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Someone was touting Cesium 137 in Bangkok about four years ago... I thought it was some crazy joke but perhaps it was the genuine material obtained out of Russia at during the revolution that created a free Russia fifteen years ago > I was offered some Isotpe 34 around that time although both Los Alamos and Harwell confirmed this was not a concern it was not applicable for nuclear bomb technology etc. Some people from one of the old South Russia states offered the material. There is an uncanny synergy between the names Chen-obyl (Chernobul) and Tsunami (Chewnami) perhaps the people involved with the THAI CIA need very close investigating...... Is this the system used by the Thai mafia to psycho-terrorise the population for five years targeting the writed whose family owns large parcels of land in the region these illegal Thai CIA private police mafia thought they could steal for themselves ? The land purchased by the great grand father of Mr Young. The King of Denmark purchased from The King of Thailand at the time. Since then it seems the Sophonpanich mafia have sold the land on to others when they did not own title of the freehold... More of the Satanic methods of the Sophonpanich heroin Cartel and their private illegal Thai CIA Police Mafia (many scientologists) techniques to steal from foreigners

Suppose some people running a country's crime but distanced into a mirage of financial respectability and legitmate trade was manipulating the reproduction of Humans in a country using dangerous chemical base metals like Mercury and its hydrochloride derivative?

They have many twins one they hold secure whilst the other carries out the actions of their scams and this rotates every 12 hours. They do this with say 10 pairs of twins they have seized off poor community level families who are forced to follow their instructions. It is done to erode the lives of other settlers in the country avoiding exposure of the control family and their oigins and criminal history.

Well that is how the Chen family aka Sophonpanich-Dhamapong-Shinawatra (although the later I suspect may have also been trapped at some point in the past) have done with my third wife and our last five years living in a hell on earth deluged in lies and very dangerous defamatory allegations.

I have disovered she has twin sisters and they were being swapped with her and she used them and other methods in patynership with her other sister and boyfriend, whom I believe to be Spanish ot Mexican/South American to fleece and defraud me out of a few Thai Baht millions by illegal falsified private mafia police of the control family.

The obtain possession of a 9.6 million baht Range Rover car of mine under the criminal offence of " obtaining possessions under false pretences" one and a half years ago and sold it. None of the money was returned to me. Seems the sister cha has a boyfriend who thinks he can sit there and support people stealing property worth US$350,000. The Range Rover was five months old and had covered 8000 kilometers. the sophonp[anich Mafia were involved in this crime.

Thousands of hectares of land taken from my family forged land deeds and fraudulent sales to locals for over 10 years maybe longer.

Satanic Games used to intimidate people into submission and silence.

murder of my WW2 Spitfire Pilot father Mervyn F S Young a former Moralrearmament Oxford Group activist with (Wimbledon player) Bunny Austen and Peter Howard and their rather awkwardly traditional style of promoting a world with politics taking advice and decisions that will meet with the teachings of humanity that is God Almighty.

They cut my mother's chest open for a joke at a hospital near Chessington in Surrey

They poured acid down my father's throat and I believe have murder a multiple of others who rejected their introduction.

They did the same to the Thai boyfriend of a girl in Bangkok about four years ago. He was in his twenties had most of his intestines and stomch removed and was in hospital permanently I doubt he survived and I personally witnessed others dying from very painful causes in a main Bangkok Thai hospital around that time.

There are still thousands of their 'runners' left here in Thailand that need to be detained, inckluding some insurgents from Spain/Mexico/S America.

