30 facts about Venezuelan culture

Venezuela is going through a lot of sociopolitical turmoil with the illegal capture and arrest of its president, Nicolas Maduro. There are lots of contrasting feelings from its citizens—relief that Maduro has been removed (at least in person) but also worry about the future given that Trump did it and claims that the US will “run” the country now.

So the reason I’m writing this is to 1) help me educate myself more on the country and some of its cultural history (as I have done for countries like Australia and Argentina) and also draw more attention to the cultures rather than just associations with political warfare and dictatorships.

The history of Venezuela

1. There are two stories about where the name Venezuela came from. The main one was from Amerigo Vespucci (the guy who likely gave his name to “America”) who said that areas in the country reminded him of Venice this calling it Veneziola, or “Little Venice” and then the Spanish version “Venezuela” was later adopted. The other came from one of his crew mates, Martín Fernández de Enciso, who claimed the indigenous people called themselves the Veneciuela.
2. The Venezuelan flag (above) has three horizontal stripes of yellow, blue, and red, with an arch of 8 white stars in the middle representing the seven signatories to the Venezuelan declaration of independence and the Guayana Province. The flag originally had 7 stars with the eighth was controversially added by Hugo Chavez in 2006.
3. Venezuela was colonized by Spain in 1522 and gained indepedence in 1811.
4. Venezuela’s official motto is Dios y Federación or “God and Federation” in English

Admin stuff

5. Venezuela is the 33rd largest country in the world in terms of land area.
6. The capital of Venezuela is Caracas which is also its largest city.
7. Spanish is the most-spoken official language of Venezuela, with Castillian as the official “mother tongue”.
8. Venezuela has an estimated population of about 31.3 million people but due to how the figures are gathered, other sources range from 28.3–33.7 million.
9. The currency of Venezuela is the Venezuelan bolívar.
10. The average life expectancy in Venezuela is about 72–73 years.
11. The Venezuelan economy is the world’s 69th-largest by nominal terms, and the 77th-largest by PPP.
12. Venezuelans drive on the right-hand side.
13. Venezuela’s largest export is crude oil (ahem) with the US being its biggest customer (AHEM) (source)

Food and drink

14. Venezuela’s national dish is creole pavilion consisting of white rice, stewed shredded beef, fried plantains (known as tajadas), and stewed black beans
15. Other popular foods include arepa, which is a round, flat bread made from maize, hallaca, traditionally served during Christmas, and cachapas which are corn pancakes.
16. The legal drinking and alcohol purchase ages are 18.
17. In 2023, Venezuela imported $17.1 million of hard liquor, primarily from the UK (source)

The arts

18. The Museum of Contemporary Art of Caracas (MACC) is home to thousands of pieces including works by Matisse, Picasso, and Rodin
19. Notable Venezuelan writers include former president Rómulo Gallegos, Arturo Uslar Pietri, Antonia Palacios, Rafael Cadenas, and Karina Sainz Borgo.
20. The literacy rate in Venezuela is about 97% (source)

Sport

21. Baseball, basketball, and soccer are the most popular sports in Venezuela.
22. Athletes representing Venezuela have won three medals at Summer and Winter Olympics (Asnoldo Devonish, bronze in 1952; Francisco Rodríguez, gold in 1968; Naomi Soazo, Paralympic gold in 2008).
23. Coleo is a traditional sport played mainly in Venezuela and Colombia with small groups of llaneros or cowboys on going after cattle on horseback attempting to flip them over (naturally, it’s a dangerous sport for animals and humans)

Nature and geography

24. The highest mountain on the Venezuelan mainland is Pico Simón Bolívar (5,720 m)
25. Venezuela is home to over 1,400 bird species
26. The Venezuelan troupial is Venezuela’s national bird
27. The national flower is the flor de Mayo
28. The white-bearded helmetcrest is exclusive to northwestern Venezuela
29. Venezuela is also home to capybara, manatees, and Orinoco crocodiles
30. Angel Falls is a waterfall in Venezuela and the world’s tallest uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of nearly 1 km (3,212 ft)