Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Capital: Caracas, officially called Santiago de Leon de Caracas

Population 31.5 million

Area 881,050 sq km (340,561 sq miles)

Venezuela shares a land border with Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south. Off its Caribbean Coastline lies the island nations of Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Curaçao, and Aruba.

Major languages Spanish, indigenous languages

Major religion Christianity

Life expectancy 70 years (men), 79 years (women)

Currency: bolivar fuerte.

Venezuela has some of the world’s largest proven oil deposits as well as huge quantities of coal, iron ore, bauxite and gold. Yet many Venezuelans live in poverty, often in shanty towns, some of which sprawl over the hillsides around the capital, Caracas.

Venezuela has more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia but produces less than a fourth of what Saudi produces per year.

Venezuela is one of the most violent places on earth with a person being murdered every 21 minutes.

Venezuela owes foreign airlines over 4 billion dollars, leading many airlines to sharply reduce or stop service in the country.

Venezuela’s ”Who Wants to be millionaire” top prize equals to less than 90 USD.

Venezuela has their own time zone that is offset by half an hour.

The worlds tallest waterfall, Angel Falls, is located in Venezuela

The northern fringe of the Amazon Basin is located in Southern Venezuela.

Baseball is Venezuela’s most popular sport, there has been a professional baseball league in the country since 1945.

Over 3,900 species of fungi have been discovered and recorded from Venezuela.