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Author:
Giselle M. Avilés, Reference Librarian, Hispanic Section, Latin American, Caribbean, and European Division
Created: September 21, 2020
Last Updated: October 15, 2020
The Library of Congress holds thousands of collection materials about and from Venezuela. Curated by librarians in the Hispanic Reading Room, this guide is part of a series of Country Guides that provide quick references for countries and regions from the Luso-Hispanic world. The Hispanic Reading Room is the Library’s portal to the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain and Portugal; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S. This guide offers links to diverse resources on Venezuela from across the Library including digitized primary sources, selected books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching. For specific questions or assistance using the Library’s resources, use the Ask a Librarian service to contact a reference librarian.
Official Name: República Bolivariana de Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela)
Capital: Caracas
Date of Independence: July 5, 1811
Head of State/Government: President Nicolas Maduro Moros
Population: 28.64 million
Languages: Spanish and other indigenous dialects
States: 23 states, 1 capital district (distrito capital), and 1 federal dependency (dependencia federal); Amazonas, Anzoategui, Apure, Aragua, Barinas, Bolivar, Carabobo, Cojedes, Delta Amacuro, Dependencias Federales (Federal Dependencies), Distrito Capital (Capital District), Falcon, Guarico, La Guaira, Lara, Merida, Miranda, Monagas, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Tachira, Trujillo, Yaracuy, Zulia. The federal dependency consists of 11 federally controlled island groups with a total of 72 individual islands.