Venezuela is a country on the northern coast of South America, bordering Guyana, Brazil and Colombia. It consists of a continental landmass and a large number of small islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea.
Christopher Columbus was on his third voyage to the Americas when he first saw Venezuela. He landed on the Paria Peninsula on August 1, 1498, and was immediately struck by the beauty of the land. He described it as "the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen." He was also impressed by the lush vegetation and the abundance of wildlife. Columbus named the land "Venezuela," which means "Little Venice" in Spanish, because of the many channels and islands that reminded him of the Italian city.
HISTORY
Christopher Columbus was on his third voyage to the Americas when he first saw Venezuela. He landed on the Paria Peninsula on August 1, 1498, and was immediately struck by the beauty of the land. He described it as "the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen." He was also impressed by the lush vegetation and the abundance of wildlife. Columbus named the land "Venezuela," which means "Little Venice" in Spanish, because of the many channels and islands that reminded him of the Italian city.
Columbus was so impressed by Venezuela that he said he had found "Heaven on Earth." He spent the next two weeks exploring the area, and he even sent a message back to Spain saying that he had found a new continent. However, Columbus's claims were not taken seriously at the time, and it was not until several years later that it was confirmed that Venezuela was indeed a new continent.
When the explorer Amerigo Vespucci saw native stilt houses in Lake Maracaibo in 1499 he named the area Veneziola as it reminded him of his home city of Venice. (Veneziola is Little Venice in Italian).
The American continent is named after Vespucci. It is unknown if Amerigo Vespucci ever learned that the New World would come to be named in his honor by cartographers prior to his death.
Spain's colonization of mainland Venezuela started in the 1520s, with the establishment of the first permanent Spanish settlement in the present-day city of Cumaná in 1522. The Venezuelan port of Nueva Cádiz was founded on the island of Cubagua on September 12, 1528, becoming the first Spanish town to be established in South America on September 12, 1528. However, Nueva Cádiz was abandoned in 1542 due to a decline in the pearl trade and attacks by pirates.
Caracas was founded by the Spaniard, Diego de Losada, in 1567 as Santiago de León de Caracas,
In 1777, Caracas became the capital of the Captaincy General of Venezuela.
The Spanish colonization of Venezuela was a complex and often violent process. The Spanish colonists brought with them diseases that killed many of the indigenous people, and they also enslaved many of the survivors. The Spanish also exploited the natural resources of Venezuela, such as gold, silver, and pearls.
Venezuela was the first country in the region to start the struggle against Spanish rule. A group of Caracas Creoles including Simón Bolívar deposed the Spanish colonial regime led by Captain General Vicente Emparán on April 19, 1810 and established the First Republic of Venezuela.
On December 17, 1819 Simón Bolívar proclaimed the republic of Gran Columbia, comprising the territories of present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, northern Peru, western Guyana and northwest Brazil.
Venezuela's independence was sealed on July 24, 1823, with their victory in the Battle of Lake Maracaibo. However, it remained part of Gran Colombia until 1830, when a rebellion led by José Antonio Páez allowed the proclamation of a newly independent Venezuela; Between one-quarter and one-third of Venezuela's population was lost during these two decades of warfare.
In 1863 Venezuela became the first country in the world to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.
After a long history of dictatorial rule, Venezuela adopted a new constitution and 1961 and three years later Rómulo Betancourt, known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", became their first president to serve the full term of office.
The discovery of massive oil deposits in Lake Maracaibo during World War I proved to be pivotal for Venezuela. Previously, the country was an underdeveloped exporter of agricultural commodities such as coffee and cocoa, but oil quickly came to dominate exports and government revenues. By the 1970s, Venezuela had become rich off of oil revenue.
In 1999 Hugo Chávez became president and tried to remake Venezuela as a socialist state. Following Hugo Chavez's Bolivarian Revolution over 1.5million, about 6 percent of the population left the country.
The current flag of Venezuela was introduced on March 12, 2006. The basic design of a horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue, and red, dates back to the original flag, introduced in 1811 in the Venezuelan War of Independence. Further modifications have involved including a set of stars and inclusion of an optional coat of arms at the upper-left corner.
Following Hurricane Katrina, Venezuela offered gasoline along with $5 million in cash. The US said thanks but no thanks.
A 19-year-old girl in Venezuela was rewarded with a new home by President Hugo Chávez for becoming his 3-millionth follower on Twitter.
While popular at first, the economic changes Chavez and the next president, Maduro passed caused a huge economic depression in the mid 2010s.
Venezuela has a population of 31,568,179 (2016 estimate) of which 5,298,364 live in the Caracas Capital District.
Venezuela is the most murderous place on Earth. Someone is murdered there every 21 minutes.
Caracas, has a murder rate of 119.87 per 100,000 residents per year – the worst of any major city.
There are more gun-related deaths in Venezuela per head of population than in any other country (59.13 per 100,000 residents per year in 2016), with the exception of Honduras.
The Bolívar, Venezuela’s basic unit of currency is named after Simón Bolívar.
Lake Maracaibo has persistent lightning storms for ten hours a night, 140 to 160 nights per year. It averages around 1.2 million lightning strikes per year. It is the most likely place on the planet to see lightning.
