Interesting Facts about Venezuela

Venezuela’s name...

comes from the Italian word “Veneziola” that literally means “piccola Venezia” (little Venice). It was named so by the explorer Amerigo Vespucci who saw native stilt houses built in Lake Maracaibo, reminding him of Venice.

Maracaibo Lake

which is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela at the northern end is the largest lake in South America and one of the oldest on earth (20-40 million years old).

Summer in Venezuela

In Venezuela summer is every day of the year because the country only has two weather seasons: the hot and dry season and the hot and wet season. Regions of Venezuela also experience a meteorological phenomenon called Catatumbo lightning, it only occurs at the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it meets Lake Maracaibo. Lightning repeatedly strikes the lake for 10 hours at a time, for up to 160 days a year.

Venezuela's nature

Venezuela is blessed by Mother Nature; it has oceans, mountains, rivers, deserts, grasslands, canyons and forests. The country is considered one of the seventeen megadiverse countries that contain most of earth’s species.

Angel Falls

The world’s tallest uninterrupted waterfall, Angel Falls, is located in Venezuela. With a height of 3,212 feet it’s about 15 times taller than the Niagara Falls.

The Monument to the Virgen de la Paz

The Monument to the Virgen de la Paz en Trujillo, Venezuela is the world’s highest statue of the Virgin Mary and the highest habitable sculpture in the American continent, being just inches taller than the Statue of Liberty and Christ the Redeemer.

Venezuela Oil Reserves

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reservesalmost 300 billion barrels and the world’s eighth largest proven natural gas reserves (almost 21,000 quadrillion cubic feet).

Baseball is the national sport

Baseball is Venezuela’s most popular sport and there has been a professional league since 1945. Besides that, many Venezuelan players have moved to the United States to play in the U.S. Major Leagues.

Miss Universe Venezuela

Venezuela is a multicultural and multiethnic country made up by immigrants that came from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, the Middle East, Africa and descendants of various indigenous groups.

Venezuelans eat arepas

Venezuelans eat Arepas at least once a week. In 2014, Thrillist.com ranked the Venezuelan arepas the world’s best breakfast; the truth is people in Venezuela eat arepas not only for breakfast, but for lunch, dinner and snack as well. Filled with super-savory white cheese, gouda cheese, fish, chicken, avocados, ham, eggs, pork or beef, this flatbread is truly the world’s best meal.

Venezuela Flag

Created by Francisco de Miranda (Venezuelan Independence Heroe) in 1806, it has eight stars that represent the seven provinces that supported Venezuela‘s independence in 1830 plus the eighth star, added in 2006 to honor Simón Bolívar. It has gone through multiple changes over time, up to the aspect of today. It currently has three stripes of equal size, with the primary colors in this order: yellow, blue and red with 8 stars in the central stripe in the form of an arc
Meaning of all Venezuela flag colors:
Yellow: Riches of the nation.
Blue: the Caribbean Sea off the Venezuelan coast.
Red: the blood shed by the fallen heroes during the independence battles.