Country Facts - Venezuela

The People

Nationality Venezuelan(s)

Ethnic Composition

Mestizo	67%
White	21%
Black	10%
Amerindian	2%

Religious Composition

Roman Catholic	96%
Protestant	2%
Other	2%

Languages Spoken

Spanish (official), and numerous Amerindian dialects.

Education and Literacy

Nine years of schooling is compulsory. Currently, 91.1 percent of the population is literate.

Labor Force

Total: 9.9 million (1999)
By occupation:

Services	64%
Industry	23%
Agriculture	13%

Geography

Land Mass Total

352,144 sq mi (912,050 sq km)

Land

340,561 sq mi (882,050 sq km)

Water

11,583 sq mi (30,000 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 3,102 mi (4,993 km)

Border countries: Brazil 1,367 mi (2,200 km), Colombia 1,273 mi (2,050 km), Guyana 461 mi (743 km)

Coastline

1,739 mi (2,800 km)

Maritime claim

Contiguous zone: 15 nm
Continental shelf: 656 ft (200 m) depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

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: Caribbean Sea 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Pico Bol ívar (La Columna) 16,427 ft (5,007 m)

Natural Resources

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

Land use

Arable land	3%
Permanent crops	1%
Other	96%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Subject to floods, rockslides, mud slides; periodic droughts

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.

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.

Demographics

Population

24,287,670 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	31.6%	Male: 3,955,132	Female: 3,710,159
15-64 years:	63.6%	Male: 7,756,362	Female: 7,695,738
65 years and over:	4.8%	Male: 533,559	Female: 636,720

(2002))

Growth Rate

1.52% (2002)

Life Expectancy

73.56 years (2002)
Female: 76.81 years
Male: 70.53 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$6,100 (2001

Infant Mortality

24.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.07 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.84 male(s)/female
Total population:	1.02 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

-0.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

The petroleum sector dominates the economy, accounting for roughly a third of GDP, around 80 percent of export earnings, and more than half of government operating revenues. Venezuelan officials estimate that GDP grew by 2.7 percent in 2001. A strong rebound in international oil prices fueled the recovery from the steep recession in 1999. Nevertheless, a weak non-oil sector and capital flight - and a temporary fall in oil prices - undercut the recovery. In early 2002, President Chavez changed the exchange rate regime from a crawling peg to a free-floating exchange rate, causing the bolivar to depreciate significantly. Crippling multi-sector national strikes, including the all important oil industry, began in late 2002 in an effort to unseat Chavez. These strikes caused a massive economic downturn that will ripple through Venezuela for some years to come. This is compounded by and inflation rate already in excess of 22 percent and unemployment that remains in double digits.

Unemployment

14.1% (2001)

Inflation Rate

12.3% (2001)

Industries

Petroleum, iron ore mining, construction materials, food processing, textiles, steel, aluminum, motor vehicle assembly

Exports

US$29.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$18.4 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
$146.2 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

US 60%, Brazil 5.5%, Colombia 3.5%, Italy 3.5%, Spain 3.4% (2000)

Top Import Partners

US 35.8%, Colombia 6.8%, Brazil 4.5%, Germany 3.9%, Italy 3.9% (2000)

Top Exports

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

Top Imports

Raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials

Debt - external

US$34.5 billion (2000)

Economic aid

US$35 million with more assistance likely as a result of flooding (1999)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to noon, 2p.m. to 6p.m.	Closed
Retail	9a.m. to noon, 2p.m. to 7p.m.	Slightly shorter hours on Saturday.
Banks	8:30a.m. to 11:30a.m., 2p.m. to 4:30p.m.	Closed
Government	7:30a.m. and 9:30a.m., and closing between 3:30p.m. and 5:30p.m. Check with specific agencies.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Epiphany	January 6	January 6	January 6
Three Kings Day, Bank Holiday¹	January 6	January 5	January 3
Carnival²	March 3 and 4	February 23 and 24	February 5 to 8
San Jose, Bank Holiday	March 19	March 19	March 19
Palm Sunday³	April 13	April 4	March 20
Holy Thursday*¹	April 17	April 8	March 24
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter*²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
Declaration of Independence	April 19	April 19	April 19
Labor Day	May 1	May1	May 1
Ascension*³	May 29	May 20	May 6
Corpus Christi**¹	June 19	June 10	May 26
Battle of Carabobo	June 24	June 24	June 24
Sts. Peter and Paul (banks only)	June 29	June 29	June 29
Independence Day	July 5	July 5	July 5
Birth of Simón Bolívar and Battle of Lago de Maracaibo	July 24	July 24	July 24
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (banks only)	August 15	August 15	August 15
Discovery of America	October 12	October 12	October 12
All Saints' Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
Immaculate Conception (banks only)	December 8	December 8	December 8
Christmas Day**²	December 25	December 25	December 25
Boxing Day	December 26	December 26	December 26
New Year's Eve (bank holiday)	December 30	December 30	December 30

¹	Monday closest to January 6.
²	Carnival takes place one week before the beginning of Lent. Mainly a Catholic observance.
³	Observed the sixth and last Sunday of Lent, and seven days before Easter. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Christian Holy Week by burning palm leaves to celebrate the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.
*¹	Observed the Thursday before Easter. This feast commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, and is one of the oldest rituals of Christian Holy Week. Maundy, or Holy Thursday also marks the beginning of Passover.
*²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
*³	The feast of Ascension takes place 40 days after Easter in both the Christian and Orthodox faiths and celebrates the ascent of Christ into Heaven.
**¹	Western Catholic feast commemorating the Eucharist, takes place 60 days after Easter, and is typically the time when believers take their first communion.
**²	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D. 320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press