Amazonas (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. 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 [edit]
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 [edit]
A river near
Autana tepui in Amazonas.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Van Cott (2003), "Andean Indigenous Movements and Constitutional Transformation: Venezuela in Comparative Perspective", Latin American Perspectives 30(1), p52
External links [edit]
Coordinates: 3°30′N 66°00′W / 3.500°N 66.000°W / 3.500; -66.000
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Venezuela
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