Editing Venezuela (section)

=== Administrative divisions ===
{{Main|States of Venezuela|Regions of Venezuela}}
[[File:Localizador Politico de Venezuela.svg|thumb|Map of the Venezuelan federation]]

Venezuela is divided into 23 states (''estados''), a capital district (''distrito capital'') corresponding to the city of Caracas, and the Federal Dependencies (''Dependencias Federales'', a special territory). Venezuela is further subdivided into 335 municipalities (''municipios''); these are subdivided into over one thousand parishes (''parroquias''). The states are grouped into nine administrative regions (''regiones administrativas''), which were established in 1969 by presidential decree.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

The country can be further divided into ten geographical areas, some corresponding to climatic and biogeographical regions. In the north are the [[Venezuelan Andes]] and the [[Coro region]], a mountainous tract in the northwest, holds several [[Mountain range|sierras]] and valleys. East of it are lowlands abutting [[Lake Maracaibo]] and the [[Gulf of Venezuela]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

The [[Cordillera de la Costa Central|Central Range]] runs parallel to the coast and includes the hills surrounding [[Caracas]]; the Eastern Range, separated from the Central Range by the [[Gulf of Cariaco]], covers all of [[Sucre (state)|Sucre]] and northern [[Monagas]]. The [[Insular Region (Venezuela)|Insular Region]] includes all of Venezuela's island possessions: [[Nueva Esparta]] and the various [[Federal Dependencies]]. The Orinoco Delta, which forms a triangle covering [[Delta Amacuro]], projects northeast into the Atlantic Ocean.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Orinoco River {{!}} Physical Features & People {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Orinoco-River |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

The country maintains a claim on the territory it calls "Guayana Esequiba", the territory administered by Guyana west of the Esequibo River. In 1966 the British and Venezuelan governments signed the Geneva Agreement to resolve the conflict peacefully.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Agreement to Resolve the Controversy between Venezuela and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over the Frontier between Venezuela and British Guiana |url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20561/volume-561-I-8192-English.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116234853/http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20561/volume-561-I-8192-English.pdf |archive-date=16 January 2013 |access-date=25 January 2025 |website=United Nations}}</ref> The Port of Spain Protocol of 1970 set a deadline to try to resolve the issue, without success to date.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

{{Political subdivisions of Venezuela}}
{{Clear|left}}

==== Largest cities ====
{{Main|List of metropolitan areas in Venezuela}}
{{Largest cities
| country = Venezuela
| stat_ref = <ref>Based on the result of the 2011 Census according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadisca</ref>
| div_name = State
| city_1 = Caracas | div_1 = Capital District (Venezuela){{!}}Capital District | pop_1 = 2,904,376|img_1 =Venezuela_-_Caracas_-_Mirador_de_Valle_Arriba.jpg
| city_2 = Maracaibo | div_2 = Zulia | pop_2 = 1,906,205|img_2 =Maracaibo panoramica avenida Cecilio Acosta cuted.jpg
| city_3 = Valencia, Venezuela{{!}}Valencia | div_3 = Carabobo | pop_3 = 1,396,322|img_3 = Valencia (Venezuela) Skyline.jpg
| city_4 = Barquisimeto | div_4 = Lara (state){{!}}Lara | pop_4 = 996,230|img_4 = Cuadras del Oeste. Barquisimeto.jpg
| city_5 = Ciudad Guayana | div_5 = Bolívar, Venezuela{{!}}Bolívar | pop_5 = 706,736
| city_6 = Maturín | div_6 = Monagas | pop_6 =  542,259
| city_7 = Barcelona, Venezuela{{!}}Barcelona| div_7 = Anzoátegui | pop_7 = 421,424
| city_8 = Maracay| div_8 = Aragua | pop_8 = 407,109
| city_9 = Cumaná | div_9 = Sucre, Venezuela{{!}}Sucre | pop_9 = 358,919
| city_10 = Barinas, Barinas{{!}}Barinas | div_10 = Barinas (state){{!}}Barinas| pop_10 = 353.851 
| city_11 = Ciudad Bolívar | div_11 = Bolívar, Venezuela{{!}}Bolívar | pop_11 = 342,280
| city_12 = San Cristóbal, Venezuela{{!}}San Cristóbal| div_12 = Táchira| pop_12 = 263,765
| city_13 = Cabimas| div_13 = Zulia| pop_13 = 263,056
| city_14 = Los Teques | div_14 =  Miranda (state){{!}}Miranda  | pop_14 = 252,242
| city_15 = Puerto la Cruz | div_15 = Anzoátegui| pop_15 = 244,728
| city_16 = Punto Fijo | div_16 = Falcón| pop_16 = 239,444
| city_17 = Mérida, Mérida{{!}}Mérida | div_17 = Mérida (state){{!}}Mérida | pop_17 = 217,547
| city_18 = Guarenas | div_18 = Miranda (state){{!}}Miranda | pop_18 = 209,987
| city_19 = Ciudad Ojeda | div_19 = Zulia | pop_19 = 203,435
| city_20 = Guanare | div_20 = Portuguesa, Venezuela{{!}}Portuguesa | pop_20 = 192,644
}}