New Spain
59-406: American Confederation of Venezuela Caudillismo Andean Hegemony Democratic period Bolivarian Revolution Spanish expeditions led by Columbus and Alonso de Ojeda reached the coast of present-day Venezuela in 1498 and 1499. The first colonial exploitation was of the pearl oysters of the "Pearl Islands". Spain established its first permanent South American settlement in
118-708: A campaign to retake Venezuelan territory captured by revolutionaries, beginning the decline of the Second Republic of Venezuela. Following the Second Battle of La Puerta on 15 June 1814 which resulted in a royalist victory for Boves, Bolívar, his revolutionaries and more than twenty-thousand civilians fled Caracas during the Emigration to the East beginning on 7 July 1814. Following the Royalist victory in
177-630: A number of black slaves also worked in the haciendas of the grassy llanos. Most of the Amerindians who still survived had perforce migrated to the plains and jungles to the south, where only Spanish friars took an interest in them — especially the Franciscans or Capucins , who compiled grammars and small lexicons for some of their languages. The most important friar misión (the name for an area of friar activity) developed in San Tomé in
236-677: A separate sovereign country. American Confederation of Venezuela The American Confederation of Venezuela was an unrecognized state located in the Captaincy General of Venezuela of the Spanish Empire , which was organized by Venezuelan patriots following the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence . Due to its rebellious instability originating from the Venezuelan War of Independence ,
295-609: A ship of 20 guns, which he rebaptized Leander in honor of his oldest son, and set sail to Venezuela on 2 February 1806 but failed in an attempt of landing in Ocumare de la Costa. Miranda spent the next year in the British Caribbean waiting for reinforcements that never came. On his return to Britain, he was met with better support for his plans from the British government. In 1808 a large military force to attack Venezuela
354-548: A town to the east of Caracas, there flourished a school of music whose director José Ángel Lamas (1775–1814) produced a few but impressive compositions according with the strictest 18th-century European canons . Some Venezuelans began to grow resistant to colonial control towards the end of the eighteenth century. Spain's neglect of its Venezuelan colony contributed to Venezuelan intellectuals' increased zeal for learning. The colony had more external sources of information than other more "important" Spanish dependencies, not excluding
413-569: The pardo (mixed-race) majority of the population. The first organized conspiracy against the colonial regime in Venezuela occurred in 1797, organized by Manuel Gual and José María España. It took direct inspiration from the French Revolution , but was put down with the collaboration of the "mantuanos" because it promoted radical social changes. The general Francisco de Miranda hero of French Revolution has long been associated with
472-834: The Admirable Campaign , Simón Bolívar organized troops from the United Provinces of New Granada to capture territory within Venezuela. Bolívar published the Decree of War to the Death on 15 June 1813, which resulted in the executions and killings of thousands of opponents to the revolution, including hospitalized individuals. Following the Battle of Taguanes , patriots enter Caracas on 3 August 1813. Beginning in February 1814, royalist commander José Tomás Boves began
531-513: The Congress of Angostura declared Gran Colombia an independent country. After two more years of war, the country achieved independence from Spain in 1821 under the leadership of its most famous son, Simón Bolívar . Venezuela, along with the present-day countries of Colombia , Panama , and Ecuador , formed part of the Republic of Gran Colombia until 1830, when Venezuela separated and became
590-632: The Fifth Battle of Maturín on 11 December 1814, the Republic came to an end and Bolívar left to Jamaica. In 1816, Bolívar returned to liberate New Grenada and Venezuela. The Expedition of the Keys, led by Bolívar in the west, began the revolutionary push eastward. The Guayana Campaign, headed by Manuel Piar and others to the east, led to the establishment of institutions in Angostura in 1817, with
649-567: The Guayana Region . The Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas held a close monopoly on trade with Europe. The Guipuzcoana company stimulated the Venezuelan economy, especially in fostering the cultivation of cacao beans , which became Venezuela's principal export. It opened Venezuelan ports to foreign commerce, but this recognized a fait accompli . Like no other Spanish American dependency, Venezuela had more contacts with Europe through
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#1732775820848708-715: The Llanos of Colombia. The environment and wildlife in the Orinoco's basin are extremely diverse. The river's name is derived from the Warao term for "a place to paddle", itself derived from the terms güiri (paddle) and noko (place) i.e. a navigable place. The mouth of the Orinoco River at the Atlantic Ocean was documented by Christopher Columbus on 1 August 1498, during his third voyage . Its source at
