Venezuela

Venezuela (IPA: []; Spanish: Venezuela, IPA: [] ) is a country on the northern tropical Caribbean coast of South America. Venezuela borders Brazil to the south, Guyana to the east, and Colombia to the west. North of the Venezuelan coast lie the islands of Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles, and Trinidad and Tobago.

A former Spanish colony, Venezuela is a federal republic. Historically, Venezuela has had territorial disputes with Guyana, largely concerning the Essequibo area, and with Colombia concerning the Gulf of Venezuela (Gulf of Coquibacoa according to Colombia). This issue is not yet resolved. Today, Venezuela is known widely for its petroleum industry, the environmental diversity of its territory, and its sheer natural beauty. Some have claimed that Christopher Columbus was so enthralled by Venezuela's landscape, when arriving to its coast in 1498, that he referred to the land as Tierra de Gracia (Land of Grace), which has become the country's nickname.

Origin of name

A palafito, like the ones seen by Amerigo Vespucci

The name Venezuela is believed to have originated from the cartographer Amerigo Vespucci who, together with Alonso de Ojeda, led a 1499 naval expedition along the northwestern coast (known today as the Gulf of Venezuela). On reaching the Guajira Peninsula, the crew observed the distinctive stilt villages (palafitos) that the indigenous Añu people had built over the water. This reminded Vespucci of the city of Venice ("Venezia" in Italian) and as a result the region was named Veneziela; some argue this meant Little Venice and later evolved to "Venezuela". Other historians (notably Francisco Herrera Luque), noted that the suffix -zuela usually has a pejorative meaning in the Spanish language (mujerzuela, cazuela, etc.) and sustain the thesis that the name implied more the notion of a second-rate Venice.

On the other hand, the Spanish geographer Martín Fernández de Enciso, a member of the same crew, says in his work Summa de Geografía that the aforementioned population was called Veneciuela, and that it was built on a large, plain rock. According to this theory, the name Venezuela could be a native word. Nevertheless, the first account remains by far the most popular and accepted version of the origin of the country's name.

History

Simón Bolívar, El Libertador

Venezuela was the site of the first permanent Spanish settlement in South America in 1522 (the modern day city of Cumaná), and most of the territory eventually became part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. Parts of what is now eastern Venezuela became New Andalusia. After several unsuccessful uprisings, the country declared independence from Spain on July 5th 1811 under the leadership of its most famous native son, Simón Bolívar. Nevertheless, full control over Venezuelan territory was achieved after Bolívar, with the help of General José Antonio Páez and especially the then General Grand Marshall Antonio José de Sucre, whose battle plan Bolívar chose to follow, won the Battle of Carabobo on June 24th 1821, and after José Prudencio Padilla won the Naval Battle of Lake Maracaibo on July 24th 1823. New Granada's congress gave Bolívar control of the Granadian army, he then led several countries to freedom and created a new republic called Colombia (also known as Great Colombia to differentiate it from the Republic of Colombia) consisting of what are now Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and Venezuela. He then led the army towards the south, liberating Peru and founding Bolivia (named after the Libertador, formerly a part of Peru, known as 'Alto Peru') from the Spaniards. Antonio José de Sucre, who won many battles for Bolívar, was to become his natural successor, until he was murdered in Berruecos. Venezuela became, after the war of independence, along with Colombia and Ecuador, part of the Republic of Gran Colombia (República de Gran Colombia) until 1830, when the country separated through a rebellion led by Jose Antonio Páez and declared itself a sovereign republic. Páez became the first president of Venezuela.

Much of Venezuela's 19th- and early 20th-century history was characterized by political instability, political struggle and dictatorial rule.. Following the death of Juan Vicente Gómez in 1935 and the temporary demise of caudillismo (authoritarian rule), democratic struggles eventually forced the military to withdraw from direct involvement in national politics in 1958. Since that year, Venezuela has enjoyed an unbroken tradition of democratic civilian rule, though even this has not been without conflict.

Venezuela is member of the South American Community of Nations (SACN). (more) See also: Discoverer of the Americas, List of Presidents of Venezuela

Government and politics

The National Assembly Building in downtown Caracas.

The Venezuelan president is elected by vote, with direct and universal suffrage, and functions as both head of state and head of government. The term of office is six years, and a president may be re-elected to a single consecutive term. The president appoints the vice-president and decides the size and composition of the cabinet and makes appointments to it with the involvement of the legislature. The president can ask the legislature to reconsider portions of laws he finds objectionable, but a simple parliamentary majority can override these objections.

