Venezuela

Venezuela, one of the first South American colonies to declare independence (1811), became an oil state after major petroleum discoveries in the 1910s. Hugo Chavez's 1998 Bolivarian Revolution redirected oil revenue into social programmes. Under Nicolas Maduro, economic collapse and political repression triggered one of the largest refugee crises in the Western Hemisphere.

• Existed: 1830 CE – present
• Type: Entity
• Government: Presidential Republic
• Capital: Caracas