Venezuela Fast Facts
The country is the second-smallest country in South America, with only Colombia, the smallest of Latin America’s four South American republics, having a territory less than that of Venezuela. Despite the diminutive size of its territory, Venezuela is a very rich country with one of the highest GDP and per capita GDPs in Latin America, as well as one of the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the world.
The country’s economy is based on many exports, including oil and mining. The economy has seen large inflation.
There are a total of 6.75 million Venezuelans, from all over the country; the rest of the country consists of 2.75 million stateless people (estimated by UNHCR), the rest of which are indigenous, and an estimated 3 million abroad.
Venezuela’s official languages are Spanish (official) and Portugese (official), as well as English, French and Italian. The country is divided into four states: Venezuela, Guasave, Anzoátegui and Táchira. The capital is Caracas.
Venezuela is considered a nation-state, due to the constitutional monarchy, which has been in place since 1958 and is the current president of the republic. The republic is a member of the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Organization of American States, the Mercosur, the Southern Common Market, European Union, the Inter-American Council of Latin American Affairs (CELAC), the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA), the Council of State of Latin American and Caribbean States (COSLA), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court of Justice) and the Inter-American Court of Jurisdiction for the Defense of Human Rights (Inter-American Court of Justice).
While Venezuela is a republic, it has undergone various dictatorships, coups, governments and wars (the longest being the one between 2002 and 2013).
Venezuela has been politically stable since the coup against Hugo Chávez in 2002, when Chávez was democratically re-elected president. Since then