The 167 square miles of the Capital District sits within the sprawling capital of Caracas, and serves as the seat of the federal government. From 2001–11, its population sat at a little under 2 million, making it the country’s fourth most populous federal entity. It holds around 7% of the population in around 0.05% of the country’s land area. The District is majority white, with “morena/o” — or dark-skinned — closely following as its second largest ethnic group, an inversion of the country’s demographic trend as a whole. It is the country’s financial center, as well as its commercial center more generally. The Capital District was solidly for Chávez, though like every-where in 2012, he lost a large portion of his share of the vote there that year.

Known as “the granary of Venezuela” (El Granero de Venezuela), Portuguesa is a hub of agricultural production, particularly grains such as rice and beans. It also has some of the most severe poverty in the entire country. Portuguesa’s population is 58% morena/o, 37% white and 3% black. Chávez tended to win big in the state, typically with majorities of 70% or more, including in 2012, bucking the trend of dramatically declined majorities across the states that year.