:Venezuela Geography
Total area:
912,050 km2
Land area:
882,050 km2
Comparative area:
slightly more than twice the size of California
Land boundaries:
4,993 km total; Brazil 2,200 km, Colombia 2,050 km, Guyana 743 km
Coastline:
2,800 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone:
15 nm
Continental shelf:
200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
Territorial sea:
12 nm
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
:Venezuela People
Population:
20,675,970 (July 1992), growth rate 2.4% (1992)
Birth rate:
27 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
4 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
1 migrant/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
23 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
71 years male, 78 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
3.3 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Venezuelan(s); adjective - Venezuelan
Ethnic divisions:
mestizo 67%, white 21%, black 10%, Indian 2%
Religions:
nominally Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%
Languages:
Spanish (official); Indian dialects spoken by about 200,000 Amerindians in
the remote interior
Literacy:
88% (male 87%, female 90%) age 15 and over can read and write (1981 est.)
Labor force:
5,800,000; services 56%, industry 28%, agriculture 16% (1985)
Organized labor:
32% of labor force
:Venezuela Government
Long-form name:
Republic of Venezuela
Type:
republic
Capital:
Caracas
Administrative divisions:
21 states (estados, singular - estado), 1 territory* (territorios, singular
- territorio), 1 federal district** (distrito federal), and 1 federal
dependence*** (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, Yaracuy,
Zulia; note - the federal dependence consists of 11 federally controlled
island groups with a total of 72 individual islands
Independence:
5 July 1811 (from Spain)
Constitution:
23 January 1961
Legal system:
based on Napoleonic code; judicial review of legislative acts in Cassation
Court only; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
Independence Day, 5 July (1811)
Executive branch:
president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
bicameral Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la Republica) consists of an
upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies
(Camara de Diputados)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justica)
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government:
President Carlos Andres PEREZ (since 2 February 1989)
Political parties and leaders:
Social Christian Party (COPEI), Hilarion CARDOZO, president, and Eduardo
FERNANDEZ, secretary general; Democratic Action (AD), Humberto CELLI,
president, and Luis ALFARO Ucero, secretary general; Movement Toward
Socialism (MAS), Argelia LAYA, president, and Freddy MUNOZ, secretary
general
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
President:
last held 4 December 1988 (next to be held NA December 1993); results -
Carlos Andres PEREZ (AD) 54.6%, Eduardo FERNANDEZ (COPEI) 41.7%, other 3.7%
Senate:
last held 4 December 1988 (next to be held NA December 1993); results -
percent of vote by party NA; seats - (49 total) AD 23, COPEI 22, other 4;
note - 3 former presidents (1 from AD, 2 from COPEI) hold lifetime senate
seats
Chamber of Deputies:
last held 4 December 1988 (next to be held NA December 1993); results - AD
43.7%, COPEI 31.4%, MAS 10.3%, other 14.6%; seats - (201 total) AD 97, COPEI
67, MAS 18, other 19
Communists:
10,000 members (est.)
:Venezuela Government
Other political or pressure groups:
FEDECAMARAS, a conservative business group; Venezuelan Confederation of
Workers, the Democratic Action - dominated labor organization
Member of:
AG, CDB, CG, ECLAC, FAO, G-3, G-11, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC,
IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, LORCS, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPEC, PCA, RG, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Simon Alberto CONSALVI Bottaro; Chancery at 1099 30th Street NW,
Washington, DC 20007; telephone (202) 342-2214; there are Venezuelan
Consulates General in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New
Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico)
US:
Ambassador Michael Martin SKOL; Embassy at Avenida Francisco de Miranda and
Avenida Principal de la Floresta, Caracas (mailing address is P. O. Box
62291, Caracas 1060-A, or APO AA 34037); telephone [58] (2) 285-2222; FAX
[58] (2) 285-0336; there is a US Consulate in Maracaibo
Flag:
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
:Venezuela Economy
Overview:
Petroleum is the cornerstone of the economy and accounted for 23% of GDP,
80% of central government revenues, and 80% of export earnings in 1991.
President PEREZ introduced an economic readjustment program when he assumed
office in February 1989. Lower tariffs and price supports, a free market
exchange rate, and market-linked interest rates threw the economy into
confusion, causing an 8% decline in GDP in 1989. However, the economy
recovered part way in 1990, and grew by 9.2% in 1991, led by the petroleum
sector.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $52.3 billion, per capita $2,590; real growth
rate 9.2% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
30.7% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
9.3% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues $13.2 billion; expenditures $13.1 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1991)
Exports:
$15.1 billion (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
commodities:
petroleum 80%, bauxite and aluminum, iron ore, agricultural products, basic
manufactures
partners:
US 50.7%, Europe 13.7%, Japan 4.0% (1989)
Imports:
$10.2 billion (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
commodities:
foodstuffs, chemicals, manufactures, machinery and transport equipment
partners:
US 44%, FRG 8.0%, Japan 4%, Italy 7%, Canada 2% (1989)
External debt:
$30.9 billion (1991)
Industrial production:
growth rate 5.4% (1991 est.); accounts for one-fourth of GDP, including
petroleum
Electricity:
20,128,000 kW capacity; 55,753 million kWh produced, 2,762 kWh per capita
(1991)
Industries:
petroleum, iron-ore mining, construction materials, food processing,
textiles, steel, aluminum, motor vehicle assembly
Agriculture:
accounts for 6% of GDP and 16% of labor force; products - corn, sorghum,
sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee, beef, pork, milk, eggs, fish;
not self-sufficient in food other than meat
Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis and coca leaf for the international drug trade
on a small scale; however, large quantities of cocaine transit the country
from Colombia
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-86), $488 million; Communist countries
(1970-89), $10 million
Currency:
bolivar (plural - bolivares); 1 bolivar (Bs) = 100 centimos
Exchange rates:
bolivares (Bs) per US$1 - 65.39 (March 1992), 56.82 (1991), 46.90 (1990),
34.68 (1989), 14.50 (fixed rate 1987-88)