The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is situated in the northern part of South America and borders Columbia, Brazil and Guyana. The area has been inhabited by humans for more than 15,000 years and several different indigenous tribes occupied the lands when the Spanish arrived. Some of which offered severe resistance to the Spanish, but all were ultimately defeated.

In 1522 Spain made its first permanent settlement in South America in what is now Venezuela. Some Venezuelans began to grow restive under colonial control toward the end of the eighteenth century and in 1811 the war of independence began under the leadership of Simon Bolivar. In 1821 independence was achieved and together with Columbia, Panama and Ecuador, Venezuela became part of the new Republic of Gran Columbia, which, however, fell apart nine years later.

In the following decade Venezuela witnessed much political turmoil and more than thirty insurgencies. At the beginning of the 20th Century, the oil boom started in Venezuela and by 1929 it exported more oil than any other country in the world. However, most of the money went into private hands. In the first part of the 20th Century, the country was ruled by dictators, but became a democracy in the middle part of the century.

Inhabitants: 28,000,000
Area: 900,000 km2
Capital: Caracas (2,800,000 inhabitants)
Languages: Spanish
Religion: Roman Catholics (96%), Protestants (2%), others (2%)
GBD per capita: $12,800
Government: Presidential republic
Climate: Lowland areas have a tropical climate, while highland areas are semitropical or temperate.