States, Federal Dependencies and Capital District
Estados, Dependencias Federales y Distrito Capital (Spanish)
CategoryFederated state
LocationBolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Number
  • 23 states
  • 1 Capital District
  • 1 Federal Dependencies
Populations146,480 (Amazonas) – 3,704,404 (Zulia)
Areas1,100 km2 (440 sq mi) (Nueva Esparta) – 240,000 km2 (92,000 sq mi) (Bolívar)
Government
Subdivisions

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a federation made up of twenty-three states (Spanish: estados), a Capital District (Spanish: Distrito Capital) and the Federal Dependencies (Spanish: Dependencias Federales), which consist of many islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea.[1] Venezuela claims Guayana Esequiba as one of its states, but the territory is controlled by Guyana as part of six of its regions.

The states and territories of Venezuela are usually organized into regions (Spanish: regiones), although these regions are mostly geographical entities rather than administrative entities.

Historical states

Prior to the Federal War (1859–1863), the country was divided into provinces rather than states (see Provinces of Venezuela). The victorious forces were supposed to grant more autonomy to the individual states, but this was not implemented.

From 1863 to the early 1900s there were numerous territorial changes, including the merger and splitting of states, but from then until the 1990s the states were left unchanged. States that existed during this time included Guzmán Blanco State (1873–1889). Originally a renamed Aragua State, in 1881 the states of Miranda, Guárico, Nueva Esparta and the Vargas department of the Federal District were merged into the state. This was part of a territorial reorganisation reducing the number of states from 20 to 9, which was reversed in 1901.

The 1990s saw the creation of three new states: Delta Amacuro (1991), Amazonas (1994), and Vargas (1998).

Proposed states

On 5 December 2023, following a referendum held two days earlier, Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro published a new map showing the claimed region of Guayana Esequiba as part of Venezuela.[2] He urged legislators to create a law which would establish a new state covering the disputed region.[3]Guayana Esequiba is internationally recognized as part of the neighboring sovereign state of Guyana[4] and the Venezuelan referendum on annexing the area led to a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Regions

Venezuela's territory is generally divided into nine geographical regions, which are mostly used for geographical, cultural and planning purposes but do not have active administrative bodies.

Region Spanish States
Andean Andina Mérida, Táchira, Trujillo
Capital Capital Caracas (Capital District), La Guaira (Vargas), Miranda
Central Centro Aragua, Carabobo
Central-Western Centro-Occidente Falcón, Lara, Yaracuy
Guayana Guayana Amazonas, Bolívar, Delta Amacuro
Insular Insular Nueva Esparta, Federal Dependencies
Los Llanos Los Llanos Apure, Barinas, Cojedes, Guárico, Portuguesa
Eastern Oriental Anzoátegui, Monagas, Sucre
Zulian Zulia Zulia

States

Below is a list of the 23 states of Venezuela. The states are listed along with their correspondent emblems, data and location.

Flag State Capital Largest city Population

(2020)[5]

