Venezuela Population Distribution and Demographic Trends

Venezuela Population Distribution

The population distribution Venezuela: It highlights inequality in the distribution of the population. The region Coastal-Mountain has a little more than 80% of the population, the plains between 14% and 15%, and Guayana between 3% and 6%.

The prominence of the population in the Coastal-Mountain region has been stable at around 80% with a slight tendency to decline by less than 2% over thirty years. The same occurs in the plains with a decrease of about 1%. In Guayana the change is the only region whose population has grown dramatically from 3% to 6%. If this trend continues in the long term, Guayana will contribute to a more balanced distribution of the population.

Population Attraction Poles and Causes

Population attraction poles / Causes of the population distribution:

Historical Causes

The Coastal-Mountain region, since the conquest and colonization process, has concentrated settlements such as Caracas as the capital, maintaining where Europeans and Africans originally settled at the beginning of the colony.

Socioeconomic Causes

Socioeconomic factors include:

• The rise of oil exploration and the emergence of new towns.
• The channeling of national income toward coastal-mountain areas.
• Large investments and constructions in the coastal-mountain region.
• Better living conditions and higher wages in the Coastal-Mountain region compared with Guayana and the interior.
• Migration from the interior to the coast due to oil exploitation and related activities.

Physical and Natural Factors

Physical-natural factors include:

• Better temperature conditions and a favorable environment in the Coastal-Mountain region.
• Stable climate without major irregularities and fertile valleys for agricultural production.
• Large natural harbors and navigable rivers that facilitate economic communication.

Venezuelan Population by Sex

Venezuelan population by sex: Over recent decades our population has shown nearly perfect parity between men and women. In the 2001 census: Men: 11,402,869; Women: 11,651,341.

Population Pyramid and Age Composition

The graphical representation of the composition by age and sex is shown through population pyramids. The 2001 census population by age categories is:

• Young: 7,634,562
• Adults: 14,297,435
• Old: 1,122,213

Approximately 30% of our population is younger than 14 years (Young), which implies high demand for primary health and education services.

Active and Inactive Population

Active population: The workforce is constituted by persons 15 years or older who contribute to production by offering goods and services.

Inactive population: Persons 15 years and over who have not worked and have not been looking for work in the week before the census. This group includes students, pensioners, and homemakers.

Vital Rates and Vegetative Growth

Birth rate: The number of live births per thousand inhabitants in a given period (one year).

Death rate: The number of deaths per thousand inhabitants in a given period (one year).

Vegetative growth: The difference between births and deaths, which determines the overall population growth of the country.