Editing Caracas (section)

== Demographics ==
[[File:Av Bolivar caracas2.jpg|thumb|left|Bolivar Avenue]]
According to the population census of 2011 the Caracas proper (Distrito Capital) is over 1.9&nbsp;million inhabitants,<ref name="ine.gov.ve">{{cite web|url=http://www.ine.gov.ve/documentos/Demografia/CensodePoblacionyVivienda/pdf/distrito_capital.pdf|title=Archived copy |access-date=30 April 2010 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009164814/http://www.ine.gov.ve/documentos/Demografia/CensodePoblacionyVivienda/pdf/distrito_capital.pdf|archive-date=9 October 2012}}</ref> while that of the Metropolitan District of Caracas is estimated at 2.9&nbsp;million {{As of|2011|lc=y}}. The majority of the population is [[Mixed Race|mixed-race]], typically with varying degrees of [[Ethnic groups in Europe|European]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous]], [[List of ethnic groups of Africa|African]] and occasional [[Ethnic groups in Asia|Asian]] ancestry. There is a noteworthy [[Afro-Venezuelan]] community. Additionally, the city has a large number of both European Venezuelans and Asian Venezuelans who descend from the massive influx of various immigrants Venezuela received from all across Eurasia during the 20th century; in particular are descendants of Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, [[Serbs]], Chinese, Colombians, Germans, Syrians and Lebanese people.<ref name="ine.gov.ve" /><ref name="ReferenceA">[http://www.ine.gov.ve/documentos/Demografia/CensodePoblacionyVivienda/pdf/miranda.pdf Censo Nacional] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114144253/http://www.ine.gov.ve/documentos/Demografia/CensodePoblacionyVivienda/pdf/miranda.pdf |date=14 November 2020 }} Deciembre 2014</ref> In 2020, the poorest 55% of the Caracas population lived on about a third of its land, in poorly planned slums that are generally dangerous to live in and access.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Rethinking the informal city : critical perspectives from Latin America|date=2010|publisher=Berghahn Books|last1=Hernández|first1=Felipe|last2=Kellett|first2=Peter William|last3=Allen|first3=Lea K.|isbn=978-1-84545-972-7|location=New York|oclc=647933862|page=119}}</ref>

Caracas has exceeded the administrative limits of its perimeter due to accelerated population growth, so that its most suitable demographic study territory is the Metropolitan District or AMC. According to 2011 calculations by the National Institute of Statistics, the metropolitan city had a population for the 2011 census of 2,923,959 inhabitants. The Metropolitan District represents less than 1% of the national territory and is home to one-fifteenth of the total population of the country. In percentage numbers, 9.2% of the nation's total population lives in the five capital municipalities, out of the 335 municipalities that comprise the country.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The region is called Greater Caracas or Metropolitan Region of Caracas (RMC) satellite cities or adjacent bedrooms: the Altos Mirandinos, the Central Coast of La Guaira, Guarenas, Guatire and the Valles del Tuy. This agglomeration had an estimated population of 4.3 million inhabitants in 2011.

In the 20th century, an exodus of the peasantry to the capital and other cities intensified, motivated by a search for improvements in their quality of life. This led to depopulation of the rural areas of the country and the demographic saturation of the centers. This saturation caused the expansion of marginal areas on the outskirts of the city; however, the lowest unemployment rates in the entire country correspond precisely to the metropolitan area of Caracas. In 1936, the total population of Venezuela had been equal to the estimated population of Greater Caracas for the year 2000: almost 4 million inhabitants. From 1936 to 1990, Caracas multiplied its population, although far less than any other major city in the country, such as Valencia, which in the same period of time multiplied its population almost 25 times.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Between the 1940s and 1950s, after the Second World War, a growing wave of [[European immigrants]] began, mostly Spanish, Portuguese and Italians and in other magnitudes, communities of Germans (Colonia Tovar), French, English, [[Serbs]] and Jews were established.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} New developments in Caracas were populated mainly by these European immigrants, such as La Florida and [[Altamira, Caracas|Altamira]].
During the 1960s, President Rómulo Betancourt followed the same policy as the Marcos Pérez Jiménez government: promoting immigration, especially from Latin America and from other parts of the world. These policies were maintained until the late 1980s, with a notable influx of Argentines, Uruguayans, Chileans, Cubans, Peruvians, Ecuadorians, Chinese, and Arabs. Towards the beginning of the 1980s, immigration was marked by a strong exodus of Colombians.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The multiethnic, cultural and racial mix has marked the city throughout history. Its ethnic composition is very diverse.

