VENEZUELA, Republic of, South America, extends over the north eastern portion of that continent, being situated between 1' 10' and 12' 20' N. let., 60' and 78' W. long. It is bouuded N. by the Caribbean Sea, W. and S.W. by New Granada, S. by Brazil, and E. by Brazil, Eugliab Guyana, and the Atlantic Ocean. The area is esti mated at about 417,000 square miles, but the boundaries are very irregular, and not very strictly defined. The population in 1851 was 1,356,000.
Sea-coast.—The sea-coast of Venezuela extends from the Boca do Navies, or principal mouth of the river Orinoco, in a general west north-west dirootion to the Innermost recess of the Gulf of Pada and the peninsula of Paris, a distance rather exceeding 200 miles. The whole of this tract is very low; it is composed of a great number of islands, which consist of alluvium brought down by the Orin000 and the Rio Guarapiehe, which traverse it by several channels ; and It is overgrown with trees, which in some parts are high, but in others arc only bushes. The peninsula of Paria divides the gulf of that name from the Caribbean Sea. It is occupied by a ridge of high rocks, which on the southern side approach near the sea and form several small harbours The northern shore, from the Punta de Paris to the Punta d'Araya, presents only naked rocks, less elevated than those along the Gulf of Paris, which iu some places also come close up to the water, but in others recede to some distance, leaving along the shore small plains, the soil of which is arid and sterile. The elevated coast which surrounds the Gulf of Cerise° shelters it against the swell and against all prevailing winds, and renders its waters as smooth as a lake. Opposite the peninsula of Araya is the island of Margarita, which constitutes one of the provinces of the republic. It is about 40 miles long and 20 miles wide In its broadest part, and consists of two large masses connected by a narrow isthmus about 10 miles in length. The eastern mass, called Cerro de Copei, is 3240 feet, and the western, called Cerro del Macauao, is 4573 feet high.
Between Cumand and Barcelona, about 72 miles, the coast is of mode rate elevation, but rather steep, and it contains several good harbours. Between the high and rocky islands which lie along this coast are some narrow but deep straits. From Barcelona to Cape Codera, about 128 mike, the shores are low and sandy, and in most places covered with salt-swamps, lagoons, or morasses. The coast between Cape Coders and Puerto Cabello, about 155 miles, is very high. Mountains rise like a wall from the water's edge, with a steep ascent to a great elevation. It containa several harbours, but they are mostly open. From Puerto Cabello to La Vela. de Coro, 165 miles, the coast is in general low, sandy, and arid ; but in many parts covered with man grove-trees (lihizophora mangle), and iu others swampy and overgrown with bushes. The isthmus which connects the peninsula of Paraguand with the continent is about /8 miles long and 3 miles wide, and con sists of low sand-bills, interrupted by some swamps and small lagoons. The peninsula of Paraguand is occupied by an isolated mountain mass called El Cerito de Santa Ana. There are several small harbours on the western shores of the peninsula. Farther west, as far as the channel of the Lake of Maracaibo, the coast is low, sandy, arid, and in some places covered with swamps or lagoons ; and the same description of coast continues westward on the islands of Zapara and San Carlos, and, west of them, on the peninsula of Goajira to Corojo, at which place it rises to some elevation, and this elevation generally continues to Cape Chichibacoa, the most western point of the coast of Venezuela. The whole coastline of the republic is 1584 miles, of which about 150 miles are washed by the Atlantic Ocean, an equal extent borders on the Gulf of Paris, and the remainder forms the southern shores of the Caribbeau Sea.