Interesting Facts About Venezuela
Venezuela is a country in South America that is to the east of Colombia, west of Guyana and north of Brazil. The country was colonized by Spain in 1522 and didn’t achieve independence until July, 5, 1811 as a part of Gran Colombia. The following are some fun facts about Venezuela.
Interesting facts about Venezuela
- The capital, and largest, city of Venezuela is Caracas. The population of the metropolitan area is about 4.1 million. The whole country boasts a population of 29 million.
- The country is the 33rd largest on Earth and includes many small islands in the Caribbean Sea.
- The country has a very diverse range of habitats. For example, the country is in a tropical region, but it regularly snows in the Venezuelan Andes. This means that the country supports a large amount of plant and animal life. To help protect this unique area the government has created 43 national parks.
- The country has some of the largest reserves of oil and natural gas in the world. This means that the economy of Venezuela is mainly supported by crude oil and natural gas, but there are also solid manufacturing and agriculture industries. Due to the large petroleum industry and subsidies Venezuela has the cheapest gasoline prices in the world.
- The highest mountain in the country is Pico Bolívar at almost 4,979 m (16,335 ft).
- The largest lake in South America, Lake Maracaibo, is found in Venezuela.
- The world’s highest waterfall is also found in Venezuela. These are called Angel Falls and were named after American aviator Jimmy Angel. He landed his plane at the top of the falls in 1936 and the waterfall was named after him.
- The currency of Venezuela is called the bolívar fuerte. This is named after the liberator of the country, Simón Bolívar.
- The official language of the country is Spanish.
- Religion is very important to the Venezuelan people with about 92% of the country nominating Roman Catholic as their religion.
- The most popular sport in the country is Baseball.
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