Background: Venezuela was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Colombia and Ecuador). For most of the first half of the 20th century Venezuela was ruled by generally benevolent military strongmen who promoted the oil industry and allowed for some social reforms. Democratically elected governments have held sway since 1959. Current concerns include: a polarized political environment a divided military drug-related conflicts along the Colombian border increasing internal drug consumption overdependence on the petroleum industry with its price fluctuations and irresponsible mining operations that are endangering the rain forest and indigenous peoples.

Geographic coordinates: 8 00 N 66 00 W

Map reference: South America

Area
Total: 912,050 km²
Land: 882,050 km²
Water: 30,000 km²
Comparative: slightly more than twice the size of California

Land boundaries
Total: 4,993 km
Border countries: (3) 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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Pico Bolivar (La Columna) 5,007 m

Natural resources: petroleum natural gas iron ore gold bauxite other minerals hydropower diamonds

Land use
Arable land: 2.95%
Permanent crops: 0.92%
Other: 96.13% (2001)

Irrigated land: 540 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: subject to floods rockslides mudslides; periodic droughts

Geography
Note: on major sea and air routes linking North and South America; Angel Falls in the Guiana Highlands is the world's highest waterfall

Population: 25,017,387 (July 2004 est.)
Growth rate: 1.44% (2004 est.)
Below poverty line: 47% (1998 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Venezuelan
Adjective: Venezuelan

Ethnic groups: Spanish Italian Portuguese Arab German African indigenous people

Languages: Spanish (official) numerous indigenous dialects

Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 96% Protestant 2% other 2%

Age structure
0-14 years: 30.5% (male 3,930,413; female 3,687,744)
15-64 years: 64.5% (male 8,107,382; female 8,034,905)
65 years and over: 5% (male 571,289; female 685,654) (2004 est.)

Median age
Total: 25.2 years
Male: 24.6 years
Female: 25.8 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.44% (2004 est.)

Birth rate: 19.34 births/1000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate: 4.9 deaths/1000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.04 migrant(s)/1000 population (2004 est.)

Environment
Current issues: 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
International agreements party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.08 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.07 male/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male/female
65 years and over: 0.83 male/female
Total population: 1.02 male/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 22.99 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 26.18 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 19.57 deaths/1000 live births (2004 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 74.06 years
Male: 71.02 years
Female: 77.32 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.31 children born/woman (2004 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.5% - note: no country specific models provided (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 62,000 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 2000 (2001 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 93.4%
Male: 93.8%
Female: 93.1% (2003 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Conventional short form: Venezuela
Local long form: Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela
Local short form: Venezuela

Government type: federal republic

Capital: Caracas

Administrative divisions
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: based on organic laws as of July 1999; open adversarial court system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Hugo CHAVEZ Frias (since 3 February 1999); Vice President Jose Vicente RANGEL (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 (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
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 [Henry RAMOS Allup]; 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]

International organization participation: CAN CDB FAO G-3 G-15 G-24 G-77 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICCt ICFTU ICRM IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM ISO ITU LAES LAIA Mercosur (associate) MIGA NAM OAS OPANAL OPCW OPEC PCA RG UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UPU WCL WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Bernardo ALVAREZ
In the us chancery: 1099 30th Street NW, Washington, DC 20,007
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 342-2,214
In the us fax: [1] (202) 342-6,820
In the us consulates general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico)
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador William R. BROWNFIELD
From the us embassy: Calle F con Calle Suapure, Urbanizacion Colinas de Valle Arriba, Caracas 1080
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 62,291, Caracas 1060-A; APO AA 34,037
From the us telephone: [58] (212) 975-9,234, 975-6,411
From the us fax: [58] (212) 975-8,991

Flag description: 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: Venezuela continues to be highly dependent on the petroleum sector which accounts for roughly one-third of GDP around 80% of export earnings and more than half of government operating revenues. Despite higher oil prices at the end of 2002 and into 2003 domestic political instability culminating in a disastrous two-month national oil strike from December 2002 to February 2003 temporarily halted economic activity. The economy remained in depression in 2003 declining by 9.2% after an 8.9% fall in 2002. In late 2003 President CHAVEZ committed himself to $1 billion in new social programs money the government does not have.

Real gdp growth rate: -9.2% (2003 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $4,800 (2003 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 5%
Industry: 50%
Services: 45% (2004 est.)

Agriculture products: corn sorghum sugarcane rice bananas vegetables coffee; beef pork milk eggs; fish

Industries: petroleum iron ore mining construction materials food processing textiles steel aluminum motor vehicle assembly

Industrial production growth rate: -15.4% (2003 est.)

Labor force: 11.38 million (2003)
By occupation agriculture: 13%
By occupation industry: 23%
By occupation services: 64% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 18% (2003 est.)

Population below poverty line: 47% (1998 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 0.8%
Highest 10: 36.5% (1998)

Distribution of family income gini index: 49.5 (1998)

Budget
Revenues: $19.33 billion
Expenditures: $24.34 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.6 billion (2003)

Public debt: 38.8% of GDP (2003)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 31.1% (2003 est.)

Current account balance: $9.659 billion (2003)

Exports: $25.86 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Commodities: petroleum bauxite and aluminum steel chemicals agricultural products basic manufactures
Partners: US 52.9% Netherlands Antilles 5% Dominican Republic 3% (2003)

Imports: $10.71 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Commodities: raw materials machinery and equipment transport equipment construction materials
Partners: US 28.8% Colombia 7% Brazil 6.6% Mexico 4.3% (2003)

Debt external: $32.51 billion (2003)

Exchange rates: bolivares per US dollar - 1607.79 (2003) 1160.95 (2002) 723.666 (2001) 679.96 (2000) 605.717 (1999)

Electricity
Production: 87.6 billion kWh (2001)
Consumption: 81.47 billion kWh (2001)
Exports: 0 kWh (2001)
Imports: 0 kWh (2001)

Natural gas
Production: 31.71 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Consumption: 31.71 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Imports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Proven reserves: 4.202 trillion m³ (1 January 2002)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 2,841,800 (2002)
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

Internet
Country code: .ve
Hosts: 35,301 (2003)
Users: 1,274,400 (2002)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $1125.6 million (2003)
Percent of gdp: 1.3% (2003)

Airports: 368 (2003 est.)
With paved runways total: 127
With paved runways over 3047 m: 5
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 11
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 31
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 61
With paved runways under 914 m: 19 (2004 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 242
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 10
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 88
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 144 (2004 est.)

Pipelines: extra heavy crude 992 km; gas 5,262 km; oil 7,360 km; refined products 1681 km; unknown (oil/water) 141 km (2004)

Railways
Total: 682 km
Standard gauge: 682 km 1.435-m gauge (2003)

Waterways
Note: Orinoco River and Lake de Maracaibo navigable by oceangoing vessels, Orinoco for 400 km (2004)

Merchant marine
Total: 48 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 740,919 GRT/1,191,483 DWT
By type: bulk 6, cargo 7, container 2, liquefied gas 5, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 16, roll on/roll off 8, short-sea/passenger 1
Foreign owned: Belgium 1, Denmark 2, Greece 2, Spain 1, United States 2
Registered in other countries: 4 (2004 est.)

Disputes international: claims all of the area west of the Essequibo River preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims before UNCLOS that the Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with Venezuela extends into their waters; 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 Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation and other states' recognition of it

Illicit drugs: 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