Venezuela's economy is based on oil,cotton,cocoa,sugar,coffee, andtobacco.
Venezuela has one of the largest oil supplies in the world, and it produces a large amount of oil. It also has a very large supply offossil fuels,gasoline, andminerals.
The government's main source ofincome inforeign currencies, has been coming "for a while" (as of 2026's first quarter), fromexport of oil.[9]
There areshortages in the country; About "80% of [the people or]residents ... live inpoverty", according toestimates (2025).[10]
There areeconomic sanctions against Venezuela [as of 2026's first quarter]; The sanctions are coming from the United States [and some other countries].[11][12] The sanctions are costing Venezuela, billions ofeuro, every year.[13]
In regard toinflation: It is between "20% and 30% a month", according to anestimatequoted (November 2025) bya media outlet; Theestimate is for thecapital city.[11]
In regard to (relatives sending money from abroad, or)remittances: About 8 million Venezuelans have moved to other countries, according to media (in 2026);[14][11] Many of those Venezuelans send money to relatives (back home).
Ancient Venezuelans came from theeast,west,south, andnorth.Christopher Columbus was the first European to enter Venezuela, but there had beenindigenous people living there for a long time.
Also see:Colonialism andAtlantic slave trade
When white Europeans (like theBritish,Spanish, andFrench colonial empires) conquered territory inthe Americas, they took their blackAfricanslaves to America to work. TheSpanish Empire conquered Venezuela andbrought in slaves fromAfrica.
At this time, black people had no rights; they just worked for food. Because of thecolonial period, Venezuela'spopulation today is veryracially mixed.
The Spanish taughtRoman Catholicism, and many native peopleconverted. Today, almost all Venezuelans (96%) are Catholics; just 2% areProtestant.
For a long time,society was headed by whitecreoles: people in Venezuela who were descended from Spaniards, but considered Venezuela home. Other Venezuelans did not like that, and they started thinking aboutindependence.
OnJuly 24,1823 Venezuela won itsindependence, led bySimón Bolívar.
Venezuela's modern history was shaped by a number of people, includingPresidentRomulo Betancourt, who replaced amilitary dictatorship with ademocracy.
By the 1970s, Venezuela had become rich from oil revenue, but it had problems in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1999Hugo Chávez became president and tried to remake Venezuela into asocialist state. While popular at first, the economic changes made by Chavez and the next president,Nicolás Maduro, caused a massiveeconomic depression in the mid-2010s. The current president is disputed.
TheCrisis in Venezuela[15] started in 2010 (and has been ongoing for15 years, 8 months, 2 weeks and 2 days.)[16][17]
The2026 United States strikes in Venezuela, happened; Aninvasion lasted for two hours and twenty minutes (January 3).[18] That U.S. force left Venezuela, later that day.
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