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States of Venezuela

Federated states of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Field	Value
name	States, Federal Dependencies and Capital District
Estados, Dependencias Federales y Distrito Capital (Spanish)
map	[[File:Venezuela Administrative Divisions.jpg	300px]]
category	Federated state
territory	Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
current_number
population_range	146,480 (Amazonas) – 3,704,404 (Zulia)
area_range	440 sqmi (Nueva Esparta) – 92000 sqmi (Bolívar)
government	State government
subdivision	Municipality
Island (Federal Dependencies)

Estados, Dependencias Federales y Distrito Capital (Spanish) Island (Federal Dependencies)

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 between the two countries.

Regions

Main article: Regions of Venezuela

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.

Flag	State	Capital	Largest city	Population	Population
(2011)	Area
(km2)	Density per km2 (2021)	Density per km2 (2011)	Region	Map	Disputed state whose territory is controlled by Guyana:
[[File:Flag of Amazonas Indigenous State.svg	border	70px]]	Amazonas	Puerto Ayacucho	180,000	146,480	180,145	0.99	0.81	Guayana	[[File:Amazonas in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Anzoátegui State (original version).svg	border	70px]]	Anzoátegui	Barcelona	1,570,000	1,469,747	43,300	36.26	33.94	Eastern	[[File:Anzoategui in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Apure State.svg	border	70px]]	Apure	San Fernando de Apure	570,000	459,025	76,500	7.45	6.00	Llanos	[[File:Apure in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Aragua State.svg	border	70px]]	Aragua	Maracay	1,640,000	1,630,308	7,014	233.82	232.44	Central	[[File:Aragua in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Barinas State.svg	border	70px]]	Barinas	Barinas	830,000	816,264	35,200	23.58	23.19	Andean	[[File:Barinas in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Bolívar State.svg	border	70px]]	Bolívar	Ciudad Bolívar	Ciudad Guayana	1,730,000	1,410,964	238,000	7.27	5.93	Guayana	[[File:Bolivar in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Carabobo State.svg	border	70px]]	Carabobo	Valencia	2,240,000	2,245,744	4,650	481.72	482.96	Central	[[File:Carabobo in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Cojedes State.svg	border	70px]]	Cojedes	San Carlos	330,000	323,165	14,800	22.29	21.84	Central	[[File:Cojedes in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Delta Amacuro State.svg	border	70px]]	Delta Amacuro	Tucupita	190,000	167,676	40,200	4.72	4.17	Guayana	[[File:Delta Amacuro in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Falcón.svg	border	70px]]	Falcón	Coro	Punto Fijo	990,000	902,847	24,800	39.92	36.41	Central-Western	[[File:Falcon in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Guárico.svg	border	70px]]	Guárico	San Juan de los Morros	Calabozo	830,000	747,739	64,986	12.77	11.51	Llanos	[[File:Guarico in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of La Guaira State.svg	border	70px]]	La Guaira	La Guaira	340,000	352,920	1,496	227.27	235.91	Capital	[[File:Vargas in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Lara State.svg	border	70px]]	Lara	Barquisimeto	1,870,000	1,774,867	19,800	94.44	89.64	Central-Western	[[File:Lara in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Mérida State.svg	border	70px]]	Mérida	Mérida	880,000	828,592	11,300	77.88	73.33	Andean	[[File:Merida in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Miranda state.svg	border	70px]]	Miranda	Los Teques	2,970,000	2,675,165	7,950	373.58	336.50	Capital	[[File:Miranda in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Bandera de el estado Monagas.svg	border	70px]]	Monagas	Maturín	930,000	905,443	28,930	32.15	31.30	Eastern	[[File:Monagas in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Nueva Esparta.svg	border	70px]]	Nueva Esparta	La Asunción	Porlamar	570,000	491,610	1,150	495.65	427.90	Insular	[[File:Nueva Esparta in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Portuguesa.svg	border	70px]]	Portuguesa	Guanare	Acarigua	930,000	876,496	15,200	61.18	57.66	Central-Western	[[File:Portuguesa in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Sucre State.svg	border	70px]]	Sucre	Cumaná	990,000	896,291	11,800	83.90	75.96	Eastern	[[File:Sucre in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Bandera del Estado Táchira.svg	border	70px]]	Táchira	San Cristóbal	1,030,000	1,168,908	11,100	92.79	105.31	Andean	[[File:Tachira in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Trujillo State.svg	border	70px]]	Trujillo	Trujillo	Valera	770,000	686,367	7,400	104.05	92.75	Andean	[[File:Trujillo in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Yaracuy State.svg	border	70px]]	Yaracuy	San Felipe	670,000	600,852	7,100	94.37	84.63	Central-Western	[[File:Yaracuy in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Zulia State.svg	border	70px]]	Zulia	Maracaibo	3,830,000	3,704,404	63,100	60.70	58.71	Zulian	[[File:Zulia in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Flag of Guayana Esequiba State.svg	border	70px]]	Guayana Esequiba	Tumeremo
(administrative center)	128,000	125,000	159,542	0.8	0.78	Guayana	[[File:Guayana Esequiba in Venezuela.svg	border	70px]]

