Venezuela
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Venezuela
  Venezuela
possesses borders with Guyana to the east of the Essequibo river, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the west. Trinidad and Tobago, and the Leeward
Antilles lie just north, off the Venezuelan coast. Its size is 916,445 km²
with an estimated population of 26,414,816. Its capital is Caracas. The colours
of the Venezuelan flag are yellow, blue and red, in that order: the yellow
stands for land wealth, the blue for courage, and the red for independence from
Spain. A former Spanish colony, which has been an independent republic since 1821, Venezuela holds territorial disputes with Guyana, largely concerning the Essequibo area, and with Colombia concerning the Gulf of Venezuela. In 1895, after the dispute over the Essequibo river border flared up, it was submitted to a "neutral" commission (composed of United Kingdom, USA and Russian representatives and without a direct Venezuelan representative), which in 1899 decided mostly against Venezuela's claim. Venezuela is known widely for its petroleum industry, the environmental diversity of its territory, and its natural features, considered to be among the world's 18 most biodiverse countries. Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America; the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north, especially in the capital Caracas which is also the largest city. Other major cities include Maracaibo, Valencia, Maracay, Barquisimeto and Ciudad Guayana.
Venezuela's mainland rests on the South American Plate. With 1,740 miles of coastline, Venezuela is home to a wide variety of landscapes. The extreme northeastern extensions of the Andes reach into Venezuela's northwest and continue along the northern Caribbean coast. Pico Bolivar, the nation's highest point at 16,335 ft, lies in this region. The country's centre is characterized by the Ilanos, extensive plains that stretch from the Colombian border in the far west to the Orinoco River delta in the east. To the south, the dissected Guiana Highlands is home to the northern fringes of the Amazon Basin and Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall and the reason for our visit. The Orinoco, with its rich alluvial soils, binds the largest and most important river system of the country; it originates in one of the largest watersheds in Latin America. The Caroni and the Apure are other major rivers. The country has ten distinct geographically different regions.
Though Venezuela is entirely situated in the tropics, its climate varies from humid low-elevation plains, where average annual temperatures range as high as 28 °C (82 °F), to glaciers and highlands (the paramos) with an average yearly temperature of 8 °C (46 °F). Annual rainfall varies between 17 inches in the semiarid portions of the northwest to 39 inches in the Orinoco Delta of the far east. Most precipitation falls between June and October (the rainy season or "winter"); the drier and hotter remainder of the year is known as "summer", though temperature variation throughout the year is not as pronounced as at temperate latitudes.
Emigration East during the Venezuelan War of Independence.
Sovereignty was only attained after Simon Bolivar, aided by Jose Antonio Paez and Antonio Jose de Sucre, won the Battle of Carabobo on the 24th of June 1821. Jose Prudencio Padilla and Rafael Urdaneta's victory in the Battle of Lake Maracaibo on the 24th of July 1823, helped seal Venezuelan independence. New Granada's congress gave Bolívar control of the Granadian army; leading it, he liberated several countries and founded Gran Colombia. Sucre, who won many battles for Bolívar, went on to liberate Ecuador and later become the second president of Bolivia. Venezuela remained part of Gran Colombia until 1830, when a rebellion led by Páez allowed the proclamation of a new Republic of Venezuela; Páez became its first president. Two decades of warfare had cost the lives of between a quarter and a third of the Venezuelan population, which in 1830 numbered no more than 800,000. Much of Venezuela's nineteenth
century history was characterised by political turmoil and
dictatorial rule. During first half of the 20th century, caudillos (military strongmen) continued to dominate, though they generally
allowed for mild social reforms and promoted economic growth. Following the
death of Juan Vicente Gomez in 1935 and the demise of caudillismo (authoritarian rule),
pro-democracy movements eventually forced the military to withdraw from direct
involvement in national politics in 1958. Since that year, Venezuela has had a
series of democratically elected governments. The discovery of massive oil
deposits during World War I prompted an economic boom that lasted into the 1980's; by 1935,
Venezuela's per capita gross domestic product was Latin America's highest. After World War
II the globalisation and heavy immigration from Southern Europe (mainly from Spain,
Italy, Portugal) and poorer Latin American countries markedly diversified Venezuelan
society. The huge public spending and accumulation of internal and external debts during the Petrodollar years of the 1970's and early 1980's, followed by the collapse of oil prices during the 1980's, crippled the Venezuelan economy. As the government started to devaluate the currency in February 1983 in order to face its financial obligations, Venezuelans' real standard of living fell dramatically. A number of failed economic policies and increasing corruption in government led to rising poverty and crime, worsening social indicators, and increased political instability.
Simon Bolivar, liberator of not only Venezuela, but also Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru
In February 1992 Hugo
Chavez, an army paratrooper, staged a coup d'etat attempt seeking to overthrow the government of President Carlos
Perez. Chavez failed and was placed in jail. In November 1992, another
unsuccessful coup attempt occurred, organised by groups loyal to Chavez
remaining in the armed forces. Chavez was acquitted in March 1994 by president Rafael
Caldera, with his political rights
intact. In 1998, Chavez was elected president after a vigorous campaign, in contrast with the feeble discourse of the weakened traditional parties' candidates. His reform program, which he later called the "Bolivarian Revolution", was aimed at redistributing the benefits of Venezuela's oil wealth to the lower socio-economic groups by using it to fund programs such as health care and education, but has encountered great criticism by the previous establishment. In April 2002 he suffered a coup d'etat. He was returned to power after two days as a result of popular demonstrations in his favour and actions by the military. Chavez has also survived an all-out national strike that lasted more than two months in December 2002 - February 2003, including a strike/lockout in the state oil company PDVSA, and a recall referendum in August 2004. He was elected for another term in December 2006. He has allowed the building of an AK47 factory, calls all tourists 'Gringos' and claims it OK to shoot us. The Venezuelan Coastguard on their website says for cruisers not to sail here, especially between the Gulf of Parai and Marguerita.
