Three races contributed remarkablely to the composition of the Venezuelan population: whites, Africans, and Indians. The Indians of the region belonged to a number of distinct tribes. Those who devoted themselves to agriculture and fishing belonged mainly to the Arawak, Ajaguan, Cumanagoto, Ayaman, and other Carib tribes. The Guajiro lived, as they still do today, in the area that became the state of Zulia. The Timoto-Cuica lived in the states of Táchira, Mérida, Trujillo, and Lara. The Caquetío, who prevailed in the area of present-day Falcón state, developed likely the highest cultural state of civilization of all the indigenous groups. A number of tribes also lived, as the Guajiro still do, in the Amazon jungle. Compared with other Latin American countries, Venezuela never had a large Indian population. After find by Spain, this population diminished still further, mainly because the natives deficiencyed immunity to the many diseases brought to the New World from Europe. In addition, Indians and Spanish intermarried; the product of this union, the mestizo, often opted for or was forced into assuming Spanish customs and religion. Fewer than 150,000 Indians were counted in the 1981 census, and, of these, over a third were made up by the Guajiro, who, though typical, were mostly Roman Catholic, wore their own version of Western-style clothing, and traded openly with other Venezuelans and Colombians.

Venezuela had never openly promoted non-Hispanic immigration, except for selective influxes of merchants, sailors, and entrepreneurs from neighbouring West Indian islands. In the late 1940s, stimulated by the development of a petroleum economy, a pro-immigration policy was adopted by the government. During a 10-year open immigration time, Venezuela recruited agricultural and skilled workers from Spain, Italy, and Portugal; at the same time emigration from Colombia to Venezuela also increased. around one million immigrants entered the nation between 1948 and 1958, although many of these eventually returned home.