Amazonas (Venezuelan state)

Amazonas
State of Venezuela

Flag
Motto: Honor y Lealtad
(English: Honor and Loyalty)
Anthem: Himno del Estado Amazonas

Location within Venezuela
Country Venezuela
Created 1994[c]
Capital Puerto Ayacucho
Government
 • Governor Liborio Guarulla (2010–present)
Area
 • Total 183,500 km2 (70,800 sq mi)
Area rank 2nd
  19.38% of Venezuela
Population (2011 est.)
 • Total 146,480
 • Rank 24th
  0.3% of Venezuela
Time zone UTC-04:30
ISO 3166 code VE-Z
Emblematic tree Caucho (Hevea benthamiana)
Website www.amazonas.gob.ve
^[c] Until this date, Amazonas had the status of Federal Territory.

Amazonas State (Spanish: Estado Amazonas, IPA: [esˈtaðo amaˈsonas]) is one of the 23 states (estados) into which Venezuela is divided. It covers nearly a fifth of the area of Venezuela, but has less than 1% of Venezuela's total population.

The state capital is Puerto Ayacucho. The capital until the early 1900s was San Fernando de Atabapo. Although named after the Amazon River, most of the state is drained by the Orinoco River. Amazonas State covers a total surface area of 176,899 km² and, in 2007, had a population of 142,200. Its density is of 0.8 inhabitants per km².

Amazonas has Venezuela's highest proportion of indigenous peoples of Venezuela; these make up only around 1.5% of the population nationwide, but the proportion is nearly 50% in Amazonas.[1]

History

The territory covered by present-day Amazonas was previously part of the Guayana Province, a Province of the Spanish Empire (from 1585) and later of Venezuela (until 1864, when the Provinces of Venezuela were replaced by the States of Venezuela, following the Federal War). Amazonas was created as a state in 1994, having been a Federal Territory since 1864.

Municipalities and Municipal Seats

Municipality Capital km² Pop Map
Alto Orinoco Municipality La Esmeralda 49.217 km²14.222 hab. (2008)
Atabapo Municipality San Fernando de Atabapo 25.062 km²12.797 hab. (2007)
Atures Municipality Puerto Ayacucho7.302 km² 91.386 hab (2007)
Autana Municipality Isla Ratón12.291 km² 8.181 hab (2007)
Manapiare Municipality San Juan de Manapiare 32.042 km²9.658 hab (2007)
Maroa Municipality Maroa13.082 km² 8.181 hab (2005)
Río Negro Municipality San Carlos de Río Negro 37.903 km²9.658 hab (2007)
A river near Autana tepui in Amazonas.
The Tobogán de la Selva, near to Puerto Ayacucho.

Population

Race and ethnicity

According to the 2011 Census, the racial composition of the population was:[2]

Racial composition Population %
Mestizo N/A 60.6
White 54,102 34.4
Black 6,291 4.1
Other race N/A 0.9

See also

References

  1. ↑ Van Cott (2003), "Andean Indigenous Movements and Constitutional Transformation: Venezuela in Comparative Perspective", Latin American Perspectives 30(1), p52
  2. ↑ "Resultado Básico del XIV Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda 2011 (Mayo 2014)" (PDF). Ine.gov.ve. p. 29. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Amazonas (Venezuela).
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Coordinates: 3°30′N 66°00′W / 3.500°N 66.000°W / 3.500; -66.000

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