Currently estimated at 22 million and
increasing at a rate of over 2.5% per year, Venezuela's
population is the fastest growing in South America. Half
the population is under the age of eighteen. The vast
majority of Venezuelans lives in urban areas, and Caracas
is home to about 20% of the population. Population density
varies according to region. While cities of the central
coastal region have a high concentration of people, areas
such as Los Llanos, the Amazon and Guyana are inhabited
by very few. Owing to the constant migration of people
from country to city, this distribution seems likely to
continue.
Venezuela has a mixed ancestry. About 67% of the population
are of Mulatto-Mestizo descent, with the remainder made
up of Whites (21%), Africans (10%), and Indians (2%).
Nowadays, many immigrants also reside in the country,
coming above all from Colombia. The most commonly practiced
religion is Roman Catholicism, though Protestantism is
growing in importance. Practising Muslims and Jews are
relatively uncommon.
There are 31 indigenous Indian groups in Venezuela,
including the Piaroa, Guajibo and Yanomami in the Amazon,
the Guajiro, Yukpa and Bari in the northwest, the Warao
in the Orinoco Delta and the Pemon on the Guyana border.
While some, such as the Pemon are becoming more accessible
to outsiders, others, such as the Yanomami, are secluded
and remain detached from the outside world. The communities
vary in size. The largest is the Guajiro, with some
50,000 members, followed by the Warao with 20,000 and
the Pemon with 6,000. All have individual languages,
most of which have evolved from three root tongues:
Caribe, Araguaco and Chibcha. Some tribes speak independent
languages, of which the better-known are those of the
Warao and Yanomami tribes.
Nowadays, land developers and gold diggers from Brazil
are becoming a serious threat to the existence of certain
tribes, especially the Yanomami. Various organizations,
for example CONIVE (The National Indian Council of Venezuela)
act to preserve the land and culture of the Indian people.
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La
presencia milenaria del Hombre, está representado
por el grupo étnico "Pemón" (palabra
que significa en su lengua "gente") este grupo
está dividido a su vez en tres subgrupos:
