| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
conventional short form: Venezuela
local long form: Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela
local short form: Venezuela |
| Capital: |
Caracas |
| Location: |
Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, between Colombia and Guyana |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
8 00 N, 66 00 W |
| Area: |
total: 912,050 sq km
land: 882,050 sq km
water: 30,000 sq km |
| Area
Comparative: |
slightly more than twice the size of California |
| Land
Boundaries: |
total: 4,993 km
border countries: Brazil 2,200 km, Colombia 2,050 km, Guyana 743 km |
| Coastline: |
2,800 km |
| Maritime
Claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 15 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
| Climate: |
tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands |
| Terrain: |
Andes Mountains and Maracaibo Lowlands in northwest; central plains (llanos); Guiana Highlands in southeast |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Pico Bolivar (La Columna) 5,007 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
federal republic |
| Administratives
Divisions: |
23 states (estados, singular - estado), 1 federal district* (distrito federal), and 1 federal dependency** (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, Vargas, Yaracuy, Zulia
note: the federal dependency consists of 11 federally controlled island groups with a total of 72 individual islands |
| Independence |
5 July 1811 (from Spain) |
| National
Holiday: |
Independence Day, 5 July (1811) |
| Constitution: |
30 December 1999 |
| Legal
System; |
open, adversarial court system |
| Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal |
| Executive
Branch: |
chief of state: President Hugo CHAVEZ Frias (since 3 February 1999); Vice President Jose Vicente RANGEL Vale (since 28 April 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Hugo CHAVEZ Frias (since 3 February 1999); Vice President Jose Vicente RANGEL Vale (since 28 April 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 30 July 2000 (next to be held NA 2006)
election results: Hugo CHAVEZ Frias reelected president; percent of vote - 60%
note: a special presidential recall vote on 15 August 2004 resulted in a victory for CHAVEZ; percent of vote - 58% in favor of CHAVEZ fulfilling the remaining two years of his term, 42% in favor of terminating his presidency immediately |
| Legislative
Branch: |
unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (165 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; three seats reserved for the indigenous peoples of Venezuela)
elections: last held 30 July 2000 (next to be held July 2005)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - pro-government 108 (MVR 92, MAS 6, indigenous 3, other 7), opposition 57 (AD 33, COPEI 6, Justice First 5, other 13) |
| Judicial
Branch: |
Supreme Tribunal of Justice or Tribuna Suprema de Justicia (magistrates are elected by the National Assembly for a single 12-year term) |
| Political
parties and Leaders: |
Democratic Action or AD [Jesus MENDEZ Quijada]; Fifth Republic Movement or MVR [Hugo CHAVEZ]; Homeland for All or PPT [Jose ALBORNOZ]; Justice First [Julio BORGES]; Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Hector MUJICA]; National Convergence or Convergencia [Juan Jose CALDERA]; Radical Cause or La Causa R [Andres VELASQUEZ]; Social Christian Party or COPEI [Eduardo FERNANDEZ]; Venezuela Project or PV [Henrique SALAS Romer] |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
25,375,281 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 29.9% (male 3,909,876/female 3,667,958)
15-64 years: 65% (male 8,287,255/female 8,209,599)
65 years and over: 5.1% (male 590,236/female 710,357) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 25.6 years
male: 24.98 years
female: 26.24 years (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Venezuelan(s)
adjective: Venezuelan |
| Ethnic groups: |
Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, indigenous people |
| Religions: |
nominally Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%, other 2% |
| Languages: |
Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
2,841,800 (2002) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
6,463,600 (2002) |
| Telephone system: |
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
international: country code - 58; 3 submarine coaxial cables; 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 |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 201, FM NA (20 in Caracas), shortwave 11 (1998) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
66 (plus 45 repeaters) (1997) |
| Internet country
code: |
.ve |
| Internet hosts: |
35,301 (2003) |
| Internet users: |
1,274,400 (2002) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
total: 682 km
standard gauge: 682 km 1.435-m gauge (2003) |
| Highways: |
total: 96,155 km
paved: 32,308 km
unpaved: 63,847 km (1999 est.) |
| Waterways: |
7,100 km
note: Orinoco River and Lake de Maracaibo navigable by oceangoing vessels, Orinoco for 400 km (2004) |
| Pipelines: |
extra heavy crude 992 km; gas 5,262 km; oil 7,360 km; refined products 1,681 km; unknown (oil/water) 141 km (2004) |
| 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 |
| Merchant marine: |
total: 56 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 740,919 GRT/1,191,483 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 16, chemical tanker 1, container 1, liquefied gas 5, passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 19, roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 9 (Denmark 2, Greece 1, Hong Kong 2, Mexico 1, Russia 2, Spain 1)
registered in other countries: 20 (2005) |
| Airports: |
369 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 127
over 3,047 m: 5
2,438 to 3,047 m: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 31
914 to 1,523 m: 61
under 914 m: 19 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 242
1,524 to 2,437 m: 10
914 to 1,523 m: 88
under 914 m: 144 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
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