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Guide to Venezuela

Introduction

Background: Venezuela was one of 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

Geography

Location: Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, between Colombia and Guyana
Geographic coordinates: 8 00 N, 66 00 W
Map references: South America
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly more than twice the size of California
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 2,800 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands
Terrain: Andes Mountains and Maracaibo Lowlands in northwest; central plains (llanos); Guiana Highlands in southeast
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 540 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: subject to floods, 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
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: on major sea and air routes linking North and South America; Angel Falls in the Guiana Highlands is the world's highest waterfall

People

Population: 25,375,281 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 1.4% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 18.91 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 4.9 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 2.26 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.7% - note - no country specific models provided (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 110,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 4,100 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, indigenous people
Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%, other 2%
Languages: Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects
Literacy: definition

Government

Country name: conventional long form
Government type: federal republic
Capital: Caracas
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
Independence: 5 July 1811 (from Spain)
National holiday: Independence Day, 5 July (1811)
Constitution: 30 December 1999
Legal system: open, adversarial court system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (165 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; three seats reserved for the indigenous peoples of Venezuela) elections
Judicial branch: Supreme Tribunal of Justice or Tribuna Suprema de Justicia (magistrates are elected by the National Assembly for a single 12-year term)
Political parties and leaders: Democratic Action or AD [Jesus MENDEZ Quijada]; Fifth Republic Movement or MVR [Hugo CHAVEZ]; Homeland for All or PPT [Jose ALBORNOZ]; Justice First [Julio BORGES]; Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Hector MUJICA]; National Convergence or Convergencia [Juan Jose CALDERA]; Radical Cause or La Causa R [Andres VELASQUEZ]; Social Christian Party or COPEI [Eduardo FERNANDEZ]; Venezuela Project or PV [Henrique SALAS Romer]
Political pressure groups and leaders: FEDECAMARAS, a conservative business group; VECINOS groups; Venezuelan Confederation of Workers or CTV (labor organization dominated by the Democratic Action)
International organization participation: CAN, CDB, CSN, FAO, G-3, G-15, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
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: Venezuela continues to be highly dependent on the petroleum sector, accounting for roughly one-third of GDP, around 80% of export earnings, and over half of government operating revenues. A disastrous two-month national oil strike from December 2002 to February 2003, temporarily halted economic activity. The economy remained in depression in 2003, declining by 9.2% after an 8.9% fall in 2002. Despite continued domestic instability, output recovered strongly in 2004, aided by high oil prices. Both inflation and unemployment remain fundamental problems.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $145.2 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 16.8% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,800 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 12.25 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 13%, industry 23%, services 64% (1997 est.)
Unemployment rate: 17.1% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: 47% (1998 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 49.5 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22.4% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 12.9% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 43.1% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee; beef, pork, milk, eggs; fish
Industries: petroleum, iron ore mining, construction materials, food processing, textiles, steel, aluminum, motor vehicle assembly
Industrial production growth rate: 12.3% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 89.7 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 89.3 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - exports: 450 million kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports: 30 million kWh (2003)
Oil - production: 2.6 million bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption: 500,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports: 2.1 million bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - imports: NA
Oil - proved reserves: 78 billion bbl (2004 est.)
Natural gas - production: 29.4 billion cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 29.4 billion cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 4.19 trillion cu m (2004)
Current account balance: $14.59 billion (2004 est.)
Exports: $35.84 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: petroleum, bauxite and aluminum, steel, chemicals, agricultural products, basic manufactures
Exports - partners: US 55.6%, Netherlands Antilles 4.7%, Dominican Republic 2.8% (2004)
Imports: $14.98 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials
Imports - partners: US 28.8%, Colombia 9.9%, Brazil 7%, Mexico 4.1% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $25.75 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $33.29 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $74 million (2000)
Currency (code): bolivar (VEB)
Currency code: VEB
Exchange rates: bolivares per US dollar - 1,891.3 (2004), 1,607 (2003), 1,161 (2002), 723.7 (2001), 680 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 2,841,800 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 6,463,600 (2002)
Telephone system: general assessment
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 hosts: 35,301 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 16 (2000)
Internet users: 1,274,400 (2002)

Transportation

Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 7,100 km note
Pipelines: extra heavy crude 992 km; gas 5,262 km; oil 7,360 km; refined products 1,681 km; unknown (oil/water) 141 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Amuay, La Guaira, Maracaibo, Puerto Cabello, Punta Cardon
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 369 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total

Military

Military branches: National Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Nacionales, FAN)
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 30 months (2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $1.687 billion (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.5% (2004)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: claims all of the area west of the Essequibo River in Guyana, preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims before UNCLOS that the Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with Venezuela extends into their waters; dispute with Colombia over Los Monjes islands and maritime boundary near the Gulf of Venezuela; Colombian-organized illegal narcotics and paramilitary activities penetrate Venezuela's shared border region resulting in several thousand residents migrating away from the border; US, France and the Netherlands recognize Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island, which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea; Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines protest Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation and other states' recognition of it
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
Last updated: 20 October, 2005