Venezuela

From Imakoopedia

Venezuela is a country in Northern South America. With a Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean northern coast, it has Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south. Venezuela lies on the major sea and air routes linking North and South America.

The Angel Falls in the Guiana Highlands is the world's highest waterfall.

Table of contents

1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 Climate 4.2 Terrain 4.3 History 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By car 5.4 By bus 5.5 By boat 6 Get around 7 Talk 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Learn 13 Work 14 Stay safe 15 Stay healthy 16 Respect 17 Contact 18 External links 19 Geography 20 People 21 Government 22 Economy 23 Communications 24 Transportation 25 Transnational Issues

Regions

• Amazonas
• Andes
• Caribbean Islands
• Central
• Guayana
• Llanos
• Northeast
• Northwest
• Orinoco Delta
• Gran Sabana

Administrative divisions 

23 states (estados, singular - estado), 1 federal district* (distrito federal), and 1 federal dependency** (dependencia federal); Amazonas, Anzoategui, Apure, Aragua, Barinas, Bolivar, Carabobo, Cojedes, Delta Amacuro, Dependencias Federales**, Distrito Federal*, Falcon, Guarico, Lara, Merida, Miranda, Monagas, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Tachira, Trujillo, Vargas, Yaracuy, Zulia
note: the federal dependency consists of 11 federally controlled island groups with a total of 72 individual islands

Cities

• Caracas - the capital.

Ports and harbors 

Amuay, Bajo Grande, El Tablazo, La Guaira, La Salina, Maracaibo, Matanzas, Palua, Puerto Cabello, Puerto la Cruz, Puerto Ordaz, Puerto Sucre, Punta Cardon

Other destinations

Understand

Climate

Tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands

Terrain

Andes Mountains and Maracaibo Lowlands in northwest; central plains (llanos); Guiana Highlands in southeast

highest point 

Pico Bolivar (La Columna) 4,981 m

History

Venezuela was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Colombia and Ecuador). For most of the first half of the 20th century, Venezuela was ruled by generally benevolent military strongmen, who promoted the oil industry and allowed for some social reforms. Democratically-elected governments have held sway since 1959. Current concerns include: an embattled president who is losing his once solid support among Venezuelans, a divided military, drug-related conflicts along the Colombian border, increasing internal drug consumption, overdependence on the petroleum industry with its price fluctuations, and irresponsible mining operations that are endangering the rain forest and indigenous peoples.

Get in

By plane

By train

By car

By bus

By boat

Get around

Talk

Languages 

Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Learn

Work

Stay safe

Stay healthy

Respect

Contact

External links

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The rest of this article is an import from the CIA World Factbook 2002. It's a starting point for creating a real Imakoopedia country article according to our country article template. Please plunge forward and integrate it into the article above.

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Geography

Geographic coordinates 

8 00 N, 66 00 W

Area 

total: 912,050 sq km
land: 882,050 sq km
water: 30,000 sq km

Area - comparative 

slightly more than twice the size of California

Coastline 

2,800 km

Maritime claims 

contiguous zone: 15 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

Natural resources 

petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds

Land use 

arable land: 2.99%
permanent crops: 0.96%
other: 96.05% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land 

540 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards 

subject to floods, earthquakes, rockslides, mudslides; periodic droughts

Environment - current issues 

sewage pollution of Lago de Valencia; oil and urban pollution of Lago de Maracaibo; deforestation; soil degradation; urban and industrial pollution, especially along the Caribbean coast; threat to the rainforest ecosystem from irresponsible mining operations

People

Population 

24,287,670 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure 

0-14 years: 31.6% (male 3,955,132; female 3,710,159)
15-64 years: 63.6% (male 7,756,362; female 7,695,738)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 533,559; female 636,720) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate 

1.52% (2002 est.)

Birth rate 

20.22 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate 

4.91 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate 

-0.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio 

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate 

24.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth 

total population: 73.56 years
female: 76.81 years (2002 est.)
male: 70.53 years

Total fertility rate 

2.41 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate 

0.49% (1999 est.)

Nationality 

noun: Venezuelan(s)
adjective: Venezuelan

Ethnic groups 

Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, indigenous people

Religions 

nominally Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%, other 2%

Literacy 

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.1%
male: 91.8%
female: 90.3% (1995 est.)

