Venezuela
Caracas · Andes
From the Andes to the Caribbean coast, Venezuela speaks in a warm, rapid-fire lilt that drops its s's and swallows its consonants with infectious energy.
Snapshot
Venezuela sits at the northern tip of South America, where the Andes descend into vast plains (los llanos) and a Caribbean coastline stretches for thousands of kilometers. Its Spanish is a coastal Caribbean variety — fast, melodic, and full of colorful slang. The country has gifted the world with world-class baseball players, literary giants, extraordinary biodiversity, and a cuisine built on corn, black beans, and slow-cooked meat.
- Capital
- Caracas
- Population
- ~29 million
- Currency
- Venezuelan bolívar (VES)
- Language
- Spanish (official) + around 40 recognized Indigenous languages including Wayuunaiki, Pemón, and Warao
Did you know?
- ✨Angel Falls is nearly 20 times the height of Niagara Falls and was unknown to the outside world until aviator Jimmy Angel flew over it in 1933.
- ✨Venezuela has produced more Miss Universe and Miss World title holders than any other country.
- ✨The joropo, Venezuela's national dance, is performed to the cuatro — a small four-stringed guitar — and has been declared Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.
- ✨Simón Bolívar, the liberator of six South American nations, was born in Caracas in 1783.
- ✨Venezuela holds some of the largest proven oil reserves in the world, located mainly in the Orinoco Belt.