Venezuela explained in 10 maps and charts

The United States has designated Venezuela’s alleged Cartel de los Soles a “foreign violent organization”, marking the latest escalation successful US-Venezuela tensions.

Washington alleges Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro heads the organisation, which, the US says, is progressive successful wide corruption and cause trafficking. Maduro denies the accusations amid increasing fears of imaginable US subject enactment successful the region, and his authorities has called the cartel an “invention”.

The US designation comes aft continued US interceptions of boats successful the Caribbean and eastbound Pacific and the caller accomplishment of the Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike Group successful the Caribbean this month. The US says the subject build-up is targeting cause trafficking, but Caracas accuses Washington of utilizing it arsenic a pretext for “imperialist” plans to topple Maduro’s medication – a presumption echoed by immoderate analysts.

Venezuela has agelong grappled with governmental instability and economical decline, rooted partially successful its reliance connected oil. This fragility, compounded by years of sanctions, has besides led to 1 of the world’s largest exoduses arsenic Venezuelans question stableness and amended opportunities abroad.

Here are 10 charts to assistance explicate however Venezuela reached this point:

Venezuela astatine a glance

Venezuela is location to astir 28.4 cardinal people, making it the 53rd astir populous state successful the world.

About 85 percent of Venezuela’s colonisation lives successful municipality areas successful the northbound of the country, a coastal mountainous portion wherever astir of the country’s large cities are located. The astir populous cities are the capital, Caracas (3 cardinal people), Maracaibo (2.4 million) and Valencia (2 million).

According to the latest World Bank data, Venezuela’s beingness expectancy is astir 73 years with a fertility complaint of two, meaning each pistillate connected mean has 2 children. This is overmuch higher than successful galore Western nations, wherever fertility rates are acold beneath the replacement complaint of 2.1, the fig of children a pistillate indispensable person if a colonisation is to stay astatine existent levels.

Venezuela’s gross home merchandise (GDP) stands astatine $108.5bn, placing it among the smallest economies successful Latin America contempt its immense earthy resources.

Nearly 90 percent of Venezuela’s colonisation is Christian, chiefly Catholic.

Venezuela gained independency from Spain successful 1811. Spanish is the authoritative connection of Venezuela, but respective Indigenous languages are besides spoken.

How large is Venezuela?

By area, Venezuela is the 32nd largest state successful the satellite and South America’s sixth largest country, covering 916,445sq km (353,841sq miles). Venezuela is astir the aforesaid size arsenic Nigeria oregon Pakistan and astir 1.5 times the size of the US authorities of Texas.

Its scenery is made up of mountains, namely the Andes to the westbound and the Montanoso coastal scope to the northbound and east; tropical jungles, including the Amazon rainforest; stream plains; and coastal plains.

Political leadership

Venezuela’s governmental scenery has historically swung betwixt antiauthoritarian rule, populism and hardline rule. Since the extremity of subject regularisation successful 1958, alternating governments person taken powerfulness successful the country, mostly led by 2 large parties, Democratic Action, a societal antiauthoritarian party, and the Christian antiauthoritarian COPEI party.

By the 1980s, the country’s oil-dependent system began to falter. The planetary lipid glut triggered a terrible downturn, forcing Venezuela to question a bailout from the International Monetary Fund and follow unpopular austerity measures. Economic decline, corruption and increasing nationalist disillusionment with accepted parties weakened the two-party strategy done the 1990s.

This turmoil paved the mode for the emergence of Hugo Chavez, a erstwhile subject serviceman who had led a failed coup successful 1992. Capitalising connected nationalist choler towards what galore Venezuelans saw arsenic a corrupt governmental order, Chavez was elected president successful 1999 aft helium promised to abolish the aged governmental system.

Once successful power, helium launched what helium called the Bolivarian Revolution, named aft Simon Bolivar, the South American independency leader. Chavez redirected lipid revenues into societal programmes that expanded entree to housing, education, healthcare and subject spending alternatively of going straight to the governmental elite via a patronage system. While Chavez’s populist authorities initially reduced poorness and inequality, Venezuela’s unsustainable spending and heavy reliance connected lipid near the state vulnerable.

By the mid-2010s, an lipid bust and tightening US sanctions had triggered a large economical crisis, starring to 1 of the largest wide emigrations successful the world.

After Chavez’s decease successful 2013, Maduro, his handpicked successor, ascended to the presidency and consolidated Chavez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela into the country’s ascendant governmental force.

Venezuela’s system and trading partners

Venezuela funds the bulk of its authorities fund from lipid revenues. In 2024, lipid export revenues and taxes paid by the state-owned lipid company, PDVSA, were estimated to marque up astir 58 percent of authorities income.

The country’s system has been profoundly turbulent for much than 4 decades, and its GDP shrank by much than 70 percent from 2014 to 2024. However, successful 2023, US President Joe Biden’s medication eased immoderate sanctions connected lipid and gas, starring to an yearly maturation complaint of 5 percent successful 2023.

Government officials forecast 8 percent maturation successful 2024. According to Trading Economics, third-quarter maturation this twelvemonth was 8.7 percent year-on-year, driven mostly by a emergence successful lipid activity.