=== Crime ===
{{Main|Crime in Venezuela}}
Venezuela and its capital, Caracas, have been reported to both have among the highest per capita murder rates in the world.<ref name="seguridadjusticiaypaz">{{cite web |title=List of cities by murder rate |url=http://www.seguridadjusticiaypaz.org.mx/biblioteca/prensa/send/6-prensa/231-caracas-venezuela-the-most-violent-city-in-the-world |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129184634/http://www.seguridadjusticiaypaz.org.mx/biblioteca/prensa/send/6-prensa/231-caracas-venezuela-the-most-violent-city-in-the-world |archive-date=29 January 2016 |access-date=26 January 2016 |publisher=seguridadjusticiaypaz.org.mx}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=3 December 2021 |title=Most Dangerous Cities in the World |url=http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212090222/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world.html |archive-date=12 December 2018 |access-date=26 February 2017 |website=WorldAtlas}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Tait |first1=Robert |date=28 January 2016 |title=Caracas, Venezuela named as the world's most violent city |website=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/12126593/Caracas-named-as-the-worlds-most-violent-city.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=22 April 2017 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/12126593/Caracas-named-as-the-worlds-most-violent-city.html |archive-date=11 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Grillo |first1=Ioan |title=Venezuela's Murder Epidemic Rages on Amid State of Emergency |url=https://time.com/4341450/venezuela-state-of-emergency-murder-caracas/ |url-status=live |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410064906/http://time.com/4341450/venezuela-state-of-emergency-murder-caracas/ |archive-date=10 April 2017 |access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tegel |first1=Simeon |title=Venezuela's capital is world's most murderous city |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/01/29/venezuelas-capital-worlds-most-murderous-city/79508586/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421223601/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/01/29/venezuelas-capital-worlds-most-murderous-city/79508586/ |archive-date=21 April 2017 |access-date=22 April 2017 |website=USA Today}}</ref><ref name="Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y la Justicia Penal">{{cite web |date=27 March 2017 |title=Caracas World's Most Violent City: Report |url=http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/caracas-most-violent-city-in-the-world-2015-report |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512025324/http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/caracas-most-violent-city-in-the-world-2015-report |archive-date=12 May 2016 |access-date=22 April 2017 |website=Insight Crime}}</ref> In 2010 Caracas had the highest murder rate in the world,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ramírez Miranda |first=Deivis |date=25 August 2010 |title=Caracas has become the deadliest city in the world |work=[[El Universal (Caracas)|El Universal]] |url=http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/08/25/en_pol_esp_caracas-has-become-t_25A4380891.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828130358/http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/08/25/en_pol_esp_caracas-has-become-t_25A4380891.shtml |archive-date=28 August 2010 }}

* {{cite news |last=James |first=Ian |date=28 August 2010 |title=Venezuelans protest rampant violence, some liken bloodshed to 'undeclared war' |publisher=startribune.com |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=101723908 |url-status=dead |access-date=17 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118040443/http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=101723908 |archive-date=18 November 2012 }}
* {{cite web |last=Bowman |first=Michael |date=24 August 2010 |title=Venezuelans Despair Over Rampant, Deadly Violence |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/venezuelans-despair-over-rampant-deadly-violence-101380809/124443.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827052234/http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Venezuelans-Despair-Over-Rampant-Deadly-Violence-101380809.html |archive-date=27 August 2010 |access-date=28 August 2010 |publisher=[[Voice of America]] }}
* {{Cite news |last=Romero |first=Simon |date=22 August 2010 |title=Venezuela, More Deadly Than Iraq, Wonders Why |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/world/americas/23venez.html?_r=1 |access-date=27 October 2023 |archive-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702064714/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/world/americas/23venez.html?_r=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> having more deaths than [[Baghdad]] during the [[Iraq War]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-08-22 |title=Los muertos que esconde Chávez |url=https://www.larazon.es/historico/1978-los-muertos-que-esconde-chavez-NLLA_RAZON_304563/ |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=[[La Razón (Madrid)|La Razón]] |language=es |archive-date=28 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428085843/https://www.larazon.es/historico/1978-los-muertos-que-esconde-chavez-NLLA_RAZON_304563/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and in 2012 there were 13,080 murders in Venezuela, according to the [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]].<ref>{{cite web |title=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) – Murder rates (most recent year) – spreadsheet |url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/Homicide_statistics2012.xls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309231127/http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/Homicide_statistics2012.xls |archive-date=9 March 2013 |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref> By 2019, Caracas was the [[List of cities by murder rate|city with the sixth highest homicide rate in the world outside of a warzone]], with a rate of around 76 murders per 100,000 people. In 2023 it was the [[List of cities by murder rate|nineteenth]], with a rate of around 52 murders per 100,000 people.<ref>{{cite web|title=Most Dangerous Cities in the World|url=http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world.html|website=WorldAtlas|date=27 September 2023|access-date=27 September 2023|archive-date=12 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212090222/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Most murders and other violent crimes go unsolved, with estimates of the number of unresolved crimes as high as 98%.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Woody|first1=Christopher|title=Venezuela admits homicides soared to 60 a day in 2016, making it one of the most violent countries in the world|url=http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/r-venezuela-says-murders-soared-to-60-per-day-in-2016-2017-3-1001887702|website=Business Insider|access-date=22 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423155612/http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/r-venezuela-says-murders-soared-to-60-per-day-in-2016-2017-3-1001887702|archive-date=23 April 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title='98% Impunity Rate in Venezuela': Opposition|url=http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/venezuela-impunity-rate-at-98-percent|website=InSight crime|access-date=22 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926085907/http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/venezuela-impunity-rate-at-98-percent|archive-date=26 September 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Mendoza|first1=Samuel|title=Impunity and insecurity go hand in hand in Venezuela|url=http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/daily-news/impunity-and-insecurity-hand-hand-venezuela_638461|website=El Universal|access-date=22 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423161130/http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/daily-news/impunity-and-insecurity-hand-hand-venezuela_638461|archive-date=23 April 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[U.S. Department of State]] and British [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] have issued [[travel warning]]s for Venezuela due to high rates of crime.<ref>{{cite web |title=Venezuela travel advice |url=https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/venezuela |website=GOV.UK |access-date=27 September 2023 |language=en |date=23 August 2023 |archive-date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808091916/https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/venezuela |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Venezuela International Travel Information |url=https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Venezuela.html |website=travel.state.gov |access-date=27 September 2023 |date=17 July 2023 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927074313/https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Venezuela.html |url-status=live }}</ref>