Political Division of Venezuela

States, Federal Dependencies and Capital District Estados, Dependencias Federales y Distrito Capital (Spanish)
Category	Federated state
Location	Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Number	23 States 1 Capital District
Populations	146,480 (Amazonas) – 3,704,404 (Zulia)
Areas	1,100 km2 (440 sq mi) (Nueva Esparta) – 240,000 km2 (92,000 sq mi) (Bolívar)
Government	State government
Subdivisions	Municipality Island (Federal Dependencies)

Venezuela is a federation made up of twenty-three states (Spanish: estados), a Capital District (Spanish: Distrito Capital) and the Federal Dependencies (Spanish: Dependencias Federales), which consist of a large number of islands and islets on the Caribbean Sea. Venezuela also claims the Guayana Esequiba territory which comprises six districts in the independent nation of Guyana.

The states and territories of Venezuela are usually organized into regions (Spanish: regiones), although these regions are mostly geographical entities and count with no administrative entities.

Prior to the Federal War of (1859–1863), the country was divided into provinces rather than states (see Provinces of Venezuela). The victorious forces were supposed to grant more autonomy to the individual states, but this was not implemented.

From 1863 to the early 1900s there were numerous territorial changes, including the merger and splitting of states, but from then until the 1990s the states were left unchanged. States that existed during this time included Guzmán Blanco State (1873–1889). Originally a renamed Aragua State, in 1881 the states of Miranda, Guárico, Nueva Esparta and the Vargas department of the Federal District were merged into the state. This was part of a territorial reorganisation reducing the number of states from 20 to 9, which was reversed in 1901.

The 1990s saw the creation of three new states: Delta Amacuro (1991), Amazonas (1994), and Vargas (1998).

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