 Population
(2011)		 Area
(km2)		 Density per km2 (2020) Density per km2 (2011) Region Map
Amazonas Puerto Ayacucho 180,000 146,480 180,145 0.99 0.81 Guayana
Anzoátegui Barcelona 1,550,000 1,469,747 43,300 35.79 33.94 Eastern
Apure San Fernando de Apure 560,000 459,025 76,500 7.32 6.00 Llanos
Aragua Maracay 1,630,000 1,630,308 7,014 232.39 232.44 Central
Barinas Barinas 820,000 816,264 35,200 23.29 23.19 Andean
Bolívar Ciudad Bolívar Ciudad Guayana 1,720,000 1,410,964 238,000 7.22 5.93 Guayana
Carabobo Valencia 2,220,000 2,245,744 4,650 477.41 482.96 Central
Cojedes San Carlos 330,000 323,165 14,800 22.29 21.84 Central
Delta Amacuro Tucupita 190,000 167,676 40,200 4.72 4.17 Guayana
Falcón Coro Punto Fijo 980,000 902,847 24,800 39.51 36.41 Central-Western
Guárico San Juan de los Morros Calabozo 820,000 747,739 64,986 12.61 11.51 Llanos
Lara Barquisimeto 1,850,000 1,774,867 19,800 93.43 89.64 Central-Western
Mérida Mérida 870,000 828,592 11,300 76.99 73.33 Andean
Miranda Los Teques 2,940,000 2,675,165 7,950 369.81 336.50 Capital
Monagas Maturín 920,000 905,443 28,930 31.80 31.30 Eastern
Nueva Esparta La Asunción Porlamar 570,000 491,610 1,150 495.65 427.90 Insular
Portuguesa Guanare 920,000 876,496 15,200 60.52 57.66 Central-Western
Sucre Cumaná 980,000 896,291 11,800 83.05 75.96 Eastern
Táchira San Cristóbal 1,020,000 1,168,908 11,100 91.89 105.31 Andean
Trujillo Trujillo Valera 760,000 686,367 7,400 102.70 92.75 Andean
La Guaira La Guaira Catia La Mar 340,000 352,920 1,496 227.27 235.91 Capital
Yaracuy San Felipe 660,000 600,852 7,100 92.95 84.63 Central-Western
Zulia Maracaibo 3,800,000 3,704,404 63,100 60.22 58.71 Zulian
Nominal state whose territory is controlled by Guyana:
Guayana Esequiba Tumeremo
(administrative center)		 128,000 125,000 159,542 0.8 0.78 Guayana

By Human Development Index

HDI of Venezuelan states in 2017
Rank State HDI (2021)[6]
High human development
1 Capital District 0.737
2 Miranda 0.724
3 Aragua 0.718
4 Carabobo 0.713
5 Nueva Esparta 0.712
Vargas
7 Anzoátegui 0.703
Medium human development
8 Bolívar 0.695
–  Venezuela 0.691
9 Táchira 0.689
10 Monagas 0.682
11 Falcón 0.681
12 Mérida 0.679
13 Zulia 0.677
14 Delta Amacuro 0.676
15 Amazonas 0.672
16 Lara 0.671
17 Cojedes 0.668
18 Sucre 0.660
Trujillo
20 Yaracuy 0.657
21 Guárico 0.653
22 Portuguesa 0.638
23 Barinas 0.637
24 Apure 0.619

Special status areas

Flag State Capital Population
(2011)		 Area
(km2)		 Region Map
Capital District Caracas 1,943,901 433 Capital
Federal Dependencies Los Roques 2,155 342 Insular

State name etymologies

Several states are named for historical figures:

Several states are named for natural features:

Other naming origins:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "List of States in Venezuela with Latitude and Longitude - States in Venezuela with Latitude Longitude, Popular Places in Venezuela with Lat Long, List of States in Venezuela with Latitude and Longitude, Latitude and Longitude of State Capitals of Venezuela, State wise Latitude and Longitude of Venezuela States - distancelatlong.com". www.distancelatlong.com. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  2. ↑ Bassant, Mark (6 December 2023). "Maduro releases new map of Venezuela, claiming Essequibo Region". Trinidad Express Newspapers. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  3. ↑ Hernández, Osmary; Almánzar, Fernando; Alberti, Mia (6 December 2023). "Venezuela's president orders creation of new state and map including land from Guyana". CNN. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  4. ↑ British Guiana Boundary: Arbitration with the United States of Venezuela. The Case (and Appendix) on Behalf of the Government of Her Britannic Majesty Archived 8 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine Volume 7. Printed at the Foreign office, by Harrison and sons, 1898.
  5. ↑ "Population in Venezuela by state 2020". Statista. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  6. ↑ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  7. ↑ Simón, Pedro (1992). Noticias historiales de Venezuela. Caracas, Venezuela: Biblioteca Ayacucho. p. 128. ISBN 980-276-210-5.

Bibliography

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