VENEZUELA 
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abortive attempts at revolution, which finally 
assumed definite form in 1810 when the citi 
zens of Caracas revolted openly, and declared 
Venezuela independent July 5, 1811. Spain, 
however, put down this uprising and reestab 
lished its authority, maintaining control of the 
colony until August 7, 1819, when Simon Boli 
var defeated the Castilian army, and made 
Venezuela one of the three States of Greater 
Colombia. With the breaking up of this al 
liance Venezuela became absolutely independ 
ent September 22, 1830. 
Venezuela is situated in the northern tip of 
South America with a northwestern boundary 
of 2000 miles on the Caribbean Sea. To the 
east she is bounded by British Guiana, on the 
south by Brazil and the west by Colombia, 
a total area of 393,976 square miles, although 
it is really doubtful if the exact extent of the 
country is known, especially along the Brazil 
ian frontier. It is as large as Illinois, Indi 
ana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. 
There are three different mountain regions 
in Venezuela—a continuation of the Andes—