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 1 Federal Dependencies
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)

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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 in the Caribbean Sea.^[1] Venezuela claims the disputed Essequibo territory as one of its states, which it calls Guayana Esequiba, but the territory is controlled by Guyana as part of six of its regions.

The states and territories of Venezuela are usually organized into regions (Spanish: regiones), although these regions are mostly geographical entities rather than 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).

Proposed states

On 5 December 2023, following a referendum held two days earlier, Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro published a new map showing the claimed region of Guayana Esequiba as part of Venezuela.^[2] He urged legislators to create a law which would establish a new state covering the disputed region.^[3] The Venezuelan referendum on annexing the area led to a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Regions

Venezuela's territory is generally divided into nine geographical regions, which are mostly used for geographical, cultural and planning purposes but do not have active administrative bodies.

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 (2021)[4]	Population (2011)	Area (km2)	Density per km2 (2021)	Density per km2 (2011)	Region	Map
	Amazonas	Puerto Ayacucho		180,000	146,480	180,145	0.99	0.81	Guayana
	Anzoátegui	Barcelona		1,570,000	1,469,747	43,300	36.26	33.94	Eastern
	Apure	San Fernando de Apure		570,000	459,025	76,500	7.45	6.00	Llanos
	Aragua	Maracay		1,640,000	1,630,308	7,014	233.82	232.44	Central
	Barinas	Barinas		830,000	816,264	35,200	23.58	23.19	Andean
	Bolívar	Ciudad Bolívar	Ciudad Guayana	1,730,000	1,410,964	238,000	7.27	5.93	Guayana
	Carabobo	Valencia		2,240,000	2,245,744	4,650	481.72	482.96	Central
	Cojedes	San Carlos		330,000	323,165	14,800	22.29	21.84	Central
	Delta Amacuro	Tucupita		190,000	167,676	40,200	4.72	4.17	Guayana
	Falcón	Coro		990,000	902,847	24,800	39.92	36.41	Central-Western
	Guárico	San Juan de los Morros	Calabozo	830,000	747,739	64,986	12.77	11.51	Llanos
	La Guaira	La Guaira		340,000	352,920	1,496	227.27	235.91	Capital
	Lara	Barquisimeto		1,870,000	1,774,867	19,800	94.44	89.64	Central-Western
	Mérida	Mérida		880,000	828,592	11,300	77.88	73.33	Andean
	Miranda	Los Teques		2,970,000	2,675,165	7,950	373.58	336.50	Capital
	Monagas	Maturín		930,000	905,443	28,930	32.15	31.30	Eastern
	Nueva Esparta	La Asunción	Porlamar	570,000	491,610	1,150	495.65	427.90	Insular
	Portuguesa	Guanare		930,000	876,496	15,200	61.18	57.66	Central-Western
	Sucre	Cumaná		990,000	896,291	11,800	83.90	75.96	Eastern
	Táchira	San Cristóbal		1,030,000	1,168,908	11,100	92.79	105.31	Andean
	Trujillo	Trujillo	Valera	770,000	686,367	7,400	104.05	92.75	Andean
	Yaracuy	San Felipe		670,000	600,852	7,100	94.37	84.63	Central-Western
	Zulia	Maracaibo		3,830,000	3,704,404	63,100	60.70	58.71	Zulian
Disputed state whose territory is controlled by Guyana:
	Guayana Esequiba	Tumeremo (administrative center)		128,000	125,000	159,542	0.8	0.78	Guayana

By Human Development Index

Rank	State	HDI (2021)[5]
High human development
1	Capital District	0.737
2	Miranda	0.724
3	Aragua	0.718
4	Carabobo	0.713
5	Nueva Esparta	0.712
	Vargas
7	Anzoátegui	0.703
Medium human development
8	Bolívar	0.695
–	Venezuela	0.691
9	Táchira	0.689
10	Monagas	0.682
11	Falcón	0.681
12	Mérida	0.679
13	Zulia	0.677
14	Delta Amacuro	0.676
15	Amazonas	0.672
16	Lara	0.671
17	Cojedes	0.668
18	Sucre	0.660
	Trujillo
20	Yaracuy	0.657
21	Guárico	0.653
22	Portuguesa	0.638
23	Barinas	0.637
24	Apure	0.619

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
• 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
• 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:

• Barinas, named after the indigenous ethnic group in the area ^[6]
• 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.