The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

made up of twenty-three states ('), a Capital District (') and the Federal Dependencies ('), which consist of many islands and islets in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

. Venezuela claims the disputed Essequibo territory as one of its states, which it calls Guayana Esequiba, but the territory is controlled by

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

as part of six of its

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. The states and territories of Venezuela are usually organized into

(), although these regions are mostly geographical entities rather than administrative entities.

Historical states

Prior to the Federal War (1859–1863), the country was divided into provinces rather than states (see Provinces of Venezuela). The victorious forces were supposed to grant more autonomy to the individual states, but this was not implemented. From 1863 to the early 1900s there were numerous territorial changes, including the merger and splitting of states, but from then until the 1990s the states were left unchanged. States that existed during this time included ''Guzmán Blanco State'' (1873–1889). Originally a renamed Aragua State, in 1881 the states of Miranda, Guárico, Nueva Esparta and the Vargas department of the Federal District were merged into the state. This was part of a territorial reorganisation reducing the number of states from 20 to 9, which was reversed in 1901. The 1990s saw the creation of three new states:

Delta Amacuro Delta Amacuro State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela, and is the location of the Orinoco Delta. The Paria Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean are found to the north, Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar State is found to th ...

(1991), Amazonas (1994), and Vargas (1998, renamed La Guaira in 2019).

Proposed states

On 5 December 2023, following a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

held two days earlier, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro published a new map showing the claimed region of Guayana Esequiba as part of Venezuela. He urged legislators to create a law which would establish a new state covering the disputed region. The Venezuelan referendum on annexing the area led to a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Regions

Venezuela's territory is generally divided into nine geographical regions, which are mostly used for geographical, cultural and planning purposes but do not have active administrative bodies.

States

Below is a list of the 23 states of Venezuela. The states are listed along with their correspondent emblems, data and location.

By Human Development Index

Special status areas

State name etymologies

Several states are named for historical figures: *

Anzoátegui Anzoátegui State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, states of Venezuela, located in the northeastern region of the country. Anzoátegui is well known for its beaches that attract many visitors. Its coast consists of a single beach approx ...

for

José Antonio Anzoátegui José Antonio Anzoátegui (1789–1819) was a Venezuelan military officer who fought in the Venezuelan War of Independence, Venezuelan and Colombian War of Independence, Colombian Wars of Independence. Born in Barcelona, Venezuela, Barcelona, he ...

* Bolívar for

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

* Falcón for Juan Crisóstomo Falcón * Lara for

Jacinto Lara Jacinto Lara (28 May 1777, Carora – 25 February 1859, Barquisimeto) was a Venezuelan independence leader and hero of the Venezuelan War of Independence. His contribution included participating in Simón Bolívar's 1813 Admirable Campaign. ...

* Miranda for

Francisco de Miranda Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez de Espinoza (28 March 1750 – 14 July 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (), was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary who fought in the American Revolutionary War, the French R ...

Monagas Monagas State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Monagas State covers a total surface area of and, as of the 2011 census, had a population of 905,443. Monagas State is surrounded by Sucre State in the north, Anzoátegui State in the ...

for José Tadeo Monagas and José Gregorio Monagas *

Sucre Sucre (; ) is the ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...

for Antonio José de Sucre Several states are named for natural features: * Amazonas is named for the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

Apure Apure State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida (state), Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas (state), Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations ...

is named for the Apure River * Aragua for the Aragua River * Cojedes for the Cojedes River *

for the

river delta A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creat ...

of the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

, and for the

Amacuro River The Amacuro River is a river in South America. It forms part of the northern section of the international boundary between Venezuela and Guyana. It is part of the Orinoco River basin. The river boundary is a part of the Guyana-Venezuela border dis ...

* Guárico for the Guárico River * Portuguesa for the Portuguesa River *

Táchira Táchira State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal, Táchira, San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,9 ...

for the Táchira River * Yaracuy for the Yaracuy River * Zulia for the Zulia River, its name meaning "navigable river" in Chibcha language Other naming origins: * Barinas, named after the indigenous ethnic group in the area * Carabobo, from the local Arawaco language expression ''Karau-bo-bo'', meaning "Savannah of a lot of Ravines"https://www.clubensayos.com/Historia/ORIGEN-HISTORICO-DEL-ESTADO-CARABOBO/996442.html (Spanish) *

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, named for the ''Caracas'' indigenous group * La Guaira, for the capital city, La Guaira, named after an indigenous Carib settlement called ''Huaira'' * Mérida, for the capital city, Mérida, itself named for Mérida in Spain * Nueva Esparta ("New Sparta") is named for the heroism shown by its inhabitants during the Venezuelan War of Independence, deemed similar to that of the

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

n soldiers of

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

. * Trujillo, for the capital city, Trujillo, itself named for Trujillo in Spain

References

Bibliography

* Some information was retrieved from the Venezuela
National Institute of Statistics

External links

{{Subnational entities by Human Development Index Subdivisions of Venezuela Venezuela, States States, Venezuela Venezuela geography-related lists