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 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 meters or to depth of exploitation
 * Extended economic zone: 200 nm
 * Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: claims Essequibo area of Guyana; maritime boundary disputes with Colombia in the Gulf of Venezuela and with Trinidad and Tobago in the Gulf of Paria

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: 3% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 20% meadows and pastures; 39% forest and woodland; 37% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

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: 19,698,104 (July 1990), growth rate 2.5% (1990)

Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 4 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 27 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 71 years male, 77 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 3.4 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Venezuelan(s); adjective—Venezuelan

Ethnic divisions: 67% mestizo, 21% white, 10% black, 2% Indian

Religion: 96% nominally Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant

Language: Spanish (official); Indian dialects spoken by about 200,000 Amerindians in the remote interior

Literacy: 85.6%

Labor force: 5,800,000; 56% services, 28% industry, 16% agriculture (1985)

Organized labor: 32% of labor force

Government

Long-form name: Republic of Venezuela

Type: republic

Capital: Caracas

Administrative divisions: 20 states (estados, singular—estado), 2 territories* (territorios, singular—territorio), 1 federal district** (distrito federal), and 1 federal dependence*** (dependencia federal); Amazonas*, Anzoátegui, Apure, Aragua, Barinas, Bolívar, Carabobo, Cojedes, Delta Amacuro*, Dependencias Federales***, Distrito Federal**, Falcón, Guárico, Lara, Mérida, Miranda, Monagas, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Táchira, 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 National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justica)

Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government—President Carlos Andrés PÉREZ (since 2 February 1989)

Political parties and leaders: Social Christian Party (COPEI), Eduardo Fernández, secretary general; Democratic Action (AD), Gonzalo Barrios, president, and Humberto Celli, secretary general; Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), Teodoro Petkoff, president, and Freddy Muñoz, secretary general

Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18, though poorly enforced

Elections: President—last held 4 December 1988 (next to be held December 1993); results—Carlos Andrés Pérez (AD) 53%, Eduardo Fernández (COPEI) 40%, others 7%;

Senate—last held 4 December 1988 (next to be held December 1993); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(49 total) AD 23, COPEI 22, others 4;

Chamber of Deputies—last held 4 December 1988 (next to be held December 1993); results—AD 43.7%, COPEI 31.4%, MAS 10.3%, others 14.6%; seats—(201 total) AD 97, COPEI 67, MAS 18, others 19

Communists: 10,000 members (est.)

Other political or pressure groups: FEDECAMARAS, a conservative business group; Venezuelan Confederation of Workers, the Democratic Action-dominated labor organization

Member of: Andean Pact, AIOEC, FAO, G-77, Group of Eight, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, LAIA, NAM, OAS, OPEC, PAHO, SELA, WFTU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Simón Alberto CONSALVI Bottaro; Chancery at 2445 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 797-3800; 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-designate Eric JAVITS; 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 Miami 34037); telephone [58](2) 284-6111 or 7111; 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

Economy

Overview: Petroleum is the cornerstone of the economy and accounted for 17% of GDP, 52% of central government 330