Venezuela Through History: Who Ruled Its Lands
The land of today's Venezuela appears on 39 historical border maps from 500 BC to today. Over that time it was held, in whole or in part, by 5 different states, among them Venezuela, Viceroyalty of New Granada, Viceroyalty of New Spain, So'to (Yekuana), Walimanai (Baniwa).
VenezuelaExplore the history of Venezuela in the interactive map
Compare 1000 with today · Venezuela as a state on the map
Who ruled the land of Venezuela, map by map
Share of sample points inside today's borders held by each state on each map. Areas with no organised state on the map are left out.
| Map | Main states on this land |
|---|---|
| 1492 | So'to (Yekuana) 8% · Walimanai (Baniwa) 2% |
| 1600 | Viceroyalty of New Spain 31% |
| 1650 | Viceroyalty of New Spain 71% |
| 1700 | Viceroyalty of New Spain 71% |
| 1783 | Viceroyalty of New Granada 100% |
| 1800 | Viceroyalty of New Granada 100% |
| 1815 | Viceroyalty of New Granada 100% |
| 1880 | Venezuela 100% |
| 1900 | Venezuela 100% |
| 1914 | Venezuela 100% |
| 1920 | Venezuela 100% |
| 1930 | Venezuela 100% |
| 1938 | Venezuela 100% |
| 1945 | Venezuela 100% |
| 1960 | Venezuela 100% |
| 1994 | Venezuela 100% |
| 2010 | Venezuela 100% |
Historic cities in Venezuela
Famous people of Venezuela
| Lived | Person | |
|---|---|---|
| 1783 – 1830 | Simón Bolívar | Liberator of South America |
Questions
Which empires and states ruled the territory of Venezuela?
On the border maps from 500 BC to today, the largest shares of the territory of modern Venezuela belonged to Venezuela, Viceroyalty of New Granada, Viceroyalty of New Spain, So'to (Yekuana), Walimanai (Baniwa).
What was Venezuela part of in 1900?
On the border map for 1900, most of the territory of today's Venezuela lay within Venezuela.
Further reading
Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.