Venezuela

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Venezuela
Venezuela (i/ˌvɛnəzˈweɪlə/ ven-uh-zwale-uh, locally: [βeneˈswela]), officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela(Spanish: República Bolivariana de Venezuela [reˈpuβlika βoliβaˈɾjana ðe βeneˈswela]), is a country on the northern coast of South America. Venezuela's territory covers around 916,445 square kilometres (353,841sq mi) with an estimated population of 29,105,632. Venezuela is considered a state with extremely high biodiversity, with habitats ranging from the Andes mountains in the west to theAmazon Basin rainforest in the south, via extensive llanos plains and Caribbean coast in the center and the Orinoco River Delta in the east.
Venezuela was colonized by Spain in 1522 despite resistance from indigenouspeoples. It became the first Spanish American colony to declare independence (in 1811), but did not securely establish independence until 1821 (as a department of the federal republic ofGran Colombia, gaining full independence in 1830). During the 19th century Venezuela suffered political turmoil and dictatorship, and it was dominated by regional caudillos (military strongmen) well into the 20thcentury. The country first saw a democratic rule from 1945 to 1948, and, after a period of dictatorship has remained democratic since 1958, during which time most countries of Latin America suffered one or more military dictatorships. Economic shocks in the 1980s and 1990s led to a political crisis causing up to 3,000 deaths in the Caracazo riots of 1989, two attempted coups in 1992, and the impeachmentof President Carlos Andrés Pérez for embezzlement of public funds in 1993. A collapse in confidence in the existing parties saw the 1998 election of former career officerHugo Chávez, and the launch of the Bolivarian Revolution, beginning with a 1999 Constituent Assembly to write a new Constitution of Venezuela.
Venezuela is a federal presidential republic consisting of 23 states, the CapitalDistrict (covering Caracas), and Federal Dependencies(covering Venezuela's offshore islands). Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America;[5][6] the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north, especially in the capital, Caracas, which is also the largest city.
Since the discovery of oil in the early 20th century, Venezuela has been one of the world's leadingexporters of oil and has the largest oil reserves. Previously an underdeveloped exporter of agricultural commodities such as coffee and cocoa, oil quickly came to dominate exports and government revenues. The 1980s oil glut led to an external debt crisis and a long-running economic crisis, which saw inflation peak at 100% in 1996 and poverty rates rise to 66% in 1995[7] as (by 1998) percapita GDP fell to the same level as 1963, down a third from its 1978 peak.[8] The recovery of oil prices after 2001 boosted the Venezuelan economy and facilitated social spending, although the fallout of the 2008 global financial crisis saw a renewed economic downturn.

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History
Simón Bolívar, liberator of not only Venezuela, butalso Colombia, Panama,Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru.
Human habitation of Venezuela could have commenced at least 15,000 years ago from which period leaf-shaped tools, together with chopping and plano-convex scraping implements, have been found exposed on the high riverine terraces of the Rio Pedregal in western Venezuela.[13] Late Pleistocene hunting artifacts, including spear tips, have been found at a similar series of sitesin northwestern Venezuela known as "El Jobo"; according to radiocarbon dating, these date from 13,000 to 7,000 BC.[14]
It is not known how many people lived in Venezuela before the Spanish Conquest; it may have been around a million people,[15] and in addition to today's indigenous peoples included groups such as the Auaké, Caquetio, Mariche and Timoto-cuicas. The number was reduced after...