Venezuela: From oil reserves to population, 6 things to know about country attacked by US | Today News

Venezuela recently came under a “large-scale” attack by the United States on Saturday, leading to the capture of its President Nicolas Maduro -- whom the Trump administration had labelled a narco-terrorist.

Where is Venezuela, and why has the US attacked it? Here’s everything you need to know about Venezuela.

The country borders the Caribbean Sea to the north, the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Federal Republic of Brazil to the south, and the Republic of Colombia to the west.

The area is rich in petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower and diamonds. According to the BBC, Venezuela has some of the world's largest proven oil reserves, as well as significant quantities of coal, iron ore, bauxite, and gold.

President Nicolas Maduro Moros had been the president of Venezuela since 2013, until he was captured and flown out of the country on Saturday, January 3, 2026.

Maduro was declared the winner of the July 2024 presidential election, which the Opposition alleged was highly rigged.

Venezuela’s Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is around $4,900 (2023 estimate), according to the CIA factsheet.

It’s said that poverty levels are very high in rural areas of Venezuela. According to IFAD, Venezuela is the second poorest country in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Nearly 56 percent of the population lives in extreme poverty, stated the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations in its report.

Venezuela is highly dependent on oil revenues, which account for approximately 30 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The USA is among the top export partners of Venezuela. As many as 50% of Venezuela’s exports go to the US. Major items exported by Venezuela include crude petroleum, petroleum coke, scrap iron, alcohols, fertilizers.

Venezuela imports the most, around 35% of its imports, from China. Venezuela imports refined petroleum, soybean meal, corn, plastic products and vehicle parts/accessories.

The US has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of “narco-terrorism.”

Hours after the US launched “large scale” strikes in Venezuela, US Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the “successful mission to capture” two “alleged international narco traffickers” — Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

“Nicolas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States,” Pondi posted on X.

Moreover, after bombing Venezuela and abducting Maduro, Trump said the US would "run" Venezuela and tap its huge oil reserves. "We'll be selling large amounts of oil to other countries," he said.

The president claimed the US occupation "won't cost a penny" as the country will be reimbursed from “money coming out of the ground,” Sky News reported.

But, according to the New York Times, a more plausible explanation for the attacks on Venezuela may be linked to Trump’s recently released National Security Strategy. It claimed the right to dominate Latin America.

“After years of neglect, the United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American pre-eminence in the Western Hemisphere,” the document stated, as per the NYT.

Venezuela's reserves are made up mostly of heavy oil in Orinoco in central Venezuela, making its crude expensive to produce, but technically relatively simple, according to the US government's energy department.

The Orinoco Belt has traditionally made up almost two-thirds of the country’s total production.

Venezuela holds some 17 percent of global oil reserves — equivalent to 303 billion barrels, Sky News and The Guardian reported, citing the Energy Institute.

Meanwhile, CBS News stated that Venezuela's reserves top second-ranked Saudi Arabia's 267 billion barrels, and are more than six times the US' reserves.

Most of Venezuela's untapped oil is located in what is known as the Orinoco Belt, a roughly 21,000-square-mile area that stretches across the country's northeastern region.

On January 1, 2026, Bloomberg reported that oil production in the Orinoco Belt fell to 498,131 barrels a day on December 29, a 25% drop from two weeks earlier, as US forces in the Caribbean limit exports and the threat of land strikes pressured Nicolás Maduro’s regime.

The report added that PDVSA, as the company is known, began shutting oil wells in some fields because it’s running out of storage space and can’t export quickly enough.

As per the reports, the US was once the main buyer of Venezuelan oil – but since sanctions were imposed, China has become the main destination.