Government

Country name 

conventional long form: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
conventional short form: Venezuela
local short form: Venezuela
local long form: Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela

Government type 

federal republic

Independence 

5 July 1811 (from Spain)

National holiday 

Independence Day, 5 July (1811)

Constitution 

30 December 1999

Legal system 

based on organic laws as of July 1999; open, adversarial court system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage 

18 years of age; universal

Flag description 

three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), blue, and red with the coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band and an arc of seven white five-pointed stars centered in the blue band

Economy

Economy - overview 

The petroleum sector dominates the economy, accounting for roughly a third of GDP, around 80% of export earnings, and more than half of government operating revenues. Venezuelan officials estimate that GDP grew by 2.7% in 2001. A strong rebound in international oil prices fueled the recovery from the steep recession in 1999. Nevertheless, a weak nonoil sector and capital flight - and a temporary fall in oil prices - undercut the recovery. In early 2002, President CHAVEZ changed the exchange rate regime from a crawling peg to a free floating exchange rate, causing the bolivar to depreciate significantly.

Population below poverty line 

67% (1997 est.)

Labor force 

9.9 million (1999) (1999)

Labor force - by occupation 

services 64%, industry 23%, agriculture 13% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate 

14.1% (2001 est.)

Industries 

petroleum, iron ore mining, construction materials, food processing, textiles, steel, aluminum, motor vehicle assembly

Electricity - production 

80.754 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source 

fossil fuel: 23%
hydro: 77%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption 

75.101 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products 

corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee; beef, pork, milk, eggs; fish

Exports - commodities 

petroleum, bauxite and aluminum, steel, chemicals, agricultural products, basic manufactures

Imports - commodities 

raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials

Currency 

bolivar (VEB)

Currency code 

VEB

Exchange rates 

bolivares per US dollar - 761.225 (January 2002), 723.666 (2001), 679.960 (2000), 605.717 (1999), 547.556 (1998), 488.635 (1997)

Fiscal year 

calendar year

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use 

2.6 million (however, 3,500,000 have been installed) (1998)

Telephones - mobile cellular 

2 million (1998)

Telephone system 

general assessment: modern and expanding
domestic: domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations; recent substantial improvement in telephone service in rural areas; substantial increase in digitalization of exchanges and trunk lines; installation of a national interurban fiber-optic network capable of digital multimedia services
international: 3 submarine coaxial cables; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 PanAmSat; participating with Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia in the construction of an international fiber-optic network

Radio broadcast stations 

AM 201, FM NA (20 in Caracas), shortwave 11 (1998)

Radios 

10.75 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations 

66 (plus 45 repeaters) (1997)

Televisions 

4.1 million (1997)

Internet country code 

.ve

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 

16 (2000)

Internet users 

1.3 million (2002)

Transportation

Railways 

total: 682 km
standard gauge: 682 km 1.435-m gauge
note: 248 km of the existing system are privately owned; passenger services are nonexistent; however, a National Railways Plan, intended to provide a significant railway system, has been initiated (2001)

Highways 

total: 96,155 km
paved: 32,308 km
unpaved: 63,847 km (1997 est.)

Waterways 

7,100 km
note: Rio Orinoco and Lago de Maracaibo accept oceangoing vessels

Pipelines 

crude oil 6,370 km; petroleum products 480 km; natural gas 4,010 km

Airports 

372 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways 

total: 127
over 3,047 m: 5
2,438 to 3,047 m: 11
914 to 1,523 m: 61
under 914 m: 18 (2002)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 32

Airports - with unpaved runways 

total: 246
1,524 to 2,437 m: 10
914 to 1,523 m: 97
under 914 m: 139 (2002)

Heliports 

1 (2002)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international 

claims all of Guyana west of the Essequibo (river); maritime boundary dispute with Colombia in the Gulf of Venezuela; several Caribbean states protest Venezuela's claim to Islas des Aves (Bird Islands), 565 km from Venezuelan mainland

Illicit drugs 

small-scale illicit producer of opium and coca for the processing of opiates and coca derivatives; however, large quantities of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana transit the country from Colombia bound for US and Europe; significant narcotics-related money-laundering activity, especially along the border with Colombia and on Margarita Island; active eradication program primarily targeting opium; increasing signs of drug-related activities by Colombian insurgents on border