767-667: The Orinoco oil belt , which may be a source of future oil production. Encompassing the states of Anzoategui - Guarico and Monagas states, the Interior Range forms the northern boundary and the Guayana Shield the southern boundary. Maturin forms the eastern subbasin and Guarico forms the western subbasin. The El Furrial oil field was discovered in 1978, producing from late Oligocene shallow marine sandstones in an overthrusted foreland basin . Since 1973,
826-626: The Orinoquia , covers ca 1 million km , with 65% of it in Venezuela and the 35% in Colombia . It is the fourth largest river in the world by discharge volume of water. The nevertheless high volume flow (39,000 m /s at delta ) of the Orinoco can be explained by the high precipitation in almost the entire catchment area (ca 2,300 mm/a). The Orinoco River and its tributaries are the major transportation system for eastern and interior Venezuela and
885-579: The Supreme Central Junta , formed to govern in the name of Ferdinand. The first major defeat that Napoleonic France suffered occurred at the Battle of Bailén , in Andalusia (July 1808). (At this battle Pablo Morillo , future commander of the army that invaded New Granada and Venezuela; Emeterio Ureña, an anti-independence officer in Venezuela; and José de San Martín , the future Liberator of Argentina and Chile, fought side by side against
944-449: The giant otter inhabit the Orinoco River system. The Orinoco crocodile is one of the rarest reptiles in the world. Its range in the wild is restricted to the middle and lower Orinoco River Basin. More than 1000 fish species have been recorded in the river basin and about 15% are endemic . Among the fish in the river are species found in brackish or salt water in the Orinoco estuary , but also many restricted to fresh water. By far
1003-476: The latifundia of antiquity. During the 16th and 17th centuries the cities which constitute today's Venezuela suffered relative neglect. The Viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru (located on the sites formerly occupied by the capital cities of the Aztecs and Incas respectively) showed more interest in their nearby gold- and silver-mines than in the remote agricultural societies of Venezuela. Responsibility for
1062-723: The Amazon. He reported on the pink river dolphins and later published extensively on the river's flora and fauna. The sources of the Orinoco River, located at Cerro Carlos Delgado Chalbaud (2º19’05” N, 63º21’42” W), were discovered in 1951 by the French-Venezuelan expedition that went back and explored the Upper Orinoco course to the Sierra Parima near the border with Brazil, headed by Venezuelan army officer Frank Risquez Iribarren. The first bridge across
1121-544: The Atures Rapids. In 1926, a Venezuelan mining inspector found one of the richest iron ore deposits near the Orinoco delta, south of the city of San Felix on a mountain named El Florero . Full-scale mining of the ore deposits began after World War II , by a conglomerate of Venezuelan firms and US steel companies. At the start in the early 1950s, about 10,000 tons of ore-bearing soil was mined per day. The Orinoco River deposits also contain extensive tar sands in
1180-501: The British and French islands in the Caribbean. In an almost surreptitious, though legal, manner, Caracas itself had become an intellectual powerhouse. From 1721 it had its own university ( Central University of Venezuela ), which taught Latin, medicine and engineering, apart (of course) from the humanities. Its most illustrious graduate, Andrés Bello (1781–1865), became the greatest Spanish American polymath of his time. In Chacao ,
1239-550: The Casiquiare includes both blackwater and clear- to whitewater sections, only relatively adaptable species are able to pass through it between the two river systems. The river is navigable for most of its length, and dredging enables ocean ships to go as far as Ciudad Bolívar , at the confluence of the Caroní River , 435 kilometres (270 mi) upstream. River steamers carry cargo as far as Puerto Ayacucho and
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#17327758208481298-513: The Casiquiare to the Orinoco River they hovered thru perilous rapids of the rivers Maipures and Atures. The Orinoco was then traversed down to its mouths in the Gulf of Paria and then to Port of Spain. The primary purpose of the expedition was filming for the BBC series The World About Us episode "The Last Great Journey on Earth from Amazon to Orinoco by Hovercraft", which aired in 1970, and demonstrated
1357-601: The Cerro Delgado–Chalbaud, in the Parima range , was not explored until 453 years later, in 1951. The source, near the Venezuelan– Brazilian border, at 1,047 metres (3,435 ft) above sea level ( 2°19′05″N 63°21′42″W / 2.31806°N 63.36167°W / 2.31806; -63.36167 ), was explored in 1951 by a joint French-Venezuelan expedition. The Orinoco, as well as its tributaries in
1416-688: The Civil Association Nuestros Rios son Navegables organize the Internacional Rally Nuestros Rios son Navegables , a motonautical round trip of over 1,200 kilometers through the Orinoco, Meta and Apure Rivers. Starting out from Ciudad Bolívar or San Fernando de Apure, is the longest fluvial rally in the world with the participation of worldwide competitors, more than 30 support boats, logistics teams, thousands of tourists and fans travel. The boats had an average speed of 120 miles per hour. Since 1988,
