Venezuela

• tropical;
• hot, humid;
• more moderate in highlands

• Andes Mountains and Maracaibo Lowlands in northwest;
• central plains (llanos);
• Guiana Highlands in southeast

total:

8.37 cu km/yr (6%/7%/47%)

per capita:

313 cu m/yr (2000)

• 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

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.79 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea

vectorborne disease:

dengue fever and malaria (2009)

noun:

Venezuelan(s)

adjective:

Venezuelan

conventional long form:

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

conventional short form:

Venezuela

local long form:

Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela

local short form:

Venezuela

name:

Caracas

geographic coordinates:

10 30 N, 66 56 W

time difference:

UTC-4.5 (half an hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 23 states (estados, singular - estado), 1 capital district* (distrito capital), and 1 federal dependency** (dependencia federal);
• Amazonas, Anzoategui, Apure, Aragua, Barinas, Bolivar, Carabobo, Cojedes, Delta Amacuro, Dependencias Federales (Federal Dependencies)**, Distrito Capital (Capital District)*, Falcon, Guarico, Lara, Merida, Miranda, Monagas, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Tachira, Trujillo, Vargas, Yaracuy, Zulia

note: the federal dependency consists of 11 federally controlled island groups with a total of 72 individual islands

• A New Time or UNT [Omar BARBOZA];
• Brave People's Alliance or ABP [Oscar PEREZ];
• Christian Democrats or COPEI [Luis Ignacio PLANAS];
• Communist Party of Venezuela or PCV [Oscar FIGUERA];
• Democratic Action or AD [Henry RAMOS Allup];
• Fatherland for All or PPT [Jose ALBORNOZ];
• For Social Democracy or PODEMOS [Ramon MARTINEZ];
• Justice First [Julio BORGES];
• Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Felipe MUJICA];
• United Socialist Party of Venezuela or PSUV [Hugo CHAVEZ];
• Venezuela Project or PV [Henrique SALAS Romer]

• FEDECAMARAS, a conservative business group;
• VECINOS groups;
• Venezuelan Confederation of Workers or CTV (labor organization dominated by the Democratic Action)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Bernardo ALVAREZ Herrera

chancery:

1099 30th Street NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone:

[1] (202) 342-2214

FAX:

[1] (202) 342-6820

consulate(s) general:

Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico)

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant)

embassy:

Calle F con Calle Suapure, Urbanizacion Colinas de Valle Arriba, Caracas 1080

mailing address:

P. O. Box 62291, Caracas 1060-A; APO AA 34037

telephone:

[58] (212) 975-6411, 907-8400 (after hours)

FAX:

[58] (212) 907-8199

• 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 eight white five-pointed stars centered in the blue band;
• the flag retains the three equal horizontal bands and three main colors of the banner of Gran Colombia, the South American republic that broke up in 1830;
• yellow is interpreted as standing for the riches of the land, blue for the courage of its people, and red for the blood shed in attaining independence;
• the seven stars on the original flag represented the seven provinces in Venezuela that united in the war of independence;
• in 2006, President Hugo CHAVEZ ordered an eighth star added to the star arc - a decision that sparked much controversy

name:

"Gloria al bravo pueblo" (Glory to the Brave Nation)

lyrics/music:

Vicente SALIAS/Juan Jose LANDAETA

note: adopted 1881; the lyrics were written in 1810, the music some years later; both SALIAS and LANDAETA were executed in 1814 during Venezuela's struggle for independence

agriculture:

13%

industry:

23%

services:

64% (1997 est.)

lowest 10%:

1.7%

highest 10%:

32.7% (2006)

• corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee;
• beef, pork, milk, eggs;
• fish

• petroleum, construction materials, food processing, textiles;
• iron ore mining, steel, aluminum;
• motor vehicle assembly

general assessment:

modern and expanding

domestic:

• domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations;
• recent substantial improvement in telephone service in rural areas;
• substantial increase in digitalization of exchanges and trunk lines;
• installation of a national interurban fiber-optic network capable of digital multimedia services;
• combined fixed and mobile-cellular telephone subscribership 130 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 58;
• submarine cable systems provide connectivity to the Caribbean, Central and South America, and US;
• satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 PanAmSat;
• participating with Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia in the construction of an international fiber-optic network (2009)

• government supervises a mixture of state-run and private broadcast media;
• 1 state-run television network, 4 privately-owned TV networks, and a government-backed pan-American channel;
• state-run radio network includes 15 stations;
• large number of private broadcast radio stations (2007)

• extra heavy crude 980 km;
• gas 5,258 km;
• oil 6,695 km;
• refined products 1,484 km;
• unknown 141 km (2009)

total:

806 km

country comparison to the world: 101

standard gauge:

806 km 1.435-m gauge (2008)

total:

96,155 km

country comparison to the world: 47

paved:

32,308 km

unpaved:

63,847 km (2002)

• the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Caribbean Sea as a significant risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships;
• numerous vessels, including commercial shipping and pleasure craft, have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway;
• crews have been robbed and stores or cargoes stolen

• National Bolivarian Armed Forces (Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana, FANB): Bolivarian Army (Ejercito Bolivariano, EB), Bolivarian Navy (Armada Bolivariana, AB);
• includes Naval Infantry, Coast Guard, Naval Aviation), Bolivarian Military Aviation (Aviacion Militar Bolivariana, AMB), Bolivarian National Guard (Guardia Nacional Bolivaria, GNB), Bolivarian Militia (Milicia Bolivariana, MB) (2010)

• 18-30 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service;
• 30-month conscript service obligation;
• all citizens of military service age (18-60 years old) are obligated to register for military service (2010)

males age 16-49:

6,891,648

females age 16-49:

7,047,565 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

5,504,152

females age 16-49:

5,976,339 (2010 est.)

male:

276,612

female:

273,819 (2010 est.)

• 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 the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with Venezuela extends into their waters;
• dispute with Colombia over maritime boundary and Venezuelan-administered Los Monjes islands near the Gulf of Venezuela;
• Colombian-organized illegal narcotics and paramilitary activities penetrate Venezuela's shared border region;
• in 2006, an estimated 139,000 Colombians sought protection in 150 communities along the border in Venezuela;
• US, France, and the Netherlands recognize Venezuela's granting full effect to Aves Island, thereby claiming a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea;
• Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines protest Venezuela's full effect claim

current situation:

• Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor;
• Venezuelan women and girls are trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation, lured from the nation's interior to urban and tourist areas;
• child prostitution in urban areas and child sex tourism in resort destinations appear to be growing;
• Venezuelan women and girls are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to Western Europe, Mexico, and Caribbean destinations

tier rating:

Tier 2 Watch List - Venezuela is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List, up from Tier 3, as it showed greater resolve to address trafficking through law enforcement measures and prevention efforts in 2007, although stringent punishment of offenders and victim assistance remain lacking (2008)

• 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