A Brief History of Venezuela Timeline 1830 Today Crisis

What Is The History Of Venezuela?

What is Venezuelan history? The concept of what is known as “history of Venezuela” is nothing more than all the events and events that have occurred over time in Venezuelan territory, which have originated what exists in the present.

Simón Bolívar, is considered by many as the father of Venezuelan history because he was the person who liberated the nation from the Spanish empire, which allowed Venezuela to give its beginnings as an independent country in the nineteenth century.

For that reason his figure is one of the most important in the country and he is remembered to this day as “The Liberator” and “The Father of the Country“.

Population of Venezuela 29,414,153
Total Area of of Venezuela : 912,050 km2 (352,145 mi2)
Language of Venezuela : Spanish
Capital of Venezuela : Caracas

Religious Beliefs In Venezuela

Rank	Belief System	Share of Venezuelan Population
1	Roman Catholic Christianity	71%
2	Protestant Christianity	17%
3	Irreligious	8%
4	Santeria	1%
5	Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, and Other Beliefs	3%

History On Venezuela

Venezuela history timeline: The country of Venezuela, officially known as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is located on the north coast of the South American continent. Its territory covers approximately 354,000 square miles (916,445 square kilometers), where an estimated population of 29.1 million lives. From a natural perspective, Venezuela is considered a state with extremely high biodiversity, with habitats ranging from the Andes Mountains in the West to the rainforest of the Amazon basin in the south, traversing immense plains and with the Caribbean coast in the center and the banks of the Orinoco River in the East.

Venezuela is organized as a presidential federal republic that is made up of 23 states, the Capital District (including the capital city of Caracas), and the Federal Dependencies (including the offshore islands of Venezuela). Venezuela also claims as its own all the territories of Guyana west of the Eseqibo River, an area of 61,583 square miles baptized as Guayana Esequiba or the Reclamation Zone.

Prehistory of Venezuela

Historians suppose that the first inhabitants of America arrived from Siberia through the Bering Strait, spreading throughout the North American continent, and then down to Central and South America in many waves of migration. There is evidence of human presence in what is now northwestern Venezuela dating back more than 15,000 years. Established agriculture was consolidated around the first millennium, generating the first habitual settlements in the region.

Groups that were previously nomadic began to develop larger cultures in Venezuela, cultures that belonged to the three main language families: Caribbean, Arawaka and Chibcha. By the time of the Spanish conquest at the end of the fifteenth century, between 300,000 and 400,000 indigenous people inhabited the region that is now Venezuela.

The bellicose tribes of the Caribs occupied the center and east coast of the country during that time, living off fishing and itinerant agriculture. Various Arawak groups dispersed over the western plains and north to the coast. They lived off the house and collected food and occasionally practiced farming.

The Timotocuic tribes of the Chibcha language family were the most advanced pre-Hispanic societies in Venezuela. They lived in the Andes and developed advanced agricultural techniques, including irrigation and terrace construction. They were also expert craftsmen, as we can appreciate from the objects they left as a testimony: examples of their fine pottery are shown in museums around the world. No architectural work has survived the pre-colonial era, even though there are some smaller sites in the Andean region that have been recently discovered and will be open to tourism in the coming years.

Colonial History of Venezuela

In 1498, during his third voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus became the first European to set foot on Venezuelan soil. Columbus landed at the eastern end of the Paria Peninsula, just opposite what is now the city of Trinidad. At first he thought he was on another island, but the huge mouth of the Orinoco River indicated that he had stumbled upon something a little bigger.

A year after Columbus’ discovery, Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda, accompanied by Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, set sail for the Guajira Peninsula, at the western tip of present-day Venezuela. After entering Lake Maracaibo, the Spaniards saw the Indians living in stilt houses (thatched-roof huts held on stilts above the water).

They called this land “Venezuela”, literally “Little Venice” perhaps as a sarcastic joke of sailors, since these rustic reed dwellings were nothing like the opulent palaces of the Italian city they knew. The name Venezuela first appeared on a map in 1500 and has remained unchanged to this day. The Sinamaica Lagoon is considered the place where the Spaniards first saw the stilt houses, and similar cabins can be seen there today.

