Portal:Venezuela/Intro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
officially, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a federal republic, located at the north of South America. It borders north with the Caribbean Sea, east to Guyana, south with Brazil and west with Colombia. Its territory comprehends about 916,445 km², including 600 islands that form the Federal Dependencies, uncounting the Essequibo area, which has been largely reclaimed by the country.
A country with a large biodiversity, Venezuela is divided into 23 states (estados), the Venezuelan Capital District and the aforementioned dependencies. The capital city is Caracas, where resides the government along the legislative body. The country gained independence from Spain in 1821, and was one of the three nations that formed the Great Colombia. The economy is most based on the petroleum industry, depending also on the agricultural sector. The official language is Spanish, although several indigenous languages are spoken by aboriginal tribes through the nation.
Venezuela is a co-founder member of the OPEC and the South American Community of Nations.
