Venezuela

Facts & Figures

Map of Venezuela
  • President: Nicolás Maduro (2013)

    Land area: 340,560 sq mi (882,050 sq km); total area: 352,144 sq mi (912,050 sq km)

    Population (2014 est.): 28,868,486 (growth rate: 1.42%); birth rate: 19.42/1000; infant mortality rate: 19.33/1000; life expectancy: 74.39; density per sq mile: 77

    Capital (2014 est.): Caracas, 5,243,301 (metro. area), 2,013,366 (city proper)

    Largest cities (2011): Maracaibo, 2.31 million; Valencia, 1.866 million; Barquisimeto, 1.245 million; Maracay, 1.115 million; Ciudad Guayana, 799,000

    Monetary unit: Bolivar

    National name: República Bolivariana de Venezuela

    Current government officials

    Languages: Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects

    Ethnicity/race: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, indigenous people

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

    Literacy rate: 95.5% (2009 est.)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.): $407.4 billion; per capita $13,600. Real growth rate: 1.6%. Inflation: 56.2%. Unemployment: 7.9%. Arable land: 2.85%. Agriculture: corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee; beef, pork, milk, eggs; fish. Labor force (2013 est.): 14.01 million; services 70.9%, industry 21.8%, agriculture 7.3% (2011 est.). Industries: agricultural products, livestock, raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, iron and steel products, crude oil and petroleum products. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds. Exports: $91.78 billion (2013 est.): petroleum and petroleum products, bauxite and aluminum, minerals, chemicals, agricultural products. Imports: $59.32 billion (2013 est.): agricultural products, livestock, raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials, medical equipment, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, iron and steel products. Major trading partners: U.S., China, Colombia, Cuba, Netherlands Antilles, India, Brazil (2012).

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 7.65 million (2012); mobile cellular: 30.52 million (2012). Radio broadcast stations: AM 235, FM n.a. (20 in Caracas), shortwave 11 (2014). Radios: 10.75 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 44 (2014). Televisions: 4.1 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1.016 million (2012). Internet users: 8.918 million (2009).

    Transportation: Railways: total: 806 km (2008). Highways: total: 96,155 km; paved: 32,308 km; unpaved: 63,847 km (2002 est.). Waterways: 7,100 km; Rio Orinoco and Lago de Maracaibo accept oceangoing vessels (2011). 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. Airports: 444 (2013).

    International disputes: 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 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; US, France, and the Netherlands recognize Venezuela's granting full effect to Aves Island, thereby claiming a Venezuelan Economic Exclusion Zone/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.

    Major sources and definitions

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