- Demographics of Venezuela
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The Demographics of Venezuela are the condition and overview of Venezuela's peoples. Demographic topics include basic education, health, and population statistics as well as identified racial and religious affiliations.
Contents
Overview
The Venezuelan people comprise a combination of heritages. The historically present Amerindians, Spanish colonists, and African slaves have all contributed to varying degrees. Later, waves of European groups (Italians, Portuguese and Germans) migrated to Venezuela in the 20th century, influencing many aspects of Venezuelan life, including its culture, language, food, and music.
According to most sources, about half of the population is of racially mixed origin; Mestizos (European/Amerindian), Mulattos (European/African) and Zambos (Amerindian/African). Around one-fifth is said to be of European ancestry, and one-tenth African. The remaining Amerindian population is statistically small.[1] Three Amerindian tribes located in the country are the Wayuu, located in the west, in Zulia State, and the Timoto-cuicas, also in the west, in Mérida State, in the Andes.
About 85% of the population live in urban areas in the northern portion of the country and currently resides in the urban conglomerations (Caracas, Maracay, Maracaibo, Valencia, etc.) that are concentrated in Venezuela's northern coastal mountain strip. Nearly half of Venezuela's geographic area lies south of the Orinoco River; however, this region contains only 5% of the Venezuelan population.
The World Factbook 2011 estimate puts Venezuela's total population at 27,635,743 inhabitants.[2] Additionally, over the past five years, Venezuelan society's general age structure has been trending towards the homologous structure found in Cuba, Western Europe, Japan, and other healthy and rapidly aging societies. Notably, there has been a significant increase in the proportion and gross numbers of elderly Venezuelans (aged 65 and up), as well as a corresponding drop in the total fertility.
CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
Total population
- It has a population of 27,635,743 inhabitants in July 2011.
Life expectancy at birth
- total population: 73.93 years
- male: 70.84 years
- female: 77.17 years (2011 est.)
Population growth rate
- 1.508% (2009 estimate).
Birth and death rates
- 18.71 births per 1,000 population (2006 estimate).
- 4.92 deaths per 1,000 population (2006 estimate).
Total fertility rate
- 2.42 children born per woman (2011 estimate).
Infant mortality rate
- 21.54 deaths per 1,000 live births (2006 estimate).
Age structure
age group (years) % male female 0-14: 29.9% 3,909,876 3,667,958 15-64: 65% 8,287,255 8,209,599 65 and up: 5.1% 590,236 710,357 Sex ratio
Age Ratio
(males/females)Total: 1.02 At birth: 1.07 Under 15: 1.07 15-64: 1.01 Over 65: 0.83 Net emigration rate
Net emigration rate is zero (2006 estimate) according to the CIA world fact book.[2]
Literacy and education
The accepted formal and demographic definition of the literacy rate is that proportion or percentage of the Venezuelan population older than age 15 that can both read and write. The below are 2006 estimates from the INE.
Population group % Total population: 95.1% Male: 95.4% Female: 94.8% Ethnicity
According to the CIA's World FactBook,[2] Venezuela's main ethnic groups are those of European, African and indigenous ancestry.
Religious affiliation
The overwhelming majority of Venezuelans denote themselves as adherents of Catholicism; this is true nominally if not in practice.
Religion % Roman Catholic: 96% Protestant: 2% Others: 2% Alternatively, according to government estimates, 92% of the population is at least nominally Roman Catholic, and the remaining 8% are Protestant, a member of another religion, or non-religious. The Venezuelan Evangelical Council estimates that Evangelical Protestants constitute 10% of the population.[3]
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.- Acosta, Maruja. "Urbanizacion y clases sociales en Venezuela." Revista Interamericana de Planificacion Bogota , 7, No. 26, June 1973, 22-44.
- The article contains a statistical reference from the Wikipedia public domain Mestizos (2006).
- ^ Britannica
- ^ a b c Venezuela World Fact Book. CIA
- ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2008: Venezuela. United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (21 December 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
See also
Demographics of South America Sovereign states Dependencies and
other territories- Aruba
- Bonaire
- Curaçao
- Falkland Islands
- French Guiana
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
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