By Human Development Index

HDI of Venezuelan states in 2017

Rank	HDI (2023)	High human development	Medium human development
1	[[File:Flag of Caracas (2022).svg	25px	border]] Capital District		0.753
2	[[File:Flag of Miranda State.svg	25px	border]] Miranda		0.740
3	[[File:Flag of Aragua State.svg	25px	border]] Aragua		0.734
4	[[File:Flag of Carabobo State.svg	25px	border]] Carabobo	0.729
5	[[File:Flag of La Guaira State.svg	25px	border]] La Guaira
6	[[File:Flag of Nueva Esparta.svg	25px	border]] Nueva Esparta		0.728
7	[[File:Flag of Anzoátegui State.svg	25px	border]] Anzoátegui		0.719
8	[[File:Flag of Bolívar State.svg	25px	border]] Bolívar		0.712	–
9	[[File:Flag of Táchira State.svg	25px	border]] Táchira		0.706
10	[[File:Flag of Monagas.svg	25px	border]] Monagas		0.700
11	[[File:Flag of Falcón State.svg	25px	border]] Falcón		0.698
12	[[File:Flag of Mérida State.svg	25px	border]] Mérida		0.698
13	[[File:Flag of Zulia State.svg	25px	border]] Zulia		0.694
14	[[File:Flag of Delta Amacuro State.svg	25px	border]] Delta Amacuro		0.693
15	[[File:Flag of Amazonas Indigenous State.svg	25px	border]] Amazonas	0.689
16	[[File:Flag of Lara State.svg	25px	border]] Lara
17	[[File:Flag of Cojedes State.svg	25px	border]] Cojedes		0.686
18	[[File:Flag of Sucre State.svg	25px	border]] Sucre		0.679
19	[[File:Flag of Trujillo State.svg	25px	border]] Trujillo		0.678
20	[[File:Flag of Yaracuy State.svg	25px	border]] Yaracuy		0.676
21	[[File:Flag of Guárico State.svg	25px	border]] Guárico		0.671
22	[[File:Flag of Portuguesa.svg	25px	border]] Portuguesa		0.657
23	[[File:Flag of Barinas State.svg	25px	border]] Barinas		0.656
24	[[File:Flag of Apure State.svg	25px	border]] Apure		0.638

Special status areas

Flag	State	Capital	Population
(2011)	Area
(km2)	Region	Map
[[File:Flag of Caracas (2022).svg	70px]]	Capital District	Caracas	1,943,901	433	Capital	[[File:Capital District in Venezuela (special marker).svg	border	70px]]
[[File:Federal dependencies of Venezuela's Flag.svg	border	70px]]	Federal Dependencies	Los Roques	2,155	342	Insular	[[File:Federal Dependencies in Venezuela (special marker).svg	border	70px]]

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"
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

References

Bibliography

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

References

"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".
(6 December 2023). "Maduro releases new map of Venezuela, claiming Essequibo Region". Trinidad Express Newspapers.
(6 December 2023). "Venezuela's president orders creation of new state and map including land from Guyana". CNN.
"Population in Venezuela by state 2021".
"Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab".
(1992). "Noticias historiales de Venezuela". Biblioteca Ayacucho.
https://www.clubensayos.com/Historia/ORIGEN-HISTORICO-DEL-ESTADO-CARABOBO/996442.html (Spanish)

Info: Wikipedia Source

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