VENEZUELA IN ITS BEGINNINGS

For centuries the indigenous peoples of Venezuela lived on agriculture, but also on hunting and fishing. Then, in 1498, Christopher Columbus became the first European to arrive in Venezuela. In 1499 a Spaniard named Alonso de Ojeda led another expedition to the area.

He called it Venezuela, which means little Venice, after seeing huts on stilts. The Spanish founded their first city in Venezuela in 1521. They also began importing African slaves. However, Venezuela was relatively unimportant to the Spaniards.

On July 5, 1811, a national assembly declared the independence of Venezuela. However, it was short-lived. After a year, the Spanish forces were back in control. Venezuela was finally liberated by Simón Bolívar in 1821.

Initially, Venezuela joined Colombia and Ecuador as part of a state called Gran Colombia. However, Gran Colombia soon dissolved and Venezuela became completely independent in 1830.

The History Of Venezuela Politics

During the nineteenth century Venezuela was ruled by military dictators called Caudillos. The first was José Antonio Páez. He ruled Venezuela until 1848. Venezuela then suffered civil wars. General Antonio Guzmán Blanco was caudillo between 1870 and 1888 and restored order.

However, in 1902 Venezuela did not pay interest on loans from Britain, Germany and Italy. As a result, those three nations sent their navies to blockade Venezuelan ports. However, in 1914 oil was discovered in Venezuela. Oil became Venezuela’s most important export.

History of socialism in Venezuela: Then, in 1945, a dictator was overthrown and the interim government promised to hold elections. A new constitution was introduced in Venezuela in 1947 and elections were held. However, in 1948 a coup d’état took place. Marcos Pérez Jiménez became dictator of Venezuela. He was overthrown in turn in 1958.

The History of Venezuela Timeline

In all the time that has passed until this moment, endless events and historical events have occurred in Venezuela, but of course some have had more impact than others, so below we will mention the 10 most important events or events in the history of Venezuela:

January 23, 1958. Fall of the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez.
February 12, 1814. Battle of Victory (currently celebrated on Youth Day)
February 20, 1859. Beginning of the Federal War.
27 and 28 February 1989. The Caracazo.
March 2, 1811. Establishment of the first National Congress of Venezuela.
April 19, 1810. Declaration of Independence.
June 24, 1821. Battle of Carabobo.
July 5, 1811. Signing of the Act of Independence (currently celebrated as National Armed Forces Day)
July 24, 1783. Birth of the Liberator Simón Bolívar.
October 18, 1945. Overthrow of President Isaias Medina Angarita.

VENEZUELA TODAY

After 1958 Venezuela became a democracy. However, in 1998 Hugo Chávez was elected president. Chavez introduced a leftist regime in Venezuela. Chavez was re-elected in 2006. He allied Venezuela with Cuba. However, Chavez died in 2013. He was replaced by Nicolás Maduro.

What Caused Venezuela’s Collapse?

History of Venezuela crisis: The current population of Venezuela is 32 million. Today Venezuela relies heavily on oil revenues, but poverty persists. 2016 Venezuela suffered a very high inflation rate and the economy contracted. There are also shortages of consumer goods and medicines.

Venezuela also suffers from a very high crime rate. It’s no wonder that in recent years Venezuela has suffered a “brain drain,” as many wealthy people have fled abroad. In 2017 there were many protests in Venezuela. Today the economic crisis continues.

Venezuela Beauty Pageant Winners

How many times Venezuela won miss universe? Venezuela is known around the world as the “Land of Beauty” and they definitely deserve that title with 22 pageant titles under its belt while dominating the big four at the same time. Venezuela has seven Miss Universe (1979, 1981, 1986, 1996, 2008, 2009, 2013) titles and the first country to win back to back in the competition. The country also has six Miss World (1955, 1981, 1991, 1995, 2011) titles, seven Miss International (1985, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2015) crowns, and two Miss Earth victories (2005, 2013). Venezuela is a frequent finalist as well with 40 runners up under its belt. Venezuela are on top countries winning beauty pageants.