Venezuela - Dependencies

The 72 small, sparsely inhabited Caribbean islands, organized in 11 island groups off the Venezuelan coast, are federal dependencies, with a total area of 120 sq km (46 sq mi). The chief economic activity in the region is fishing and pearl diving.

Venezuela has two territories, Delta Amacuro and Amazonas. Delta Amacuro, with an area of 40,200 sq km (15,521 sq mi), is located in the northeastern corner of Venezuela, bordering Guyana, and had an estimated population of 93,000 as of the mid-1990s. The capital city of Tucupita is situated on Caño Mánamo, one of the principal channels of the Orinoco Delta. It is a commercial center for the petroleum-producing area to the west and is also a loading port for cocoa exports. The remote Amazonas territory, located in the southern corner of Venezuela and bordered by Colombia and Brazil, is larger in area, with 175,750 sq km (67,857 sq mi). Its population was estimated at 80,000 in the mid-1990s, and its capital, Puerto Ayacucho, is scarcely more than a trading post.