1475-478: The Confederación Americana de Venezuela ( American Confederation of Venezuela ). The first actions by the revolutionary government involved the creation of free trade within Venezuela, which consolidated power among the upper-class aristocrats which led the confederation. Shortly after the establishment of the confederation, royalist sympathizers within the revolutionary territory began to plot
1534-705: The French General Pierre Dupont .) Despite this Spanish victory, the French soon regained the initiative and advanced into southern Spain. The Spanish government had to retreat to the island redoubt of Cádiz . Here the Supreme Central Junta dissolved itself and set up a five-person regency to handle the affairs of state until the full Cortes of Cádiz could convene. Word of these events soon reached Caracas, but only on 19 April 1810 did its " cabildo " (city council) decide to follow
1593-608: The Orinoco River, the Angostura Bridge at Ciudad Bolívar , Venezuela, was completed in 1967. In 1968, an expedition was set off by The Geographical Journal and Hovercraft from Manaus ( Brazil ) to Port of Spain (Trinidad). Aboard a SR.N6 hovercraft, the expedition members followed the Negro river upstream to where it is joined by the Casiquiare canal , on the border between Colombia and Venezuela. After following
1652-749: The Orinoco River, the largest being the Caroní , which joins it at Puerto Ordaz , close to the Llovizna Falls. A peculiarity of the Orinoco river system is the Casiquiare canal , which starts as an arm of the Orinoco, and finds its way to the Rio Negro , a tributary of the Amazon , thus forming a 'natural canal' between Orinoco and Amazon. The stream gradient of the entire river is 0.05% (1,047 m over 2,250 km). Downstream of Raudales de Guaharibos
1711-659: The Spanish arrival ( Pre-Columbian period in Venezuela ), indigenous people lived mainly in groups as agriculturists and hunters: along the coast, in the Andean mountain range, and along the Orinoco River . In 1527 Santa Ana de Coro was founded by Juan de Ampíes , the first governor of the Spanish Empire 's Venezuela Province . Coro would be the Province's capital until 1546 followed by El Tocuyo (1546 - 1577), until
1770-421: The Spanish governor Juan de Carvajal had Hutten and Bartholomeus Welser executed. Subsequently, Charles I revoked Welser's charter. By the middle of the 16th century not many more than 2,000 Europeans lived in present-day Venezuela. The opening of gold mines at Yaracuy led to the introduction of slavery , at first involving the indigenous population, then imported Africans. The first real economic success of
1829-497: The Venezuelan territories shifted to and fro between the two Viceroyalties. The Province of Venezuela came under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (established in 1717). The Province became the Captaincy General of Venezuela in 1777. In the 18th century a second Venezuelan society formed along the coast with the establishment of cocoa plantations manned by much larger importations of African slaves. Quite
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1888-552: The Venezuelan territory. As the congress of the Junta gathered, a movement for independence gained popular support. Revolutionaries such as Francisco de Miranda , a Venezuelan expatriate , and Simón Bolívar , a Criollo aristocrat , led the independence movement. The Junta's congress declared Venezuela's independence on 5 July 1811, with seven of ten regions of the Captaincy General of Venezuela seceding and establishing
1947-461: The abilities of a hovercraft, thereby promoting sales of this British invention. The first powerline crossing of the Orinoco River was completed in 1981 for an 800 kV TL single span of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) using two towers 110 metres (360 ft) tall. In 1992, an overhead power line crossing for two 400 kV-circuits was completed just west of Morocure (between the cities of Ciudad Bolívar and Ciudad Guayana ), north of
2006-678: The capital was moved to Caracas in 1577 by Juan de Pimentel . Klein-Venedig ( Little Venice ) was the most significant part of the German colonization of the Americas , from 1528 to 1546, in which the Augsburg -based Welser banking family obtained colonial rights in Venezuela Province in return for debts owed by Charles I of Spain. The primary motivation was the search for the legendary golden city of El Dorado . The venture
2065-419: The challenge of maintaining the alliance with the pardos . Given recent history these groups still had grievances against the mantuanos . A segment of the mantuanos (among them a 27-year-old Simón Bolívar , the future Liberator) saw the setting up of the Junta as a step toward outright independence. The Venezuelan War of Independence ensued. It ran concurrently with that of New Granada. On 17 December 1819
