The total population of Venezuela is 27,030,656, as established in the year 2006. The population of Venezuela is characterized by a rich cultural and traditional display. This cultural diversity in the population of Venezuela is further reflected in the diversity of religious beliefs.
The Venezuelan population is composed of Africans, Indians and the whites. The Venezuela ethnic population includes Spanish, Italians, Portuguese , Arabs, Germans and the Africans. The ethnic population date back to the settlement of tribes in the land of Venezuela. Some such tribes or their descendants, who can still be found residing in various parts of Venezuela are Arawak, Cumanagoto, Ajaguan, Ayaman, Guajiro, Caquetio and the Caribs. There was a considerable dilapidation in the population of the Venezuelan tribes after the Spanish invasion.
Venezuela, being the least populated country in the western hemisphere is also the sixth largest country among all the Latin American countries. The population of Venezuela is uneven throughout the country. The average population of Venezuela is 21.4 persons per square kilometer. It is considered that the western Andean regions and the coastal Venezuelan regions are the most densely populated areas in the country. The population of Venezuela saw a shift in the 1990s. During this period, it was concentrated mainly in the administrative and the economic hub of the country. The three major Venezuelan urban settlements in the year 1990 are Barquisimeto, Valencia and Ciudad Guayana. Only five percent of the population in Venezuela settled in the south of the Orinoco river. The population distribution in Venezuela persists to be so even today.
The growth in the rate of population had a successive development in the year 1990, which mounted upto 2.5 percent. The infant mortality rate in the year 1990 was 27 deaths per 1000 births and the average life expectancy in the same year was 71 years.
