FIRST POST: THE GREAT COUNTRY OF VENEZUELA

Information Provided by: infoplease

Geography

 

Venezuela, a third larger than Texas, occupies most of the northern coast of South America on the Caribbean Sea. It is bordered by Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south. Mountain systems break Venezuela into four distinct areas: (1) the Maracaibo lowlands; (2) the mountainous region in the north and northwest; (3) the Orinoco basin, with the llanos (vast grass-covered plains) on its northern border and great forest areas in the south and southeast; and (4) the Guiana Highlands, south of the Orinoco, accounting for nearly half the national territory.

 

Government

 

Federal republic.

 

History

 

When Columbus explored Venezuela on his third voyage in 1498, the area was inhabited by Arawak, Carib, and Chibcha Indians. A subsequent Spanish explorer gave the country its name, meaning “Little Venice.” Caracas was founded in 1567. Simón Bolívar, who led the liberation from Spain of much of the continent, was born in Caracas in 1783. With Bolívar taking part, Venezuela was one of the first South American colonies to revolt in 1810, winning independence in 1821. Federated at first with Colombia and Ecuador as the Republic of Greater Colombia, Venezuela became a republic in 1830. A period of unstable dictatorships followed. Antonio Guzman Blanco governed from 1870 to 1888, developing an infrastructure, expanding agriculture, and welcoming foreign investment.
Gen. Juan Vicente Gómez was dictator from 1908 to 1935, when Venezuela became a major oil exporter. A military junta ruled after his death. Leftist Dr. Rómulo Betancourt and the Democratic Action Party won a majority of seats in a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution in 1946. A well-known writer, Rómulo Gallegos, candidate of Betancourt's party, became Venezuela's first democratically elected president in 1947. Within eight months, Gallegos was overthrown by a military-backed coup led by Marcos Peréz Jiménez, who was ousted himself in 1958. Since 1959, Venezuela has been one of the most stable democracies in Latin America. Betancourt served from 1959–1964, while Rafael Caldera Rodríguez, president from 1969 to 1974, legalized the Communist Party and established diplomatic relations with Moscow.

Venezuela benefited from the oil boom of the early 1970s. In 1974, President Carlos Andrés Pérez took office, and in 1976 Venezuela nationalized foreign-owned oil and steel companies, offering compensation. Luis Herrera Campíns became president in 1978. Declining world oil prices sent Venezuela's economy into a tailspin, increasing the country's foreign debt. Pérez was reelected to a nonconsecutive term in 1988 and launched an unpopular austerity program. Military officers staged two unsuccessful coup attempts in 1992, while the following year Congress impeached Pérez on corruption charges. President Rafael Caldera Rodríguez was elected in Dec. 1993 to face the 1994 collapse of half of the country's banking sector, falling oil prices, foreign debt repayment, and inflation. In 1997, the government announced an expansion of gold and diamond mining to reduce reliance on oil.

Languages

Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects

 

Ethnicity/Race

 

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

 

Religions   

 

Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%

 

Literacy Rate

 

93% (2003 est.)

 

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2011 est.): $378.9 billion; per capita $12,700. Real growth rate: 4.2%. Inflation: 26.1%. Unemployment: 8.2%. Arable land: 3%. Agriculture: corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee; beef, pork, milk, eggs; fish. Labor force: 13.32 million; services 70.9%, industry 21.8%, agriculture 7.3% (2011 est.). Industries: petroleum, construction materials, food processing, textiles; iron ore mining, steel, aluminum; motor vehicle assembly. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds. Exports: $92.61 billion (2011 est.): petroleum, bauxite and aluminum, steel, chemicals, agricultural products, basic manufactures. Imports: $46.44 billion (2011 est.): raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials. Major trading partners: U.S., China, India, Brazil (2009).

 

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 7.083 million (2009); mobile cellular: 27.88 million (2009). Radio broadcast stations: AM 244, FM n.a. (20 in Caracas), shortwave 11 (2010). Radios: 10.75 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 36 (2010). Televisions: 4.1 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 888,028 (2010). Internet users: 8.918 million (2009).

Transportation: Railways: total: 806 km (2008). Highways: total: 96,155 km; paved: 32,308 km; unpaved: 63,847 km (2002 est.). Waterways: 7,100 km; Rio Orinoco and Lago de Maracaibo accept oceangoing vessels (2011). 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. Airports: 492 (2012).

 

International disputes: claims all of Guyana west of the Essequibo River; maritime boundary dispute with Colombia in the Gulf of Venezuela and the Caribbean Sea; 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 the claim and other states' recognition of it.