2124-409: The colony involved the raising of livestock, much helped by the grassy plains known as Llanos . The society that developed as a result – a handful of Spanish landowners and widely dispersed Indian herdsmen on Spanish-introduced horses – recalls primitive feudalism , certainly a powerful concept in the 16th-century Spanish imagination, and (perhaps more fruitfully) bears comparison in economic terms with
2183-777: The confederation existed in three different stages depending on territory held by revolutionary or royalist forces. These are commonly known as the First Republic of Venezuela , Second Republic of Venezuela and the Third Republic of Venezuela . On 19 April 1810, the municipal council of Caracas deposed the Spanish Governor and Captain General, Vicente Emparán . The Supreme Junta was then established in Caracas, with civil war soon sparking throughout much of
2242-581: The confluence of Routes 1 and 19. It had three towers, and the two spans measured 2,161 metres (7,090 ft) and 2,537 metres (8,323 ft), respectively. In 2006, a second bridge, known as the Orinoquia Bridge , was completed near Ciudad Guayana , Venezuela. The course of the Orinoco forms a wide ellipsoidal arc, surrounding the Guiana Shield ; it is divided in four stretches of unequal length that very roughly correspond to
2301-696: The eastern llanos such as the Apure and Meta , were explored in the 16th century by German expeditions under Ambrosius Ehinger and his successors. In 1531, starting at the principal outlet in the delta, the Boca de Navios, Diego de Ordaz sailed up the river to the Meta. Antonio de Berrio sailed down the Casanare to the Meta, and then down the Orinoco River and back to Coro . In 1595, after capturing de Berrio to obtain information while conducting an expedition to find
2360-408: The example set by the Spanish provinces two years earlier, declaring the First Republic of Venezuela . Other provincial capitals as Barcelona , Cumaná , Mérida , La Asuncion , Barinas and Trujillo , followed suit. Although the new Junta Suprema de Caracas had self-appointed élite members who claimed to represent the pardos (free blacks and even slaves), the new government eventually faced
2419-623: The fabled city of El Dorado , the Englishman Sir Walter Raleigh sailed down the river, reaching the savanna country . From April to May 1800, the Prussian-born Alexander von Humboldt and his companion, Aime Bonpland , explored stretches of the Orinoco, supported by indigenous helpers and guided by his interest to prove that South America's waterways formed an interconnected system from the Andes to
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2478-464: The gradient is 0.01% (183 /1,964), which is also the gradient from Ciudad Bolivar to the ocean (54/435). Average, minimum and maximum discharge at Ciudad Bolívar and Ciudad Guayana (Lower Orinoco): Monthly average discharge (m /s) at Ciudad Bolívar (2018 to 2023): Monthly average discharge (m /s) at Ciudad Guayana (1996 to 1998): Average discharge at Ciudad Bolívar (complete time series from 1926 to 2023): The boto and
2537-425: The indigenous people of the islands and harvesting the pearls so intensively that they became one of the most valuable resources of the incipient Spanish Empire in the Americas between 1508 and 1531, by which time both the local indigenous population and the pearl oysters had become devastated. The Spanish expedition led by Alonso de Ojeda , sailing along the length of the northern coast of South America in 1499, gave
2596-407: The largest orders are Characiformes and Siluriformes , which together account for more than 80% of the fresh water species. Some of the more famous are the black spot piranha and the cardinal tetra . The latter species, which is important in the aquarium industry, is also found in the Rio Negro , revealing the connection between this river and the Orinoco through the Casiquiare canal . Because
2655-548: The leadership of Simón Bolívar , and Venezuela separated from that Republic in 1830. Christopher Columbus sailed along the eastern coast of Venezuela on his third voyage in 1498, the only one of his four voyages to reach the South American mainland. This expedition discovered the so-called "Pearl Islands" of Cubagua and Margarita off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. Later Spanish expeditions returned to exploit these islands' once abundant pearl oysters, enslaving
2714-498: The local government of Ciudad Guayana has conducted a swim race in the rivers Orinoco and Caroní , with up to 1,000 competitors. Since 1991, the Paso a Nado Internacional de los Rios Orinoco–Caroní has been celebrated every year, on a Sunday close to 19 April. Worldwide, this swim-meet has grown in importance, and it has a large number of competitors. The 26th meet was held in 2016. The Irish singer and songwriter Enya wrote and sang
2773-433: The longitudinal zonation of a typical large river: At its mouth, the Orinoco River forms a wide delta that branches off into hundreds of rivers and waterways that flow through 41,000 km (16,000 sq mi) of swampy forests. In the rainy season, the Orinoco River can swell to a breadth of 22 kilometres (14 mi) and a depth of 100 metres (330 ft). Most of the important Venezuelan rivers are tributaries of
