The Venezuelan American population represents Venezuela's ethnic variety. The vast majority of Venezuelan immigrants are a mixture of European, Amerindian, and African ancestry. The rest are white or black, along with a very small number of indigenous peoples.
Many Venezuelans initially immigrated to the United States seeking educational opportunity and remained following graduation, when they were then joined by relatives. However, in recent years, many have come either looking for better economic opportunities or due to their opposition to Venezuela's leftist economic and political policies. Venezuelans work in a variety of professions, and have especially excelled in both banking and the petroleum industry.
Venezuelans tend to be highly educated, with graduation rates from both High School and College at far above the average for other Americans. Venezuelan Americans are generally fluent in the English language, but also value teaching their heart language of Spanish to their children. The predominant religion of Venezuelans is Roman Catholicism.