The unicameral Venezuelan parliament is the National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional. Its 167 deputies, of which three are reserved for indigenous peoples, serve five-year terms and may be re-elected for a maximum of two additional terms. They are elected by popular vote through a combination of party lists and single member constituencies. The highest judicial body is the Supreme Tribunal of Justice or Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, whose magistrates are elected by parliament for a single 12-year term. The National Electoral Council (Consejo Nacional Electoral, or CNE) is in charge of electoral processes; it is formed by five main directors elected by the National Assembly.

Venezuela was the first country in the world to abolish the death penalty, in 1863.

New flag and new coat of arms

Recent political change has resulted in the flag of Venezuela being changed by the addition of an eighth star, symbolizing Guayana's contributions to the independence of the nation. The coat of arms has been changed, with the horse facing to the left, as opposed to the right. It is believed to symbolize Venezuela's current left-wing stance, and is the target of criticism by the right-wing.

Administrative Divisions

Main articles: States of Venezuela, Regions of Venezuela

States

Venezuela is divided into 23 states (estados), a capital district (distrito capital) correspondent to the city of Caracas, the federal dependencies (dependencias federales) and Guayana Esequiba (border dispute/Guyana). Venezuela is further subdivided into 335 municipalities (municipios), and further subdivided into 1,084 parishes (parroquias).

Political Map of Venezuela

The states (with capitals in parentheses) include:

Amazonas (Puerto Ayacucho) Anzoátegui (Barcelona) Apure (San Fernando de Apure) Aragua (Maracay) Barinas (Barinas) Bolívar (Ciudad Bolívar) Carabobo (Valencia) Cojedes (San Carlos) Delta Amacuro (Tucupita) Falcón (Coro) Guárico (San Juan De Los Morros) Lara (Barquisimeto)

Mérida (Mérida) Miranda (Los Teques) Monagas (Maturín) Nueva Esparta (La Asunción) Portuguesa (Guanare) Sucre (Cumaná) Táchira (San Cristóbal) Trujillo (Trujillo) Yaracuy (San Felipe) Vargas (La Güaira) Zulia (Maracaibo) Federal Dependencies

Note: The Venezuelan Federal Dependencies are not a real state, but a special territorial subdivision.

Regions

Administrative regions.

The states are grouped into ten administrative regions (regiones administrativas), which were established by presidential decree. The regions are listed below along with the states:

Andean - Barinas, Mérida, Táchira, Trujillo; Páez Municipality of Apure.

Capital - Miranda, Vargas, Capital District (Caracas).

Central - Aragua, Carabobo, Cojedes.

Central-Western - Falcón, Lara, Portuguesa, Yaracuy.

Guayana - Bolívar, Amazonas, Delta Amacuro.

Insular - Nueva Esparta, Federal Dependencies.

Llanos - Apure (excluding Paez Municipality), Guárico.

North-Eastern - Anzoátegui, Monagas, Sucre.

Zulian - Zulia.

Geography

Venezuela is home to a wide variety of landscapes, such as the north-easternmost extensions of the Andes mountains in the northwest and along the northern Caribbean coast, of which the highest point is the Pico Bolívar at 4,981 metres (16,341 ft).

The Angel Falls (Salto Ángel), world's highest waterfall

The center of the country is characterized by extensive plains known as the llanos that stretch from the Colombian border to the river delta of the Orinoco east. To the south are found the dissected Guiana Highlands, home to Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls. (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 28, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service: http://www.britannica.com/e/article-9007543 and the northern edge of Amazonia. This is a classical division, however.

The country can also be divided into nine geographical areas, some corresponding to the natural regions, one being the Andes Range. The Lake Maracaibo region comprises the lowlands near the Gulf of Venezuela. The Coro System, a mountainous block in the northern occidental territory, is the fount of several sierras and valleys. The Central Range is tied up with the coast and the hills surrounding Caracas, while the Eastern Range, separated from the Central by the Gulf of Cariaco, covers all of Sucre State and northern Monagas. The Llanos Region involves a third part of the country's area, above the Orinoco River. Under it, is the South Orinoco Region (the Guianas, above described). The Insular Region is formed by Nueva Esparta and the Federal Dependencies. The last geographical region is the Deltaic System which forms a pantanous triangle, covering Delta Amacuro, with the Atlantic platform branching off the coast.

Mt. Kukenan, in Venezuela.

The Orinoco River is the largest and most important river of the country, originating one of the biggest watersheds in Latin America. Other important rivers are the Caroní and the Apure.

The local climate is tropical and generally hot and humid, though more moderate in the highlands. The capital, Caracas is also the country's largest city. Other major cities include Maracaibo, Barquisimeto, Valencia, Maracay, and Ciudad Guayana.