The 20 Venezuelan Bolivar banknote featuring a portrait of Luisa Caceres de Arismendi - just before our visit old money had had three zeros removed, Betty had ours changed in the bank for us
The petroleum sector dominates Venezuela's mixed economy, accounting for roughly a third of GDP, around 80% of exports, and more than half of government revenues.They also have gold, diamonds, and iron ore but they do not have as great of an impact on the economy. Venezuela contains some of the largest oil and natural gas reserves in the world. It consistently ranks among the top ten crude oil producers in the world. The country's main petroleum deposits are located around and beneath Lake Maracaibo, the Gulf of Venezuela (both in Zulia), and in the Orinoco River basin (eastern Venezuela), where the country's largest reserve is located. Venezuela has the least expensive petrol in the world because of its high government subsidies, a tank at around 25p. Income tax does not exist until very BIG earnings - all is funded by oil and gas.
Venezuela's birth
rate is among the highest in South America, after Bolivia, Paraguay and French Guyana.
Since 1930, Venezuelan census
does not contain information about ethnicity so only rough estimates are
available. Some 70% of the population are Mestizo, defined as a mixture of European and Amerindians; another 20% are
unmixed whites, mostly of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German descent. People from the Asian continent, mainly
Lebanese and Chinese, make up a small percentage of the population. Only about 5% of
Venezuelans are indigenous. These groups were joined by sponsored migrants from throughout
Europe and neighboring parts of South America by the mid-20th century economic
boom. According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Venezuela hosted a population of refugee and asylum seekers from Colombia numbering 252,200 in 2007. 10,600 new asylum seekers entered Venezuela in 2007. About 85% of the population live in urban areas in northern Venezuela; 73% live less than 62 miles from the coastline. Though almost half of Venezuela's land area lies south of the Orinoco, only 5% of Venezuelans live there. The national and official language is Spanish; 31 indigenous languages are also spoken, including Guajibo, Pemon, Warao, Wayuu, and the various Yanomaman languages. According to government estimates, 92% of the population is at least nominally Roman Catholic, and the remaining 8% Protestant, a member of another religion, or atheist.
Miraflores Palace, official workplace of the president of
Venezuela
Infant mortality in Venezuela stood at 16 deaths per 1,000 births in 2004, much lower than the South American average (by comparison, the U.S. stands at 5 deaths per 1,000 births in 2006). Child malnutrition (defined as stunting or wasting in children under age five) stands at 17%; Delta Amacuro and Amazonas have the nation's highest rates. According to the UN, 32% of Venezuelans lack adequate sanitation, primarily those living in rural areas. Diseases ranging from typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, hepatitis A, B and D are present in the country. Venezuela has a total of 150 plants for sewage treatment. However still 13% percent of the population lack access to drinking water but this number seems to be dropping. Travelers to Venezuela are advised to obtain vaccinations for a variety of diseases including typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, hepatitis A, B and D. In a cholera epidemic of contemporary times in the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela's political leaders were accused of racial profiling of their own indigenous people to deflect blame from the country's institutions, thereby aggravating the epidemic. Venezuela has a national universal health care system that is free of charge. The current government has created a program to expand access to health care known as Mision Barrio Adentro. Foreign relations - Let's just say "shaky".
The Golden Silk Orb-weaver
Venezuela's national armed forces include roughly 100,000 personnel spread through four service branches: the Ground Forces, the Navy of Venezuela Navy (including the Marine Corps), the Air Force, and the Armed Forces of Cooperation (FAC), commonly known as the National Guard. As of 2008, a further 600,000 soldiers were incorporated into a new branch, known as the Armed Reserve. The President is the commander-in-chief of the national armed forces.
The Araguaney (Tabebuia chrysantha), Venezuela's national tree and the National flower Venezuela lies within the Neotropic ecozone; large portions of the country were originally covered by moist broadleaf forests. One of seventeen megadiverse countries and among the top twenty countries in terms of endemism, some 38% of the over 21,000 plant species are unique to the country; 23% of reptiles and 50% of amphibian species are also endemic. Venezuela hosts significant biodiversity across habitats ranging from xeric scrublands in the extreme northwest to coastal mangrove forests in the northeast. Its cloud forests and lowland rainforests are particularly rich, hosting over 25,000 species of orchids. These include the flor de mayo orchid (Cattleya mossiae), the national flower, which is violet and white. We saw them as we roared along in the canoe.
Notable mammals include the giant anteater, jaguar (why our hammocks were slung so
high at the falls camp) and the capybara, the world's largest rodent. More than half of Venezuelan avian and mammalian species are found in the Amazonian forests south of the Orinoco. Manatees, Boto river
dolphins, and Orinoco crocodiles, which have been reported to reach up to 22 feet in length, are
notable aquatic species. Venezuela hosts a total of 1,417 bird species, 48 of
which are endemic. Important birds include ibises, ospreys, kingfishers, and the yellow-orange turpial, the national bird. In recent decades, logging, mining, shifting cultivation, development and other human activities have posed a major threat to Venezuela's wildlife; between 1990 and 2000, 0.40% of forest cover was cleared annually. In response, federal protections for critical habitat were implemented, 20 to 33% of forested land is now protected. Venezuela is part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention. In 2003, 70% of the nation's land was under conservation management in over 200 protected areas, including 43 national parks.
ALL IN ALL A LAND WE
WOULD LOVE TO EXPLORE - BUT NOT AT THE MOMENT |
