States of Venezuela

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a federation made up of twenty-three states (), a Capital District () and the Federal Dependencies (), which consist of many islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. Venezuela claims the disputed Essequibo territory as one of its states, which it calls Guayana Esequiba, 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 (), 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, renamed La Guaira in 2019).

Proposed states On 5 December 2023, following a referendum held two days earlier, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro published a new map showing the claimed region of Guayana Esequiba as part of Venezuela. He urged legislators to create a law which would establish a new state covering the disputed region. The Venezuelan referendum on annexing the area led to a diplomatic crisis with Guyana.

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, 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.

FlagStateCapitalLargest cityPopulation (2021)Population(2011)Area(km2)Density per km2 (2021)Density per km2 (2011)RegionMapAmazonas Puerto Ayacucho180,000146,480180,1450.990.81GuayanaAnzoátegui Barcelona1,570,0001,469,74743,30036.2633.94EasternApureSan Fernando de Apure570,000459,02576,5007.456.00LlanosAraguaMaracay1,640,0001,630,3087,014233.82232.44CentralBarinasBarinas1,030,000916,26435,20023.5823.19AndeanBolívarCiudad BolívarCiudad Guayana 1,730,0001,410,964238,0007.275.93GuayanaCaraboboValencia2,240,0002,245,7444,650481.72482.96CentralCojedesSan Carlos330,000323,16514,80022.2921.84CentralDelta AmacuroTucupita190,000167,67640,2004.724.17GuayanaFalcónCoroPunto Fijo990,000902,84724,80039.9236.41Central-WesternGuáricoSan Juan de los MorrosCalabozo830,000747,73964,98612.7711.51LlanosLa GuairaLa Guaira340,000352,9201,496227.27235.91CapitalLaraBarquisimeto1,870,0001,774,86719,80094.4489.64Central-WesternMéridaMérida880,000828,59211,30077.8873.33AndeanMiranda Los Teques2,970,0002,675,1657,950373.58336.50CapitalMonagasMaturín930,000905,44328,93032.1531.30EasternNueva EspartaLa AsunciónPorlamar570,000491,6101,150495.65427.90InsularPortuguesaGuanareAcarigua930,000876,49615,20061.1857.66Central-WesternSucreCumaná990,000896,29111,80083.9075.96EasternTáchiraSan Cristóbal1,030,0001,168,90811,10092.79105.31AndeanTrujilloTrujilloValera770,000686,3677,400104.0592.75AndeanYaracuySan Felipe670,000600,8527,10094.3784.63Central-WesternZuliaMaracaibo3,830,0003,704,40463,10060.7058.71Zulian Disputed state whose territory is controlled by Guyana:Guayana EsequibaTumeremo(administrative center)128,000125,000159,5420.80.78Guayana

By Human Development Index

Rank State HDI (2023) High human development 1 Capital District 0.753 2 Miranda 0.740 3 Aragua 0.734 4 Carabobo 0.7295 La Guaira 6 Nueva Esparta 0.728 7 Anzoátegui 0.719 8 Bolívar 0.712— 0.709 9 Táchira 0.706 10 Monagas 0.700 Medium human development11 Falcón 0.698 12 Mérida 0.698 13 Zulia 0.694 14 Delta Amacuro 0.693 15 Barinas 0.68816 Lara 0.688 17 Cojedes 0.686 18 Sucre 0.67919 Trujillo 0.678 20 Yaracuy 0.676 21 Guárico 0.671 22 Portuguesa 0.657 23 Amazonas 0.657 24 Apure 0.638

Special status areas

FlagStateCapitalPopulation(2011)Area(km2)RegionMapCapital DistrictCaracas1,943,901433CapitalFederal DependenciesLos Roques2,155342Insular

State name etymologies Several states are named for historical figures:

Anzoátegui for José Antonio Anzoátegui Bolívar for Simón Bolívar Falcón for Juan Crisóstomo Falcón Lara for Jacinto Lara Miranda for Francisco de Miranda Monagas for José Tadeo Monagas and José Gregorio Monagas Sucre for Antonio José de Sucre

Several states are named for natural features: Amazonas is named for the Amazon rainforest Apure is named for the Apure River Aragua for the Aragua River Cojedes for the Cojedes River Delta Amacuro for the river delta of the Orinoco, and for the Amacuro River Guárico for the Guárico River Portuguesa for the Portuguesa River Táchira for the Táchira River Yaracuy for the Yaracuy River Zulia for the Zulia River, its name meaning "navigable river" in Chibcha language

Other naming origins: Barinas, named after the indigenous ethnic group in the area Carabobo, from the local Arawaco language expression Karau-bo-bo, meaning "Savannah of a lot of Ravines"https://www.clubensayos.com/Historia/ORIGEN-HISTORICO-DEL-ESTADO-CARABOBO/996442.html (Spanish) Caracas, named for the Caracas indigenous group La Guaira, for the capital city, La Guaira, named after an indigenous Carib settlement called Huaira Mérida, for the capital city, Mérida, itself named for Mérida in Spain Nueva Esparta ("New Sparta") is named for the heroism shown by its inhabitants during the Venezuelan War of Independence, deemed similar to that of the Spartan soldiers of Ancient Greece. Trujillo, for the capital city, Trujillo, itself named for Trujillo in Spain

See also ISO 3166-2:VE Administrative divisions of Venezuela Demographics of Venezuela List of cities and towns in Venezuela

References

Bibliography Some information was retrieved from the Venezuelan National Institute of Statistics.

External links

CityMayors feature