Venezuela is one of the seventeen megadiverse countries, for the great number of animal and vegetable species that habitate there. It also has one of the most endangered environments.

Economy

The petroleum sector dominates the economy, accounting for roughly a third of Venezuela's GDP, around 80% of export earnings, and more than half of government revenues. The oil sector operates through the government-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), which among other things owns the US-based distributor CITGO, with more than 14,000 retail gasoline outlets in the United States under its brand.

Venezuela also depends highly on the agricultural sector. Sectors with major potential for export-led growth are production of both coffee and cocoa crops. At one time, Venezuela ranked close to Colombia in coffee production, but in the 1960s and 70s, as petroleum temporarily turned Venezuela into the richest country in South America, coffee was relegated to the economic back burner. Today, Venezuela produces less than one percent of the world's coffee and most of it is drunk by the Venezuelans themselves. However, some interesting Venezuelan coffees are again entering the North American specialty market. Venezuela's cocoa industry has decayed since the days of Spanish colonialism, when African slaves toiled in these sweltering, snake-infested estates. The focus of cocoa cultivation has long since moved to tropical West Africa and Venezuela now grows under one per cent of the world crop.

Venezuela is one of the five founding members of OPEC. The idea itself (an international oil cartel) was the initiative of Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo, who proposed it as a response to low domestic and international oil prices in August 1960. Since December 2005, Venezuela has been a member of Mercosur, joining with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, although it has yet to finalize policy changes in order to gain voting rights.

Demographics

Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela

The Venezuelan people comprise a rich combination of heritages. The historically present Amerindians, Spanish colonists and imported African slaves were joined by Italians, Portuguese, Arabs, Germans, and others from neighbouring countries in South America during waves of immigration in the 20th century. About 85% of the population live in urban areas in the northern portion of the country. While almost half of Venezuela's land area lies south of the Orinoco river, this region contains only 5% of the population.

The national and official language is Spanish, but about 31 other indigenous languages also exist (Wayuu, Pemon, Warao, Kariña, Yanomami, Guajibo, etc), as do languages introduced by immigrants. 96% of the population is at least nominally Roman Catholic. Around 4% of the population adheres to other faiths.

Military

Culture & Heritage

Venezuelan Joropo. Drawing by Eloy Palacios (1912)

Venezuela's heritage, art and cultural importance is primarily found within the collective identity of its people. In a larger context, the key elements of Venezuelan society have also been shaped and impacted by the historical evolutions of its Latin American counterparts. Venezuela's heritage may be defined in its inherited circumstances and benefits. Venezuelan heritage extends to its historic buildings, architecture and art, its landscape, boundaries and place within Latin America, and finally its monuments and items considered worthy of preservation. Hence, Venezuelan heritage is naturally connected and related to its culture, as culture defines a nation's intellectual and artistic endeavors. Through the collective customs, beliefs, practices and expressions of its people, a cultural identity is achieved. Together, Venezuelan heritage, art and culture represent the historic and contemporary elements of its society.

Venezuelan culture comes from a wide variety of heritages, mainly of the indigenous populations, Spanish and African provenance, dating from the Colonial Period. Before this period, indigenous cultural manifestations were expressed in art (petroglyphs), crafts, architecture (shabonos) and social organization. Aboriginal culture was subsequently assimilated by Spaniards; over the years, the hybrid culture had diversified by region.

Venezuelan art is gaining attention within and outside the country. First dominated by religious motives, in the late 19th century it changed to historical and heroic representations, led by Martín Tovar y Tovar. Modernism took over in the 20th century. Some remarkable Venezuelan artists include Arturo Michelena, Cristóbal Rojas, Armando Reverón, Manuel Cabré, Jesús-Rafael Soto, Carlos Cruz-Diez (who both contributed greatly to kinetic art) and Yucef Merhi.

Venezuelan literature began developing soon after the Spanish conquest, and it was dominated by Spanish culture and thinking. Following the rise of political literature during the Independence War, then came Romanticism, the first important genre in the region, whose great exponent was Juan Vicente González. Although mainly focused on narrative, poets also figure with great importance, Andrés Eloy Blanco being the most famous of them, and also Fermín Toro. Major writers and novelists are Rómulo Gallegos, Teresa de la Parra, Arturo Uslar Pietri, Adriano González León, Miguel Otero Silva and Mariano Picón Salas. Another great poet and humanist was Andrés Bello, besides being an educator and an intellectual.

Other philosophers and intellectuals, like Laureano Vallenilla Lanz and José Gil Fortoul, along with many other writers, sustained the theory of Venezuelan positivism.

