Venezuela is officially known as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. It is a country situated on the northern coastal regions of South America. Venezuela consists of a continental mainland and a number of islands situated off the coastline of Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea. Presently, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shares its borders with Brazil in the south, Guyana in the eastern parts and Colombia in the western side. Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Bonaire, Saint Vincent, Curaçao, Aruba and the Grenadines and the Leeward Antilles which lie just north, off the coast line of Venezuela. Venezuela falls within the tropics and it is also close to the equator, in the Northern Hemisphere.
Venezuela was previously one of the Spanish colonies which got its independence since the year, 1821. Now it is a Social Democratic republic and holds some of the disputes regarding its territory with Guyana, largely relating the Essequibo area, and some disputes with Colombia regarding the Gulf of Venezuela. In the year, 1985, there arose a Venezuelan Boundary Crisis. In the present day, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is famously known for the environmental diversity of its territory, its natural features and its petroleum industry. Venezuela is believed to be in the group of 17 of the most mega diverse countries in the whole world. It is one of the most urbanized countries in Latin America. A huge majority of Venezuelans live in the cities located in the north, mostly in the capital Caracas which is the largest city. Some of the other reputed cities are like Maracaibo, Maracay, Valencia, Ciudad Guayana, Barquisimeto and the most famous tourist city of Mérida. Venezuela also provides enough shelter to a wide variety of wildlife in a number of different protected habitats.
|
The name, Venezuela is considered to have germinated from the cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. The cartographer, along with Alonso de Ojeda, led a 1499 naval excursion along the northwestern coastal regions of the Gulf of Venezuela. After getting to the Guajira Peninsula, the crew found out that the villages were constructed by the people over water. This reminded Vespucci about the city of Venice and therefore he named the new place as Venezuela which means a very small place in Venice in the Italian language.
|
|
In the Spanish language, the suffix, zuela is utilized as a diminutive term.
Venezuelan human habitation is believed to have started at least before 15,000 years, in which period, leaf-shaped flake tools along with plano-convex scraping and chopping implements are abundantly found displayed on the high riverine terraces of the Rio Pedregal in western parts of Venezuela. Some of the late Pleistocene hunting artifacts, which include spear tips, are also found at a much similar series of sites in the northwestern regions of Venezuela called, El Jobo. As far as radiocarbon dating is concerned, these discovered items date from the 13th century B.C. to the 7th century B.C. In Venezuela, you will be pleased to see a number of tourist attractions with lots of sight seeing options along with various things to do.
|
