Population and Demographics

Venezuela's cultural imprint indicates an amount of Caribbean Spanish, West Indian and 'Old world' (colonial European) influences; however, Venezuela isn't always classified as an 'Euro-Latin American' society like Argentina, Uruguay and to a smaller extent, Chile. The South American nation shares the multiplicity of regional cultures like Mexico and Brazil.

The Venezuelan people comprise a combination of heritages. The indigenous Amerindians, Spanish colonists and imported African slaves were joined by sponsored European groups and others from neighbouring countries in South America during waves of immigration in the 20th century. The multi-racial/ethnic combination is evident in Venezuelan culture (in food, music, clothing, holidays and the mestizaje identity).

Unlike Colombia, where the majority of Caucasians originate from only Spanish ancestors, Euro-Venezuelans in small but influential numbers descended from many European countries such as Germany, Portugal, Italy, France, Ireland, Great Britain, Austria and Eastern European countries such as Hungary, Poland, Russia and Romania. There are also various recently formed communities from Europe such as Czech Republic, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece.

About 85% of the population live in urban areas in the northern portion of the country and currently resides in the urban conglomerations (Caracas, Valencia, Maracaibo, et cetera) that are concentrated in Venezuela's northern coastal mountain strip. Nearly half of Venezuela's geographic area lies south of the Orinoco River; however, this region contains only 5% of the Venezuelan population.

Although Spanish is the official language, there are spoken numerous indigenous languages in the country's rainforests and interior areas.

Facts and Figures

• Population: 25,730,435
• Age Structure:
  • 0-14 years: 29.1% (male 3,860,116/female 3,620,440)
  • 15-64 years: 65.7% (male 8,494,944/female 8,410,874)
  • 65 years and over: 5.2% (male 609,101/female 734,960)
• Median Age:
  • Total: 26 years
  • Male: 25.4 years
  • Female: 26.6 years
• Population Growth Rate: 1.38%
  • Birth Rate: 18.71 births/1,000 population
  • Death Rate: 4.92 deaths/1,000 population
  • Net Migration Rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
• Sex Ratio:
  • At birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
  • Under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
  • Total population: 1.02 male(s)/female
• Infant Mortality Rate:
  • Total: 21.54 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Male: 24.58 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Female: 18.27 deaths/1,000 live births
• Life Expectancy at Birth:
  • Total population: 74.54 years
  • Male: 71.49 years
  • Female: 77.81 years
• Total Fertility Rate: 2.23 children born/woman
• HIV/AIDS:
  • Adult prevalence rate: 0.7%
  • People living with HIV/AIDS: 110,000
• Ethnic Groups:
  • Spanish
  • Italian
  • Portuguese
  • Arab
  • German
  • African
  • Indigenous people
• Religions:
  • Nominally Roman Catholic 96%
  • Protestant 2%
  • Other 2%
• Languages:
  • Spanish (official)
  • Numerous indigenous dialects
• Literacy:
  • Total population: 93.4%
  • Male: 93.8%
  • Female: 93.1%