_#_Disputes: claims all of Guyana west of the Essequibo river; maritime boundary dispute with Colombia in the Gulf of Venezuela
_#_Climate: tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands
_#_Terrain: Andes mountains and Maracaibo lowlands in northwest; central plains (llanos); Guyana highlands in southeast
_#_Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds
_#_Land use: arable land 3%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 20%; forest and woodland 39%; other 37%; includes irrigated NEGL%
_#_Environment: subject to floods, rockslides, mudslides; periodic droughts; increasing industrial pollution in Caracas and Maracaibo
_#_Note: on major sea and air routes linking North and South America
_*People #_Population: 20,189,361 (July 1991), growth rate 2.4% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 4 deaths/1,000 population (1991)