The great architect of the Venezuelan Modern era was Carlos Raúl Villanueva, who designed and built the Universidad Central de Venezuela, (World Heritage Site) and its Aula Magna. Venezuelan architectural examples are the National Pantheon, the Baralt Theatre, the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex, and the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge.

Indigenous musical styles are sort of a crucible of Venezuelan cultural inheritances, most exemplified by groups like Un Solo Pueblo and Serenata Guayanesa. The national musical instrument is the cuatro. The typical or representative musical styles are mainly from the llanos area and its surroundings, such as Alma Llanera (by Pedro Elías Gutiérrez and Rafael Bolivar Coronado), Florentino y el Diablo (by Alberto Arvelo Torrealba), Concierto en la llanura by Juan Vicente Torrealba, and Caballo Viejo (by Simón Díaz). The Gaita (music style) is also a popular style, played generally during Christmas, typical of the Zulian region. The national dance is the joropo. Teresa Carreño was a world famous piano virtuosa during the late 19th century.

Venezuela is also known for their world famous baseball players, such as Luis Aparicio, who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York (USA), David Concepción, Oswaldo Guillén, Andrés Galarraga, Omar Vizquel, Luis Sojo, Bobby Abreu, and Johan Santana, winner of the Cy Young Award in 2004. Although baseball is tremendously popular (it's the national pastime), football (soccer) is also gaining popularity, due to the increasing performance of the Venezuela national football team.

Holidays

Date	Local Name	English Name	Remarks
January 1	Día de Año Nuevo	New Year's Day	Beginning of the Civil Year
January 6	Día de Reyes	Epiphany	Christian feast, the visit of the three Magi to Jesus.
Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday	Carnaval	Carnival	-
From Palm Sunday to Easter	Semana Santa	Holy Week	Commemoration of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.
March 19	Día de San José	Saint Joseph's Day	In honor of Saint Joseph
April 19	19 de abril	Beginning of the Independence Movement	Remembering the 1810 coup and start of the Venezuelan Independence
May 1	Día del Trabajador	Labour Day	-
June 24	Batalla de Carabobo	Battle of Carabobo	Ensurance of the Venezuelan Independence; tagged also as Army's Day
July 5	5 de julio	Independence Day	Signing of the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence
July 24	Natalicio del Libertador	Birth of Simón Bolívar	Also tagged as Navy's Day.
October 12	Día de la Resistencia Indígena	Day of Indigenous Resistance	Previously, in Venezuela the holiday was called Día de la Raza, conmemorating the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas.
November 1	Día de Todos los Santos	All Saints Day	-
November 17 to November 19	Feria de la Chinita	Feria of La Chinita	Only in the Zulian region; celebrating the miracle of Our Lady of Rosario of Chiquinquirá.
December 8	Inmaculada Concepción	Immaculate Conception	Celebrating the preservance of Mary, the mother of Jesus from the original sin by the Grace of God.
December 24	Nochebuena	Christmas Eve	Birth of Jesus (Divino Niño).
December 31	Nochevieja	New Year's Eve	Final day of the Civil Year

National symbols

Venezuela's national symbols include the Venezuelan Postage Stamp, the the Flag, the Coat of Arms, and the National Anthem. Other elements relative to the typical flora and fauna of the territory are remarkable. The governments through history have officially declared these as national symbols:
*The National Flower is the orchid (Cattleya mossiae). This kind of orchid is also known as Flor de Mayo (May Flower). It was first discovered in the northern land in 1839 and was given the status of National Flower on 23 May 1951.
*The National Tree is the araguaney (Tabebuia chrysantha). Called aravanei by the caribes, it can be found mostly in regions with temperate weather. It can reach a height between 6 and 12 m. The araguaney flourishes within the period following a rainy season, mostly on the first months of the year. Rómulo Gallegos referred to these months as "La primavera de oro de los araguaneyes" (the golden spring of the araguaneyes). Declared National Tree on 29 May 1945.
*The National Bird is the turpial (Icterus icterus). Fully coloured with yellow-orange tones except in the head and the wings, which are black with a few tones in white; also has a blue spot surrounding the eyes. It can be found in woods, the llanos, at the shores of jungles, and in northern and southern Orinoco. The turpial is fairly appreciated due to its singing and was declared the National Bird on 23 May 1958.

*The Venezuelan Postage Stamp, first issued a set of map stamps that were released in 1896. The first issued Venezuelan stamp is partnered with the Guyanese map stamps, as they historically disputed a border called the Essequibo River territory. The history of the postage stamp presents a historical context in which popular culture may be better understood. These smallest icons of popular culture, are significant to the means of a national and international identity.

Related topics

* Asociación de Scouts de Venezuela

Notes

References