2832-567: The mines. The Venezuelan territories were governed at different times from the distant capitals of the Viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru . In the 18th century, cocoa plantations grew up along the coast, worked by further importations of African slaves. Cacao beans became Venezuela's principal export, monopolized by the Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas . Most of the surviving indigenous people had by then migrated to
2891-409: The name Venezuela ("little Venice" in Spanish) to the Gulf of Venezuela — because of its imagined similarity to the Italian city . Spain's colonization of mainland Venezuela started in 1502 when it established its first permanent South American settlement in the present-day city of Cumaná (then called Nueva Toledo), which was founded officially in 1515 by Franciscan friars . At the time of
2950-406: The name Colombia for this empire, after the explorer Christopher Columbus. With informal British help, general Miranda led an attempted invasion of the Captaincy General of Venezuela in 1804. At the time, Britain was at war with Spain, an ally of Napoleon. In November 1805, Miranda travelled to New York, where privately began organizing a filibustering expedition to liberate Venezuela. Miranda hired
3009-456: The period of the Third Republic of Venezuela beginning at this time. The period of the Third Republic came to an end in February 1819 during the Congress of Angostura , which eventually resulted with the establishment of Gran Colombia . Orinoco River The Orinoco ( Spanish pronunciation: [oɾiˈnoko] ) is one of the longest rivers in South America at 2,140 km (1,330 mi). Its drainage basin , sometimes known as
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#17327758208483068-446: The present-day city of Cumaná in 1502, and in 1577 Caracas became the capital of the Province of Venezuela . There was also for a few years a German colony at Klein-Venedig . The 16th- and 17th-century colonial economy was centered on gold mining and livestock farming. The relatively small number of colonists employed indigenous farmers on their haciendas , and enslaved other indigenous people and, later, Africans to work in
3127-400: The reinstallation of Spanish power in the region. Royalists began promising freedom and rights to black slaves, who held contempt toward the Criollo aristocrats who held power during the confederation. However, attempts to reestablish Spanish rule initially failed. Beginning in early 1813, revolutionaries again attempted to establish a republic within Venezuela independent from Spain. Leading
3186-497: The side of the independence movement. In May 1808, Napoleon demanded and received the abdication of Ferdinand VII of Spain and the confirmation of the abdication of Ferdinand's father Charles IV . Napoleon then appointed as King of Spain his own brother Joseph Bonaparte . That marked the beginning of Spain's own War of Independence from French hegemony and partial occupation, before the Spanish American wars of independence even began. The focal point of Spanish political resistance,
3245-502: The south, where Spanish friars were active. Intellectual activity increased among the white Creole elite, centered on the university at Caracas. The Province of Venezuela was included in the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717, and became the Captaincy General of Venezuela in 1777. The independence struggle began in 1810 while Spain was engaged in the Peninsular War . The Venezuelan War of Independence ensued. The Republic of Gran Colombia became independent from Spain in 1821 under
3304-421: The struggle of the Spanish colonies in Latin America for independence. Miranda envisioned an independent empire consisting of all the territories that had been under Spanish and Portuguese rule, stretching from the Mississippi River to Cape Horn. This empire was to be under the leadership of a hereditary emperor called the "Inca", in honor of the great Inca Empire, and would have a bicameral legislature. He conceived
3363-449: The viceroyalties, although one should not belabor this point, for only the mantuanos (a Venezuelan name for the white Creole elite) had access to a solid education. (Another name for the mantuanos class, grandes cacaos , reflected the source of their wealth. To this day in Venezuela the term can apply to a presumptuous person.) The mantuanos showed themselves presumptuous, overbearing and zealous in affirming their privileges against
3422-406: Was assembled and placed under the command of Arthur Wellesley , but Napoleon's invasion of Spain suddenly transformed Spain into an ally of Britain, and the force instead went there to fight in the Peninsular War. European events sowed the seeds of Venezuela's declaration of independence. The Napoleonic Wars in Europe not only weakened Spain's imperial power, but also put Britain (unofficially) on
3481-426: Was initially led by Ambrosius Ehinger , who founded Maracaibo in 1529. After the deaths of first Ehinger (1533) and then his successor Nikolaus Federmann , Georg von Speyer (1540), Philipp von Hutten continued exploration in the interior, and in his absence from the capital of the province the crown of Spain claimed the right to appoint the governor. On Hutten's return to the capital, Santa Ana de Coro , in 1546,
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