4m long and weigh up to 65kg.
17. The most electric place on Earth is in Venezuela. Where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo, lightning flashes up to 28 times a minute. Known as the Beacon of Maracaibo, the Catatumbo lightning or the ‘everlasting storm’, there is an average of 260 storm days per year.
18. 50% of amphibian and 23% of reptilian species in Venezuela are endemic, meaning they are not found anywhere else in the world.
19. The Miss Venezuela beauty pageant has produced six Miss World and seven Miss Universe winners.
20. Often referred to as the world’s tallest slum, there is an unfinished skyscraper in Caracas that was illegally occupied by over 3,000 squatters from 2007 to 2014. The 45-story building was originally conceived as a bank but was never finished and was abandoned in 1994. In 2014, Venezuelan soldiers removed the squatters but the building remains incomplete.
21. The 1981 Miss Universe winner, Irene Sáez, ran for president in 1998. Following her success in the global beauty pageant, she went on to become a mayor and a governor in Venezuela, before losing out to Hugo Chávez in the presidential race of 1998.
22. Another unfinished building in Caracas, The Helix (El Helicoide), was conceived in the 1950s to be a shopping mall housing 300 boutique shops. Instead, the building became a homeless shelter, a prison, police headquarters and eventually a torture chamber, described by former inmates as ‘hell on earth’.
23. Mount Roraima in Venezuela, a tepui mountain – a type of flat-topped sandstone mountain – is believed to have inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World.
24. Venezuela is the third country in the world with the highest proportion of protected territory. 56.9% of its total land area is protected. Syechelles has the most protected land area at 61.5%.
25. Venezuela is one of 17 megadiverse countries. Megadiverse countries are the world’s most biodiversity-rich countries.
26. During Christmas time in Caracas, streets are closed off to allow people to roller-skate to church for early-morning mass. En route, skaters tug on the ends of long pieces of string tied by children to their big toes.
27. Venezuela is currently off-limits to travellers. Unfortunately, most countries advise against visiting Venezuela. This is a shame as the country is home to an array of natural beauty that includes the Andes mountains, Caribbean beaches, picturesque islands, an array of wildlife, the Orinoco Delta and several natural wonders. The consular services to US citizens in Venezuela remain suspended following the US government’s withdrawal of its diplomatic personnel from the US Embassy in Caracas.
Every effort has been made to verify these facts about Venezuela using primary sources. If you find an error or have any questions, please contact us.