Mount Roraima, in the Canaima National Park was the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's science fiction novel by The Lost World. Published in 1912, the book tells the story of an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America where prehistoric animals still survive.
Over 25,000 species of orchids are found in the country's cloud forest and lowland rainforest ecosystems. Venezuela also has around 1,400 bird species and almost 4,000 species of fungi.
Some 23 per cent of reptilian and 50 per cent of amphibian species that inhabit the country are endemic to Venezuela.
Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world's tallest waterfall. The water there plunges 807 metres to the ground, and it has a total height of 979 metres. It is 17 times higher than Niagara Falls.
Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, totaling 297 billion barrels. In addition to conventional oil, Venezuela has oil sands deposits similar in size to those of Canada, and approximately equal to the world's reserves of conventional oil.
Venezuelans have won the Miss World contest six times, a number equalled only by India. The winners include Irene Sáez, who ran for the presidency in 1998.
Coleo is a Venezuelan sport in which cowboys grab cattle by the tail and try to pull them over.
Sources Kmmsam, Daily Express, Daily Telegraph
Venezuela was the first country in the region to start the struggle against Spanish rule. A group of Caracas Creoles including Simón Bolívar deposed the Spanish colonial regime led by Captain General Vicente Emparán on April 19, 1810 and established the First Republic of Venezuela.
 |
| Revolution of April 19, 1810 by Martín Tovar y Tovar |
On December 17, 1819 Simón Bolívar proclaimed the republic of Gran Columbia, comprising the territories of present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, northern Peru, western Guyana and northwest Brazil.
Venezuela's independence was sealed on July 24, 1823, with their victory in the Battle of Lake Maracaibo. However, it remained part of Gran Colombia until 1830, when a rebellion led by José Antonio Páez allowed the proclamation of a newly independent Venezuela; Between one-quarter and one-third of Venezuela's population was lost during these two decades of warfare.
In 1863 Venezuela became the first country in the world to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.
After a long history of dictatorial rule, Venezuela adopted a new constitution and 1961 and three years later Rómulo Betancourt, known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", became their first president to serve the full term of office.
 |
| Rómulo Betancourt (President 1945–1948 / 1959–1964), |
The discovery of massive oil deposits in Lake Maracaibo during World War I proved to be pivotal for Venezuela. Previously, the country was an underdeveloped exporter of agricultural commodities such as coffee and cocoa, but oil quickly came to dominate exports and government revenues. By the 1970s, Venezuela had become rich off of oil revenue.
In 1999 Hugo Chávez became president and tried to remake Venezuela as a socialist state. Following Hugo Chavez's Bolivarian Revolution over 1.5million, about 6 percent of the population left the country.
The current flag of Venezuela was introduced on March 12, 2006. The basic design of a horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue, and red, dates back to the original flag, introduced in 1811 in the Venezuelan War of Independence. Further modifications have involved including a set of stars and inclusion of an optional coat of arms at the upper-left corner.
Following Hurricane Katrina, Venezuela offered gasoline along with $5 million in cash. The US said thanks but no thanks.
A 19-year-old girl in Venezuela was rewarded with a new home by President Hugo Chávez for becoming his 3-millionth follower on Twitter.
While popular at first, the economic changes Chavez and the next president, Maduro passed caused a huge economic depression in the mid 2010s.
FUN VENEZUELA FACTS
Venezuela has a population of 31,568,179 (2016 estimate) of which 5,298,364 live in the Caracas Capital District.
Venezuela is the most murderous place on Earth. Someone is murdered there every 21 minutes.
Caracas, has a murder rate of 119.87 per 100,000 residents per year – the worst of any major city.
There are more gun-related deaths in Venezuela per head of population than in any other country (59.13 per 100,000 residents per year in 2016), with the exception of Honduras.
The Bolívar, Venezuela’s basic unit of currency is named after Simón Bolívar.
Lake Maracaibo has persistent lightning storms for ten hours a night, 140 to 160 nights per year. It averages around 1.2 million lightning strikes per year. It is the most likely place on the planet to see lightning.
Mount Roraima, in the Canaima National Park was the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's science fiction novel by The Lost World. Published in 1912, the book tells the story of an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America where prehistoric animals still survive.
Over 25,000 species of orchids are found in the country's cloud forest and lowland rainforest ecosystems. Venezuela also has around 1,400 bird species and almost 4,000 species of fungi.
Some 23 per cent of reptilian and 50 per cent of amphibian species that inhabit the country are endemic to Venezuela.
Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world's tallest waterfall. The water there plunges 807 metres to the ground, and it has a total height of 979 metres. It is 17 times higher than Niagara Falls.
 |
| Ángel Falls, By Jsembergmanl |
Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, totaling 297 billion barrels. In addition to conventional oil, Venezuela has oil sands deposits similar in size to those of Canada, and approximately equal to the world's reserves of conventional oil.
Venezuelans have won the Miss World contest six times, a number equalled only by India. The winners include Irene Sáez, who ran for the presidency in 1998.
Coleo is a Venezuelan sport in which cowboys grab cattle by the tail and try to pull them over.
Sources Kmmsam, Daily Express, Daily Telegraph
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