Venezuela

Quick Facts:

Area:	912,050 sq. km
Population:	24,287,670 (July 2002 est.)
Capital:	Caracas
Language:	Spanish
Religion:	Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%, other 2%.
Currency:	Bolivar (VEB)
YFU’web site:	www.yfu.org.ve

Introduction

Located in the northern part of South America, Venezuela’s tropical climate and warm beaches appeal to tourists from all over the world. Its varied geography has contributed to many regional differences among its people. There is much to discover in Venezuela. It is a developing democracy, full of young people who are looking for alternative ways of organizing society and family.

Short Facts

Area: Venezuela sits at the northern edge of the Andes Mountains, which dominate the northwestern portion of the country. To the east lies the plain of the Orinoco River and rugged inland region of the Guayana Highlands. The coastline of Venezuela is about 2,800 km (about 1,700 miles) long and has numerous indentations, of which the gulfs of Venezuela and Paria are notable. Except in the west, which has expanses of low and occasionally marshy land, the coast is generally narrow and steep. Of the 72 islands off the coast that belong to Venezuela, Margarita is the largest and most important. The total area of Venezuela is 912,050 sq. km (352,144 sq. miles). The capital and largest city is Caracas. Venezuela has four distinct geographic regions: the Maracaibo lowlands, the northern Venezuelan highlands, the Llanos (plains) of the north central region, and the Guayana Highlands to the south. Venezuela is rich in mineral resources, notably petroleum, natural gas, bauxite, gold, iron ore, copper, zinc, lead, and diamonds. Forests, too, are an important resource.

Climate: The climate of Venezuela is tropical on the Llanos and along the coast and temperate in the mountainous regions. The average daily temperature range is 15° to 32°C (59° to 90°F) in January and 17° to 34°C (63° to 94°F) in July.

Population: About 67% of the 25 million population of Venezuela is made up of mestizos (people of mixed European and Native American ancestry), and some 21% is of European descent. The remainder is predominantly Black, and about 2% of the total population is unmixed Native American. The society is 87% urban.

Language: Spanish is the official language. Indian dialects are spoken by isolated groups (less than 1 percent of population).

Religion: Some social observers claim that the rapid change in women's roles is attributable, at least in part, to the traditional weakness of the Venezuelan Roman Catholic Church when compared, for example, with the church in neighboring Colombia. Some 90% of Venezuelans are baptized in the Roman Catholic faith, but most have little regular contact with the church.

Government: Venezuela is a federal republic. It is governed under a constitution adopted in 1999. Citizens can vote at age 18. Venezuela’s chief executive is a president, who is popularly elected to a six-year term. A council of ministers assists the president. The president has authority to dissolve the legislature under certain conditions. As a result of the 1999 constitution, Venezuela's bicameral National Congress, which consisted of a Senate and Chamber of Deputies, was replaced by a unicameral, 166-member National Assembly in year 2000. Legislators are popularly elected to a five-year term. Venezuela has 23 states and one district capital. State governors are popularly elected.

History: It was the Italian geographer and navigator Americo Vespucci who named the area "Little Venice," or Venezuela. Venezuela's present patterns of settlement were shaped during the process of colonization that characterized the 17th century. During the 18th century Venezuela underwent a process of administrative consolidation. By the late 18th century, the strong ideological influence of the European "Enlightenment" and of the American and French Revolutions, combined with widespread discontent with the Spanish economic and political rule, gave rise to an independence movement. Indeed, Venezuela was one of the first provinces in the New World to declare itself independent. In 1810 Venezuela formally declared its independence from Spain and in 1811 adopted a republican constitution. However, it was not until 1821, under the leadership of Simón Bolívar, that full independence was achieved following the struggle of the War for Independence. Shared values and interests, strengthened during the war, allowed for creation of the Gran Colombia, which between 1820 and 1830 united, in a federation, the present-day nations of Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela. The Federal War, (1859-1863), was the most devastating of a series of internal struggles. The Constitution of 1864 established a federal system with provincial autonomy and gave the republic the name of United States of Venezuela. During the government of Juan Vicente Gomez (1908-1935), the country was unified under a central government and the economy was open to industrialization. It was not until 1947 that the first direct popular election of a Venezuelan president took place and Romulo Gallegos, a renowned novelist and candidate of the Democratic Action, was elected.

Economy: The Venezuelan economy is based primarily on production of petroleum. Until 1970 the country was the world's largest petroleum exporter. Modernization and diversification of its economy have been based upon application of petroleum sector earnings towards other economic sectors. Venezuela's modern industries fall into three groups: First are the oil refineries and associated petrochemical plants. Second, production of consumer goods. Import substitution items are the focus of this industry, including textiles, leather, paper, tires, tobacco, light engineering products, radios, television sets, and washing machines. A third industrial group is composed of the complex of heavy industries. Historically, agriculture has been one of the weakest and most neglected sectors of the Venezuelan economy. Only a very small part of the country (less than 5%) is used for crop production. More than 35% of the land is forested, but the forestry industry has been slow to develop, mainly because of the remoteness of the richest forestlands. In addition, strict government conservation regulations have discouraged investment in this sector.

Education: Preschool and nine years of basic education are free and compulsory. Private schools play a significant role at the primary and secondary levels. The Venezuelan school system is very academic and conservative. Classes begin in mid-September and last until July.Following pre-school, each student takes six years of elementary education and five years of high school. The last two years of high school are divided into twoareas of study, sciences and humanities. The number of institutions of higher education expanded rapidly between the late 1950’s and early 1980’s. Higher education is provided by private and public institutions, and approximately 20% of secondary school graduates attend them. Caracas is an educational center with several notable universities, including the Central University of Venezuela and the National Open University.

Family life: Family ties are very strong. Friendships are usually lifelong and constitute the Venezuelan society’s base for making contacts in both work and leisure activities. Today’s Venezuelans are known for their care-free attitudes and openness to foreigners. Tourism is becoming a major activity, and increasing numbers of Venezuelans are able to speak foreign languages.

Food: Venezuelan snacks and dishes (referred to as comida criolla) consist mainly of pancakes, chicken, pork, beef, soups and stews. Local specialties include empanadas (deepfried cornmeal turnovers with fillings of ground meat, cheese, beans or baby shark) and pabellón criollo- Venezuela's national dish, which consists of shredded beef, rice, black beans, cheese and fried plantain.

Recreation: Venezuela continues to struggle against foreign influences to retain such traditional pastimes as the toros coleados, a form of bullfighting in which the bull is thrown by its tail. Nonetheless, there have been wide-scale adoptions of such North American pastimes as baseball, now the national sport. Carnival, the two days preceding Ash Wednesday, is the major holiday (fiesta) in Venezuela, particularly in Caracas. On these days business comes to a halt as games, races, and street celebrations prevail. Other important holidays are New Year’s Eve and, in rural areas, the local saints' days.

YFU Venezuela

YFU Venezuela was founded in 1976. A large number of Venezuelan students have participated in YFU exchanges to 22 countries in North America, Europe, and Oceania. There are YFU area representatives in each major city and state of the country.

Common Phrases

English	Spanish
Good Day	Buenos Dias
Good Night	Buenas Noches
Please	Por favor
Thank you	Gracias
How are you?	¿Como esta Usted?
I’m fine	Estoy bien
My name is__	Me llamo__
What’s your name?	¿Cómo te llamas?