Venezuela

Venezuela (pronounced: /ˌvɛnɨˈzweɪlə/ or IPA: //ˌvɛnɨˈzwɛlə//; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America.

The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea. Venezuela possesses borders with Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the west. Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Lucia, Barbados, Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Leeward Antilles lie just north, off the Venezuelan coast. Its size is 916,445 km² with an estimated population of 26,414,816. Its capital is Caracas. Falling within the tropics, Venezuela sits close to the equator, in the Northern Hemisphere. The flag colors are yellow, blue and red, in that order. The yellow stands for land wealth, the blue for courage, and the red for independence from Spain.

A former Spanish colony, which has been an independent republic since 1821, Venezuela holds territorial disputes with Guyana, largely concerning the Essequibo area, and with Colombia concerning the Gulf of Venezuela. In 1895, after the dispute over the Guyana border flared up, it was submitted to a neutral commission, which in 1899 decided mostly in Guyana's favour. Today, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is known widely for its petroleum industry, the environmental diversity of its territory, and its natural features. Venezuela is considered to be among the world's 18 most biodiverse countries, featuring diverse wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.