Population
Venezuela's total population numbers about 30 million. About 85 percent of the population lives in urban areas in the northern portion of the country. While almost half of Venezuela's land area lies south of the Orinoco River, this region contains only five percent of the populace.
Cultural Demography
Venezuela's predominantly mestizo population, made up of a mixture of Spanish and indigenous ancestry, is reflective of the country's Spanish colonial past in conjunction with its pre-colonial history, when the region was inhabited by Caribs and Arawaks. About 68 percent of the population is mestizo. In addition, there are other European, Jewish, Arabic, African and indigenous minorities.
Most Venezuelans are Roman Catholics, a remnant of the Spanish colonial legacy. At the same time, there are smaller communities of Protestant denominations, Jews and Muslims. Most Protestant denominations tend to be of the evangelical variety. Among the indigenous population, traditional religious practices prevail.
Spanish is the official language, although ethnic languages of the European, Jewish, Arabic and indigenous populations are also spoken. Indigenous languages, however, account for less than 1 percent of the languages of this country, and are confined to isolated areas.
Health and Welfare
The country enjoys a relatively high rate of literacy in the region of Latin America, at 93 percent, according to recent estimates. Basic education consists of nine years of compulsory schooling. The best known and oldest university is the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas.
In terms of health and welfare, the infant mortality rate is 22.52 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to recent estimates
. In recent years, life expectancy has been calculated to be 73 years of age for the entire population.
Human Development
A notable measure of human development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is formulated by the United Nations Development Program. The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a recent ranking of 169 countries, the HDI places Venezuela in the high human development category, at 75th place.
Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief at CountryWatch; see Bibliography for list of research sources.