22 Caracas, Venezuela Surprising and Interesting Facts

(Last Updated On: October 11, 2021)

Caracas is a popular city in Venezuela, South America with so many fun, interesting facts. Caracas’ core is located at the valley’s western edge, next to the hill of El Calvario Park, which provides a panoramic perspective of the city. Many ancient structures, centered around the Plaza Bolvar, depict the colonial past, including the Caracas Cathedral, the National Capitol, the Municipal Council building, Simón Bolvar’s birthplace, and Miraflores Palace, which serves as the president of the republic’s official home, Caracas facts. The National Pantheon, which houses the tombs of Bolvar and other national heroes, is only a short distance away. The Simón Bolvar Centre’s twin towers may also be found nearby. These 30-story structures were formerly the country’s highest.

Caracas’ civic center is increasingly shifting eastward toward Parque Central and Plaza Venezuela. This neighborhood is centered around a monument to Christopher Columbus, although it is more notable for a cluster of skyscrapers, including another set of twin towers that are among Latin America’s highest structures, facts about Caracas. These structures, which were first built in 1971, rise to a height of 725 feet (221 meters) above street level. Each tower, which was designed to house the national government’s major offices, is outfitted for helicopter landings on its roof and offers a beautiful view of the valley. The east tower needed substantial restoration after a severe fire in 2004. A number of other notable city monuments are nearby, including the Botanical Garden, many museums, Parque Los Caobos, and Venezuela’s Central University, Caracas facts.

Caracas and the Federal District accounted for 42% of Venezuela’s 438,000 foreign inhabitants by 1956. Immigrants and their descendants have tended to cluster in specific barrios, or neighborhoods, across the city. Internal migration, as well as a high index of natural fertility, have contributed considerably to the capital city’s population growth rate, interesting facts about Caracas. The western Andean area, notably the states of Táchira, Mérida, and Trujillo, is the major source of migrants, while Caracas also acts as a magnet, drawing people from all over the country.

In Caracas, like in the rest of South America, social class divides are stark, and this is reflected in the population of residential neighborhoods. Landownership was the primary source of income and status for Venezuela’s upper class, followed by industry, trade, and urban real estate. Their mansions are often located on the valley’s eastern outskirts and along the Caribbean shore, Caracas. The country’s petroleum riches and recent European immigration have both contributed to the growth of the middle class. The city’s central center, as well as certain residential areas, are dominated by middle-class homes. The hillside shantytowns overlooking the city from the west and south are occupied by the lower socioeconomic class, which includes laborers, servants, and the jobless.

Caracas is the epicenter of everything Venezuelan in many ways. Until the 1950s, when the national government began to encourage industrial decentralization, this was especially true with respect to industry and trade, Caracas. Caracas is still the most important manufacturing hub, with textiles and apparel, processed foods and drinks, tobacco products, wood, paper, and printing, clay and stone products, rubber and leather goods, glass, chemicals, and medicines, and metalware and plastics all being important. Manufacturing’s relative importance has dwindled fast, though, as new sectors have sprung elsewhere in the republic, and those who damage the environment are obliged to clean up their act, Caracas.

Caracas, Venezuela facts

1. Caracas is the headquarters of the Venezuelan National Police.

2. Venezuela holds the world’s biggest oil reserves. Pilar Navarro is a Caracas-based economist. In 2020, he predicted that “a decade ago, the country was the top producer in Latin America” and that “oil exports brought in $90 billion per year”!

3. According to Navarro, that amount is expected to decline to $2.3 billion by the end of 2020.

4. Caracas’ Caricuao Zoological Park first opened its doors in 1977. In 2018, owing to Venezuela’s dire economic condition, animals in this zoo, like those in others, suffered from a lack of visitors and money.

5. Caracas is recognized for its Central University, which is the country’s oldest institution of its sort. It is also regarded to be Latin America’s 18th finest university.

6. Caracas is commonly regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous cities, which justifies the United States’ categorization.

7. Caracas is recognized for its diverse gastronomic offerings. The arepas are thought to have originated here. This pancake is made with meat or cheese.

8. Many people have relocated to Caracas from other parts of the globe. Citizens from Portugal, Spain, Germany, China, and even the Middle East are believed to live there.

9. Caracas was designated as a ‘Critical Threat Location’ by the United States in July 2020.

10. Caracas is served by a three-track metro system. Every day, commuters can travel between 5:30 a.m. and 10 p.m.

11. The Caracas Mosque (Mosque Ibrahim Ibin Abdul Aziz Al-Ibrahim), the National Pantheon (Panteon Nacional), and the University City of Caracas are all important monuments in the capital (Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas)

12. As of June 2020, the city boundaries of Caracas border a 300-square-mile (777-square-kilometer) region that is home to 2.9 million people.

13. Greater Caracas, also known as the Metropolitan Region of Caracas, is an urbanized area that encompasses the Metropolitan District of Caracas as well as 11 neighboring municipalities in the Venezuelan states of Miranda and Vargas. Greater Caracas encompasses a total area of 1,821 square miles (4,715 square kilometers).

14. The average yearly temperature in Caracas is 25 degrees Celsius.

15. Caracas, the capital of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is home to one of Latin America’s major financial centers. Santiago de León de Caracas is the official name of the capital.

16. According to the World Atlas, Caracas has the highest murder rate per capita in the world.

17. As many as 98 percent of violent crimes in Venezuela’s capital city go unsolved, prompting travel warnings from the US and other countries for possible travelers to Caracas.

18. The Muslim population in Venezuela is tiny yet powerful. Many are Arabs with Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Turkish ancestors. Caracas, the capital, has a Muslim population of 15,000 people. Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Ibrahim Mosque in Caracas is Latin America’s second-biggest mosque.

19. Since the city’s founding, Roman Catholicism has been a major religion, but other faiths are also followed.

20. Venezuela’s official language is Castilian (Spanish), according to the country’s constitution.

21. Capybara is the world’s largest rodent and is endemic to Venezuela, thus eating it in a Caracas restaurant isn’t unheard of.

22. According to the 2019–2020 National Survey of Living Conditions (ENCOVI, for Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Vida), published by researchers at Caracas’ Andrés Bello Catholic University, Venezuela’s poverty levels increased in 2019, making it the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean.