States of Venezuela

States, Federal Dependencies and Capital District Estados, Dependencias Federales y Distrito Capital (Spanish)
Category	Federated state
Location	Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Number	23 states 1 Capital District
Populations	146,480 (Amazonas) – 3,704,404 (Zulia)
Areas	1,100 km2 (440 sq mi) (Nueva Esparta) – 240,000 km2 (92,000 sq mi) (Bolívar)
Government	State government
Subdivisions	Municipality Island (Federal Dependencies)

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a federation made up of twenty-three states (Spanish: estados), a Capital District (Spanish: Distrito Capital) and the Federal Dependencies (Spanish: Dependencias Federales), which consist of many islands and islets on the Caribbean Sea. Venezuela also claims the Guayana Esequiba territory which comprises six districts in the independent nation of Guyana.

The states and territories of Venezuela are usually organized into regions (Spanish: regiones), although these regions are mostly geographical entities and count with no 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 (1991), Amazonas (1994), and Vargas (1998).

Regions

Venezuela's territory is generally divided into eight geographical regions, which are mostly used for geographical, cultural and planning purposes but count with no active administrative body.

States

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

Flag	State	Capital	Largest city	Population (2011)	Area (km2)	Region	Map
	Amazonas	Puerto Ayacucho		146,480	180,145	Guayana
	Anzoátegui	Barcelona		1,469,747	43,300	Eastern
	Apure	San Fernando de Apure		459,025	76,500	Llanos
	Aragua	Maracay		1,630,308	7,014	Central
	Barinas	Barinas		816,264	35,200	Andean
	Bolívar	Ciudad Bolívar		1,410,964	238,000	Guayana
	Carabobo	Valencia		2,245,744	4,650	Central
	Cojedes	San Carlos		323,165	14,800	Central
	Delta Amacuro	Tucupita		167,676	40,200	Guayana
	Falcón	Coro	Punto Fijo	902,847	24,800	Central-Western
	Guárico	San Juan de Los Morros	Calabozo	747,739	64,986	Llanos
	La Guaira	La Guaira	Catia La Mar	352,920	1,496	Capital
	Lara	Barquisimeto		1,774,867	19,800	Central-Western
	Mérida	Mérida		828,592	11,300	Andean
	Miranda	Los Teques	Petare	2,675,165	7,950	Capital
	Monagas	Maturín		905,443	28,930	Eastern
	Nueva Esparta	La Asunción	Porlamar	491,610	1,150	Insular
	Portuguesa	Guanare		876,496	15,200	Central-Western
	Sucre	Cumaná		896,291	11,800	Eastern
	Táchira	San Cristóbal		1,168,908	11,100	Andean
	Trujillo	Trujillo	Valera	686,367	7,400	Andean
	Yaracuy	San Felipe		600,852	7,100	Central-Western
	Zulia	Maracaibo		3,704,404	63,100	Zulian

Special status areas

Flag	State	Capital	Population (2011)	Area (km2)	Region	Map
	Capital District	Caracas	1,943,901	433	Capital
	Federal Dependencies	Los Roques	2,155	342	Insular

State name etymologies

Several states are named for historical figures:

• Anzoátegui for José Antonio Anzoátegui
• Bolívar for Simón Bolívar
• Falcón for Juan Crisóstomo Falcón
• Lara for Jacinto Lara
• Miranda for Francisco de Miranda
• Monagas for José Tadeo Monagas and José Gregorio Monagas
• Sucre for Antonio José de Sucre
• La Guaira (Vargas) for José María Vargas

Several states are named for natural features:

• Amazonas is named for the Amazon Rainforest
• Apure is named for the Apure River
• Aragua for the Aragua River
• Barinas for the Barinas River
• Cojedes for the Cojedes River
• Delta Amacuro for the river delta of the Orinoco River, and for the Amacuro River
• Guárico for the Guárico River
• Portuguesa for the Portuguesa River
• Táchira for the Táchira River
• Yaracuy for the Yaracuy River

Other naming origins:

• Carabobo, named for an ethnic village
• Caracas, named for the Caracas indigenous group
• 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 Spartan soldiers of Ancient Greece.
• Trujillo, for the capital city, Trujillo, itself named for Trujillo in Spain
• Zulia's name stems from a vocal transliteration from the Chibcha language, the name they called an exotic blue-flowered plant known as "Edging Lobelia" (Lobelia erinus); also for the Zulia River.

See also

• ISO 3166-2:VE

External links

• CityMayors feature