Venezuela was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Ecuador and New Granada, which became Colombia). 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. Hugo CHAVEZ, president since 1999, seeks to implement his "21st Century Socialism," which purports to alleviate social ills while at the same time attacking capitalist globalization and existing democratic institutions. Current concerns include: a weakening of democratic institutions, political polarization, a politicized military, drug-related violence 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.

Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, between Colombia and Guyana

slightly more than twice the size of California

tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands

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

petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds

1,233.2 cu km (2000)

subject to floods, rockslides, mudslides; periodic droughts

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

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

26,814,843 (July 2010 est.)

20.61 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

5.12 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

-0.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

2.45 children born/woman (2010 est.)

0.7%; note - no country specific models provided (2001 est.)

Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, indigenous people

nominally Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%, other 2%

Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects

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**, Distrito Capital*, Falcon, Guarico, Lara, Merida, Miranda, Monagas, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Tachira, Trujillo, Vargas, Yaracuy, Zulia

5 July 1811 (from Spain)

Independence Day, 5 July (1811)

open, adversarial court system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (167 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; three seats reserved for the indigenous peoples of Venezuela)

Supreme Tribunal of Justice or Tribuna Suprema de Justicia (32 magistrates are elected by the National Assembly for a single 12-year term)

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)

Caricom (observer), CDB, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA, LAS (observer), Mercosur (associate), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, PetroCaribe, RG, UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

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 Columbia, 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

Venezuela remains highly dependent on oil revenues, which account for roughly 90% of export earnings, about 50% of the federal budget revenues, and around 30% of GDP. A nationwide strike between December 2002 and February 2003 had far-reaching economic consequences - real GDP declined by around 9% in 2002 and 8% in 2003 - but economic output since then has recovered strongly. Fueled by high oil prices, record government spending helped to boost GDP by about 10% in 2006, 8% in 2007, and nearly 5% in 2008, before the world recession caused a contraction in 2009. This spending, combined with recent minimum wage hikes and improved access to domestic credit, has created a consumption boom but has come at the cost of higher inflation - roughly 20% in 2007 and more than 30% in 2008. Imports also jumped significantly before the recession of 2009. Declining oil prices in the latter part of 2008 are undermining the government's ability to continue the high rate of spending. President Hugo CHAVEZ in 2008-09 continued efforts to increase the government's control of the economy by nationalizing firms in the agribusiness, banking, tourism, oil, cement, and steel sectors. In 2007, he nationalized firms in the petroleum, communications, and electricity sectors. In January, 2010, CHAVEZ announced a dual exchange rate system for the fixed rate bolivar. The system offers a 2.6 bolivar per dollar rate for imports of essentials, including food, medicine, and industrial machinery, and a 4.3 bolivar per dollar rate for imports of other products, including cars and telephones.

$349.3 billion (2009 est.)

$361.3 billion (2008 est.)

$344.7 billion (2007 est.)

$337.3 billion (2009 est.)

12.93 million (2009 est.)

37.9% (yearend 2005 est.)

22.1% of GDP (2009 est.)

18% of GDP (2009 est.)

14.4% of GDP (2008 est.)

33.5% (31 December 2008)

28.5% (31 December 2007)

22.37% (31 December 2008)

17.11% (31 December 2007)

$78.09 billion (31 December 2008)

$61.74 billion (31 December 2007)

$10.69 billion (31 December 2008)

$8.687 billion (31 December 2007)

$62.42 billion (31 December 2008)

$50.24 billion (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$NA (31 December 2007)

$8.251 billion (31 December 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

113.3 billion kWh (2007 est.)

83.02 billion kWh (2007 est.)

540 million kWh (2007 est.)

1.651 billion kWh (2007 est.)

2.472 million bbl/day (2009 est.)

740,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

2.182 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

99.38 billion bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

23.06 billion cu m (2009 est.)

24.86 billion cu m (2009 est.)

1.8 billion cu m (2009 est.)

4.84 trillion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

$8.561 billion (2009 est.)

$37.39 billion (2008 est.)

$57.6 billion (2009 est.)

$95.14 billion (2008 est.)

petroleum, bauxite and aluminum, steel, chemicals, agricultural products, basic manufactures

US 35.18%, Netherlands Antilles 8.56% (2009)

$38.44 billion (2009 est.)

$49.48 billion (2008 est.)

raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials

US 23.66%, Colombia 14.43%, Brazil 9.13%, China 8.44%, Mexico 5.47% (2009)

$36.75 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$42.3 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$43.41 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$47.03 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$38.27 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$41.38 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$18.45 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$16.62 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

bolivars (VEB) per US dollar - 2.145 (2009), 2.147 (2008), 2,147 (2007), 2,147 (2006), 2,089.8 (2005)

6.304 million (2008)

27.084 million (2008)

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)

7.167 million (2008)

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

La Guaira, Maracaibo, Puerto Cabello, Punta Cardon

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 18-50 years old are obligated to register for military service (2008)

1.2% of GDP (2005 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

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