Venezuela ,officially
the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: República
Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many small islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It has a territorial extension of
916,445 km2 (353,841 sq mi) and the population of Venezuela was
estimated at 28 million in 2019. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the
city of Caracas.
The continental territory
is bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Colombia, Brazil on the south, Trinidad and Tobago to the
north-east and on the east by Guyana. The Venezuelan government
maintains a claim against Guyana to Guayana Esequiba. Venezuela is a federal presidential republic
consisting of 23 states, the Capital District and
federal dependencies
covering Venezuela's offshore islands. Venezuela is among the most urbanized
countries in Latin America; the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities
of the north and in the capital.
The territory of Venezuela
was colonized by
Spain in 1522 amid resistance from indigenous peoples. In 1811, it
became one of the first Spanish-American territories to declare independence
from the Spanish as a department of the federal republic of Gran Colombia. It gained full sovereignty as a country in
1830. During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political turmoil and
autocracy, remaining dominated by regional military dictators until the mid-20th century. Since 1958, the
country has had a series of democratic governments.
According to the most
popular and accepted version, in 1499, an expedition led by Alonso de Ojeda visited the Venezuelan coast. The stilt houses in the area of Lake Maracaibo reminded the Italian navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, of the city of Venice, Italy, so he named the region Veneziola, or
"Little Venice".The Spanish version of Veneziola is Venezuela. Martín Fernández de Enciso,
a member of the Vespucci and Ojeda crew, gave a different account. In his work Summa
de geografía, he states that the crew found indigenous people who called themselves the Veneciuela. Thus,
the name "Venezuela" may have evolved from the native word. Previously,
the official name was Estado de Venezuela
(1830–1856), República de Venezuela (1856–1864), Estados Unidos de Venezuela
(1864–1953), and again República de Venezuela
(1953–1999).
The northern mountains are the extreme
northeastern extensions of South America's Andes mountain range. Pico Bolívar, the nation's highest point at 4,979 m
(16,335 ft), lies in this region. To the south, the dissected Guiana Highlands contain the northern fringes of the Amazon
Basin and Angel Falls, the world's highest
waterfall, as well as tepuis, large table-like mountains. The
country's center is characterized by the llanos, which are extensive plains
that stretch from the Colombian border in the far west to the Orinoco River delta in the east.
The first stamps of the Venezuela were issued
on 1 January 1859. Venezuela supported its territorial claim in the Venezuela Crisis of 1895
by printing an 1896 postage stamp with a map showing Guyana up to the east bank of the Essequibo River as "Guayana Venezolana". Guyana
years later responded with a series of overprints “ESSEQUIBO IS OURS”. British
stamps were used at La Guaira between 1865 and 1880 which may
be identified by the cancel C60. British stamps used at Ciudad Bolivar (1868-80) had the cancel D22.
Getting a cover from Venezuela is requires patience because it take minimum 4 months to be delivered into outer world. Because of economic crisis majority of international mail exchanges not working. J.Moret sent these two covers as registered.
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