In 2023, crude petroleum accounted for fractional of Venezuela’s exports. The US was Venezuela’s largest trading partner, buying fractional of Venezuela’s exports, mostly crude petroleum.

Petroleum coke is the 2nd biggest export from Venezuela, accounting for much than 7 percent of wide exports.

In 2023, China was Venezuela’s 2nd largest trading partner, accounting for astir 10 percent of its full exports, fractional of which were petroleum coke.

Spain was Venezuela’s 3rd largest trading spouse successful 2023, accounting for astir 9 percent of its exports, mostly crude petroleum.

World’s largest proven lipid reserves

Venezuela is location to the largest known reserves of oil, estimated astatine 303 cardinal barrels (Bbbl) arsenic of 2023.

However, according to information from the Observatory of Economic Complexity, Venezuela exported conscionable $4.05bn worthy of crude lipid successful 2023. This is acold beneath different large exporters, including Saudi Arabia ($181bn), the US ($125bn) and Russia ($122bn).

Venezuela’s lipid reserves are concentrated chiefly successful the Orinoco Belt, a immense portion successful the eastbound portion of the state that stretches crossed astir 55,000sq km (21,235sq miles).

The Orinoco Belt holds other dense crude oil, which is highly viscous and dense, making it overmuch harder and much costly to extract than accepted crude. Producing lipid from this portion requires precocious techniques, specified arsenic steam injection and blending with lighter crudes to marque it marketable.

Because of its density and sulphur content, other dense crude usually sells astatine a discount compared with lighter crudes.

In summation to crude oil, Venezuela exports smaller volumes of refined petroleum products, specified arsenic petrol and diesel, but its imaginable to summation these is constricted owed to ageing refinery infrastructure, method challenges and sanctions.

(Al Jazeera)

The migration crisis

About 2015, Venezuela’s nett migration dipped sharply with a grounds 1.4 cardinal radical emigrating successful 2018.

Over the past decade, Maduro has tightened his grip connected power, eroding antiauthoritarian institutions done censorship, restricted net entree and the persecution of governmental opponents.

Combined with sanctions and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Venezuela’s humanitarian situation has deepened, starring to terrible shortages of food, water, substance and medicine. Half the colonisation inactive lives successful poorness though the complaint has somewhat improved since 2021. Meanwhile, the ostentation complaint for 2025 is estimated astatine 180 percent, according to figures from Statista, meaning radical are grappling with a terrible cost-of-living crisis.

The bulk of those leaving Venezuela person fled to countries successful Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The Center for Strategic and International Studies said the economical situation has been “driven by devastating policies and a kleptocracy that has characterised the governmental scenery during the past 20 years”.

What is the unemployment rate?

Venezuela’s unemployment complaint stood astatine 5.5 percent successful 2024. Unemployment averaged 10 percent from 1999 to 2024, reaching an all-time precocious of 21 percent successful 2003.

How equipped is Venezuela’s military?

Venezuela’s equipped forces are chiefly liable for protecting the country, its borders, interior information and counternarcotics operations. However, according to Military Balance, an open-source documentation of subject forces and spending astir the world, Venezuela’s economical diminution has weakened its military’s modernisation efforts.

As of 2018, the equipped forces had 123,000 progressive unit and 8,000 reservists.

Venezuela maintains adjacent subject ties with China, Russia, Iran and Cuba, relying connected them for weapons and training. Joint subject exercises with these countries person taken spot successful caller years successful China and Russia, astir precocious the 2022 International Army Games, hosted by Russia.

US attacks successful the Caribbean

The US subject has carried retired astatine slightest 21 deadly strikes connected vessels disconnected Venezuela’s coast, successful the Caribbean Sea and the eastbound Pacific Ocean since September 2, marking the astir aggravated American subject enactment successful Latin America since the US penetration of Panama successful 1989.

The strikes, conducted nether the authorization of the US Southern Command, person killed astatine slightest 83 people, according to statements by US President Donald Trump and elder US defence officials.

The representation beneath shows the approximate locations of these attacks, according to information compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data. Most of the attacks occurred adjacent to the Venezuelan seashore and successful planetary waters, raising questions astir the legality of the US usage of force, particularly erstwhile nary imminent menace was present.

Drug routes into Venezuela

Trump has defended the US attacks by saying the US is dismantling drug-trafficking routes from Venezuela, including the travel of cocaine and fentanyl.

However, information from the UN Office connected Drugs and Crime (UNODC) amusement that astir cocaine is not produced successful Venezuela and the state plays a insignificant relation successful the drugs trade, mostly arsenic a transit route. Some shipments and flights originate from oregon walk done Venezuela owed to its borderline with Colombia. Venezuela has borders with 3 countries – Brazil to the south, Colombia to the westbound and Guyana to the east.

Colombia, Peru and Bolivia nutrient the immense bulk of the world’s cocaine, accounting for an estimated 99 percent of planetary production, according to the UNODC.

In addition, astir cocaine bound for the US is smuggled via the Pacific, often passing done Central America and Mexico.