Venezuela
In 1499, an expedition led by Alonso de Ojeda visited the Venezuelan coast. The stilt houses in the area of Lake Maracaibo reminded the Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci of the city of Venice, Italy. He named the region Veneziola or Little Venice. Martín Fernández de Enciso gave a different account in his work. He stated that the crew found indigenous peoples who called themselves the Veneciuela. Thus the name Venezuela may have evolved from the native word. Evidence exists of human habitation in the area now known as Venezuela from about 15,000 years ago. Tools have been found on the high riverine terraces of the Rio Pedregal in western Venezuela. Late Pleistocene hunting artifacts including spear tips date from 13,000 to 7,000 BC. It is estimated that one million people lived in the region before Spanish conquest.
Spain's colonization of mainland Venezuela started in 1522 establishing its first permanent South American settlement in the city of Cumaná. In the 16th century the king of Spain granted a concession to the German Welser family. Klein-Venedig became the most extensive initiative in the German colonization of the Americas from 1528 to 1546. The Welsers were bankers to the Habsburgs and financiers of Charles V Holy Roman Emperor. The first expedition was led by Ambrosius Ehinger who established Maracaibo in 1529. After the deaths of first Ehinger in 1533 then Nikolaus Federmann and Georg von Speyer in 1540 Philipp von Hutten persisted in exploring the interior. On Hutten's return to the capital Santa Ana de Coro in 1546 the Spanish governor Juan de Carvajal had Hutten and Bartholomeus VI. Welser executed. Subsequently Charles V revoked the Welser family concession. The Welsers transported German miners to the colony in addition to 4,000 African slaves to plant sugar cane plantations. Many German colonists died through wars with the indigenous inhabitants or from tropical diseases.
The discovery of massive oil deposits in Lake Maracaibo during World War I proved pivotal for Venezuela and transformed its economy from a heavy dependence on agricultural exports. It prompted a boom that lasted into the 1980s. By 1935 Venezuela's per capita gross domestic product was Latin America's highest. Gómez benefited handsomely from this as corruption thrived but at the same time the new source of income helped him centralize the state and develop its authority. Gómez remained the most powerful man in Venezuela until his death in 1935. In 1945 a civilian-military coup overthrew Angarita and ushered in a period of democratic rule under the mass membership party Democratic Action initially under Rómulo Betancourt. Gallegos governed until overthrown by a military junta led by Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Gallegos' Defense Minister Carlos Delgado Chalbaud in the 1948 Venezuelan coup d'état. The most powerful man in the military junta was Pérez Jiménez who was suspected of being behind the death of Chalbaud who died in a bungled kidnapping in 1950. When the junta unexpectedly lost the 1952 presidential election it ignored the results and Jiménez was installed as president. Jiménez was forced out on the 23rd of January 1958.
Since February 2014 hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have protested over high levels of crime corruption hyperinflation and chronic scarcity of basic goods due to government policies. Demonstrations and riots have resulted in over 40 fatalities in the unrest between Chavistas and opposition protesters and opposition leaders including the arrests of Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma. In late 2014 US President Barack Obama's administration imposed additional unilateral sanctions on the Venezuelan officials involved in the crackdown on the protests. In the summer of 2015 the Venezuelan military initiated an operation in response to opposition paramilitary attacks on police and civil society establishments. The Maduro-aligned Supreme Tribunal which had been overturning National Assembly decisions since the opposition took control in 2015 took over the functions of the assembly creating the 2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis. In August 2017 the 2017 Constituent National Assembly was elected and stripped the National Assembly of its powers. The election raised concerns of an emerging dictatorship. Between 2014 and 2020 Venezuela lost 99% of its foreign currency income. Due to the impact of the sanctions Maduro's government had to implement anti-blockade policies that increased the confidentiality of business transactions with the government.
Venezuela lies within the Neotropical realm. Large portions of the region were originally covered by moist broadleaf forests. One of 17 megadiverse countries Venezuela's habitats range from the Andes Mountains in the west to the Amazon Basin rainforest in the south via extensive llanos plains and Caribbean coast in the center and the Orinoco Delta in the east. They include xeric scrublands in the extreme northwest and coastal mangrove forests in the northeast. Its cloud forests and lowland rainforests are particularly rich. Animals are diverse and include manatees three-toed sloth two-toed sloth Amazon river dolphins and Orinoco crocodiles. Of the 1,417 bird species 48 are endemic. Important birds include ibises ospreys kingfishers and the yellow-orange Venezuelan troupial the national bird. Notable mammals include the giant anteater jaguar and the capybara the world's largest rodent. More than half of the avian and mammalian species are found in the Amazonian forests south of the Orinoco.
Throughout most of the 20th century Venezuela maintained friendly relations with most Latin American and Western nations. Relations with the United States government worsened in 2002 after the coup attempt during which the U.S. government recognized the short-lived interim presidency of Pedro Carmona. In 2015 Venezuela was declared a national security threat by U.S. President Barack Obama. As a result Venezuela strengthened ties with the anti-west regimes of Turkey Russia Iran China DPRK Myanmar and Cuba. Venezuela seeks an alternative hemispheric integration through initiatives such as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas trade proposal and the state-sponsored Latin American television network teleSUR. Venezuela is one of five nations in the world along with Russia Nicaragua Nauru and Syria to have recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Venezuela was a proponent of OAS's decision to adopt its Anti-Corruption Convention and is actively working in the Mercosur trade bloc to push increased trade and energy integration. Globally it seeks a multi-polar world based on strengthened ties among undeveloped countries.
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Common questions
Who named Venezuela and why was it called that?
Amerigo Vespucci named the region Veneziola or Little Venice because stilt houses in Lake Maracaibo reminded him of Venice, Italy. Martín Fernández de Enciso stated that indigenous peoples called themselves Veneciuela, suggesting the name evolved from a native word.
When did Spain start colonizing mainland Venezuela?
Spain's colonization of mainland Venezuela started in 1522 with the establishment of its first permanent South American settlement in Cumaná. The German Welser family received a concession to govern Klein-Venedig from 1528 to 1546 under Charles V Holy Roman Emperor.
What caused Venezuela's economic boom during the 20th century?
The discovery of massive oil deposits in Lake Maracaibo during World War I transformed Venezuela's economy from heavy dependence on agricultural exports. This prompted an economic boom that lasted into the 1980s and made Venezuela Latin America's highest per capita gross domestic product by 1935.
How many years ago did humans first inhabit the area now known as Venezuela?
Evidence exists of human habitation in the area now known as Venezuela from about 15,000 years ago. Late Pleistocene hunting artifacts including spear tips date from 13,000 to 7,000 BC found on high riverine terraces of the Rio Pedregal.
Who was Hugo Chávez and what political movement did he lead?
Hugo Chávez won elections in 1998, 2000, 2006, and 2012 while launching the Bolivarian Revolution beginning with a 1999 constituent assembly. He founded the Fifth Republic Movement in 1997 and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela in 2007 to implement Bolivarianism and socialist rhetoric.