Oil and the warm Caribbean air have mixed to create today's Venezuela. A leading producer of petroleum and founding member of OPEC, it is one of South America's richest nations. While it doesn't have the ancient glories of Peru, it has plenty of monuments to its recent affluence-gleaming cities, well-heeled resorts and the continent's best system of highways.

But the country's best tourist sites aren't man-made: tropical islands, mighty rivers, dense jungles, snowcapped mountains, rolling plains, Angel Falls (the world's highest) and miles of Caribbean beaches.

In 1493, Christopher Columbus arrived in what is now Venezuela, becoming not only the first European to set foot in the region, but on the South American continent as well. Amerigo Vespucci, the explorer whose name graces the New World, is responsible for giving the country its name, which in Spanish means Little Venice. The local huts built over the water reminded the explorer/cartographer of the Italian city of Venice (he had been at sea for a long time). In 1811, Venezuela was the first colony in South America to declare its independence from Spain. Leading the fight was Simon Bolivar, who went on to liberate the entire continent from Spanish rule.

It took a long time for Venezuela to find a truly stable form of government. Following independence, 140 years of struggle were necessary to get the last of a series of dictators to step down (in 1957) in favor of a democratically elected government. The early '90s saw a number of failed coup attempts against President Carlos Andres Perez. Perez was finally impeached in 1993 for stealing US$17 million in public funds. Since then the country has undergone an economic tailspin brought on by deficit spending, a bloated bureaucracy and a severe banking crisis. While a number of austerity measures have been imposed, Venezuela still has a long way to go before it can return to the prosperity it experienced only a decade ago.

Venezuela is divided into four distinct geographic regions: the Caribbean coastal area (where 90% of the population lives), the Andes (mountainous western region), the Central Plains (farming and cattle ranching) and the southeastern Guyana Highlands (Angel Falls, native Indians, jungle, giant sandstone plateaus). Like neighboring Brazil, Venezuela is a land of great diversity; unlike Brazil (which is almost 10 times bigger), the sites are readily accessible. The country's primary source of wealth is most evident when you ride a boat on Lake Maracaibo-your driver has to be careful not to bump into oil derricks.

Note: The Colombian border area, especially the Guajira peninsula north of Maracaibo, is not considered safe, and tourists have been targets of kidnappings. Also be careful in the lightly populated border areas of the south and southwest. In many cities, the crime rate is growing-keep cameras, purses, watches and other valuables as inconspicuous as possible. Items left in parked cars and at the beach are particularly inviting targets. Pickpockets are active on public transportation, especially the buses and subways of Caracas. Avoid all public demonstrations.