Venezuela(Adam)

Venezuela By Adam Miranda

__General Information: __ Capital City: Caracas  Population: 25.4million  Monetary System: Bolivar  Religion: 98% of pop. is Roman Catholic Official Language: Spanish  Major Export/Industry: Oil   __Demographics: __  Life Expectancy: 73.93years  Birth Rate: 20.1births per 1,000 people  Death Rate: 5.17deaths per 1,000 people

__Geography:__ __ Descripton: __ Venezuela is one third the size of Texas. Venezuela is divided into four distinct regions: Maracaibo Lowlands, Mountainous Northwest, the Orinoco Basin, and the Guiana Highlands that occupy about half of the country. __Economic Effect:__ Venezuela is built on very oil rich land that allows them to be one of the world's top exporters of oil. __Climate:__Although the country is in the tropics, the climate can very greatly depending on the elevation. Maracaibo Lowlands and Orinoco Basin tend to be very tropical, but the highlands and mountains, or paramos, can range from temperate to alpine. Some regions of Venezuela average less than forty-six degrees yearly. __History:__ Venezuela was first discovered in 1498 on Christopher Columbus' third voyage. Columbus called the land he discovered Venezuela or "Little Venice". The indeginous tribes that inhabited Venezuela before Columbus and the Spaniards were the Arawak, Carib, and Chibcha. The capitol city Caracas was founded in 1567 by Spanish colonists. Simon Bolivar whom the country's currency is named after was born in 1783. Simon Bolivar led many revolutions across the South American continent, and Venezuela was one of the first Spanish colonies in South America to achieve independence, in 1821. After the revolution, Venezuela, Columbia, and Ecuador had formed a federation, but Venezuela separated and became an independent republic in 1830. Venezuela's current president Hugo Chavez took power in 1999. Chavez sought to permanently control Venezuela and had his advisors rewrite the country's constitution to give him more power. Under the new constitution Chavez was able to establish an authoritarian dictatorship. In 2001, After many anti-Chavez uprisings, Chavez was removed from power, but Chavez was able to return to his seat two days later. After returning to power, Chavez was able to secure his position and has held on to it. He currently remains in power.

__ Government/Political Situation: __ __Government Type:__ Federalist Republic __Current Leader:__ Hugo Chavez  __Political Climate:__ Venezuela's current political climate is unstable due to Hugo Chavez's recent health problems. This past summer, In June, Chavez was hospitalized on a trip to Cuba where he had a baseball-sized tumor removed. Although during this past October Chavez claimed to be cancer free, there is a lot of speculation as to how healthy he is.

__Culture:__  __Food:__ The most distinctive Venezuelan food would be arepas. Arepas are made out of either fried or baked cornmeal that can be stuffed with a variety of different foods. Ham and cheese are the most popular arepas stuffings media type="youtube" key="9ygGky3j6ps" width="425" height="350" @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ygGky3j6ps

__Holidays:__ A major holiday in Venezuela is Simon Bolivar's birthday on July 24. Bolivar is a major hero in Venezuela and his likeness can be found almost everywhere you go. __Music:__ One of the world's most popular salsa bands headed by Oscar D'Leon is based out of Venezuela.

__Tourism:__ __Angel Falls__: Angel Falls is Venezuela's main tourist attraction. It is the largest waterfall in the world. __El Teleferico:__ El Teleferico is a large mountain just outside of Venezuela's capital city of Caracas. The only way to reach the summit of the mountain is by cable car. From the summit you can see all of Caracas and the Caribbean Sea. __Parque Los Chorros:__ Parque Los Chorros is located at the base of Avila mountain in Caracas. This park is about 4.5 hectares and has its own natural waterfall. __Jardin Botanico:__ Jardin Botanico or the Caracas Botanical Gardens is home to over 2,000 non-indeginous species and over 100,000 types of plants total.

__Current Events:__ __3.2.2012:__ Twenty years ago a Bolivarian revolution began under the leadership of current president Hugo Chavez. Across the country Venezuelans will celebrate the revolution that brought Chavez to power. To celebrate, the president of the National institute of Statistics will give a speech entitled: "The Bolivarian Revolution and the Success of Social Policies in Venezuela". Another celebration that will be taking place is a military parade in Caracas. []

__7.2.2012:__ Venezuelan authorities will be conducting an investigation into the deaths of eleven infants all at the same hospital within the past four days. Authorities believe the cause to be a bacterial infection because all eleven mothers have had a history of urinary tract infections that may have been a factor. The authorities do not believe that the hospital is at fault, but it seemed too coincidental not to look into. []

__ Sources: __ [] [] [] [] [] (Rand McNally: World Atlas of Nations, 1995, pg. A-49)