Венесуэланың әкімшілік-аумақтық құрылымы

Federated states of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a federation made up of twenty three states (lang es), a Capital District (lang es) and the Federal Dependencies (lang es), which consist of many islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. 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 (lang es), although these regions are mostly geographical entities rather than administrative entities.

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).

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. He urged legislators to create a law which would establish a new state covering the disputed region. The Venezuelan referendum on annexing the area led to a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Rank State HDI (2021) 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 0.695–0.691 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