South America · VEN
Venezuela
The story · 11 chapters
How it was drawn
Spanish provinces on the Caribbean joined into one captaincy in 1777, then the land of Bolivar, of caudillos and of oil, which still claims the Essequibo region.
Play the story Take the first lessonThrough the ages
Rivals in history
The kingdoms, empires and states Venezuela fought or stood against, from the first to today.
- Teque and Caracas peoples1560 to 1568
The Teque chief Guaicaipuro leads Indigenous resistance to Spanish settlement in the valley of Caracas, attacking gold miners and settlers. Caracas is founded in 1567, and Guaicaipuro is killed in a Spanish raid in 1568.
- Kingdom of England1595 to 1669
English raiders target Venezuela's coast: Amyas Preston sacks Caracas in 1595, and in 1669 the buccaneer Henry Morgan plunders Maracaibo and Gibraltar on the lake, escaping past a Spanish fleet.
- Dutch Republic1599 to 1648
Dutch ships come in large numbers for the salt pans of the Araya peninsula, and Spain builds a great fortress there in the 1620s to stop them. From 1634 the Dutch hold nearby Curacao, a base for smuggling Venezuelan cacao.
- Spanish Empire1810 to 1823
Venezuela's first republic falls in 1812 and the second in 1814. Bolivar's victory at Carabobo in 1821 frees most of the country, and the naval battle of Lake Maracaibo in 1823 ends Spanish resistance.
- British Empire1840 to 1899
Robert Schomburgk's survey for Britain draws a line deep into land Venezuela claims west of the Essequibo. When gold is found the dispute flares; in 1895 the United States steps in, and an 1899 tribunal in Paris gives Britain most of the land.
A Spanish royal award in 1891 and a treaty in 1941 fix the land border, but the waters of the Gulf of Venezuela remain disputed. In 1987 a Colombian warship's entry into the gulf brings the two close to war.
- Britain, Germany and Italy1902 to 1903
Three European powers blockade Venezuela's ports over unpaid debts and damages, and German ships shell coastal forts. Under American pressure the dispute goes to arbitration in 1903.
Venezuela declared the 1899 award void in 1962 and keeps claiming the Essequibo, about two thirds of Guyana. In 1966 it occupies Guyana's half of Ankoko Island. Guyana takes the case to the International Court of Justice in 2018, and Venezuela holds a referendum on the claim in 2023.
Relations collapse under Chavez and Maduro. Washington imposes sanctions from 2015, recognises opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president in 2019, and in 2020 indicts Maduro on drug trafficking charges.
Today
Venezuela now
Venezuela was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830, the others being Ecuador and New Granada (Colombia). For most of the first half of the 20th century, military strongmen ruled Venezuela and promoted the oil industry while allowing some social reforms. Democratically elected governments largely held sway until 1999, but Hugo CHAVEZ, who was president from 1999 to 2013, exercised authoritarian control over other branches of government.
- Capital
- Caracas
- Government
- federal presidential republic
- Head of state
- Delcy Rodriguez
- Languages
- Venezuelan Sign Language, Spanish
- Area
- 912,050 km²
Through time
Then and now
- Population28.3 million2023 · 5.5 million in 1950
- Life expectancy72.5 years2023 · 51.1 years in 1950
- GDP per person$5,2672022 · $8,462 in 1950
- Living in cities89%2025 · 53% in 1950
- Literacy97%2017 · 53% in 1950
- Political regimeElectoral autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
- Military alliancesNone of these2024 · Rio Pact in 1950
- Military spending2.2% of GDP2017
- War deaths0.0 per 100,0002025
Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.
Relations
Close partners and tensions
Close partners
- Cuba
- Syrian Arab Republic
- Iran, Islamic Rep.
Tensions
- United States
- Brazil
Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 24 October 2026.