Erik Young The United Nations

Human Rights Ambassador

A Message To The Sultan Of Brunei From God Almighty Perhaps the 7 Eleven store group and Family Mart should investigate their Thailand business. I have noticed on a number of occasions that some people who call themselves the "Police" in Thailand have gone into their shops and spiked the contents of drinks. Of particular concern is the fact that they have spiked childrens drinks. Two substances they have used are a Mercuric Hydrochloride solution and GHB a date rape chemical. Any mercury based material is dangerous for human consumption and causes damage to the human reproduction system leading to mental and physical mutations in babies of pregnant women. They have committed the same crimes in the Family Mart stores. These "Police" have fooled the world for many years into believing they are part of The Royal Thai Police. The identity they use is Thai CIA a name they acquired whilst fitting up the Government of the USA and the USA Central Intelligence Agency. These police-gangsters were the private police gang of the Sophonpanich-Dhamapong-Shinawatra (formerly the Chen family) Heroin-Momey Laundering-Crime-Vice cartel in Thailand. One of their offices is next door to Yaa-nawa (Yaa = Drugs in Thai) Police Station Bangkok Thailand The Bangkok Bank became the 27th largest bank in the World within 35 years of incorporation. Thailand's economy was 10% of the size of the UK when they reached this status and about 2% of the size of the USA economy. Their global rank of 27th largest bank in the World was achieved by laundering Heroin drugs money for about 80% of the drugs business. Again they used dormant bank accounts in the name of foreigners or people they did not like to process the cashflow. If you look into the history of the Sophonpanich-Dhamapong-Shinawatra family formerly known as the CHEN family carefully you will discover they have robbed Royalty for over 4500 years right back to the days of the Pharoahs of Egypt. In fact they are of Basque origin in a region of Norther Spain not Chinese like they have led so many people in Thailand to believe. The Spanish Royal family used them as oarsmen to row the Spanish Galleon ships whilst searching for Gold. They placed them in the below the deck of their ships because it was the one place where the Basque Chens could not cause trouble and rob people. The Chen have been Satanic Worshipers for over 4500 years bringing Satanism to ancient Egypt and robboing the Pharoahs and the Pyramids.. I paid about US$2 million to buy some property wilh a hole in the ground forming a water well built and sunk into the ground by the Chen family five hundred years ago.. The site they used they nicknamed "Majhole". Maj shortened word 'Majesty' Hole for 'The hole in the ground' where they hid the goods they stole from His Majesty King Henry VIII King of England who lived at Hampton Court Palace near Molesey and Kingston-upon-Thames Surrey. The Chen family poisoned King Henry VIII with mercuric hydrochloride thus rendering it almost impossible to produce healthy children and it also blocks the production of male offspring. They were the people who turned Adolph Hitler against the Jews. In fact the Jews in the tax department of Germany would not employ them because they knew their background. In revenge they started a hate campaign in Munchen (Munich originally called Moo Chen which means Street Chen). They claimed the Jews abused children, and were greedy doing deals with people and making excessive profit. They claimed jews lied and deceived their customers. It was all untrue. I believe they also introduced Hitler to people who joined the Nazi party who were Satanic worshipers and encouraged the death camps to be created to destroy and commit terrifying torture upon the Jews. In fact the Chens also fitted people up as Jews if they wanted to hurt or destroy people who knew they were a group of evil criminals. They wrecked Egypt with Satanic worship and have always been the enemy of God Almighty and the religious variations that follow the belief in the same one God, Buddhism,Islaam,Christianity etc. There is a font on word processors they use that confuses the eye called Lucida ( sounds a bit like Lucifer the name of Satan). Mr Chalee Sophonpanich uses these Satanists to speard lies and create hell on earth for people he doesn't like. People he and his family have robbed or know about the Gestapo crime proceeds they hid for escaping Gestapo officers about the time the Bangkok Bank was incorporated, a bank started on money gained from satanic actions. It was the Chen family that traded the gold taken from dead Jews teeth, 23.5 karat gold they sold into the gold markets of Asia. They have no respect for Buddha quite prepared to trade Gold taken from innocent Jewish people who were tortured to death and then they sold this Gold to Gold traders in the knowledge people would have a Buddha hanging of the Gold that was taken from the bodies of dead Jews. These Jews died because they did not trust the Chens who tried to rob the German tax department just like they had robbed The Emporer of China and the tax department of China. The Chen's have been into the United Kingdom and managed to gain employment in the tax offices in Woking Surrey where Frank Branigan had been the senior member of staff. They look through people's tax files and then see if they can blackmail the tax payer who they find in tax difficulies. The deal is they hand over the tax information all paper records and electronic data in return you pay them a private settlement figure and your tax position is no longer recorded. I told told them to get lost I would never do business with them i'd rather pay all that was owing rather than commit such a crime. It seems the Chen's, (of Northern Spanish Basque origins) are linked to the death of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed, they were the gangsters posing as paparzi chasing the Mercedes car into the tunnel where Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed became the victims of a fatal car crash. It was the Chen's that orchestrated the 911 World Trade Centre disaster. They may have hidden some illicit software script 'a command code' in the fly by wire software that allowed a remote user to gain control of the plane and fly it into a building. The code hidden by using the same taext font colour as the background colour as it appears on screen. The pilots and some passengers were battling with the flight controls when the planes hit the World Trade Center Towers. They are Satanists and it is the Chen's who started The Bangkok Bank claiming to be of Chinese origin. They are of Basque orgin that is why their skeleton structure is different to the Chinese, The Chen's have been Satanic worshipers for thousands of years and are nothing to do with God Almighty or Buddha, Jesus Christ, or the Prophet Mohammed who all worshiped the same one Almighty God. URL: huntforjustice.com/4-icc-en.php About Jesus Christ - A Gift From God Almighty Jesus Christ was not Jewish he was from Scandinavia, a gift to Jospeh and Mary. Joseph and others in the region could not produce children because the Chen's (Myrh Chen's - Merchant) had been poisoning the local community with Mercuric Chloride. Jesus was kept in the stable where the animals would normally be kept because it protected the baby from catching any illness from visitors to the house. Joseph and Mary also needed time to explain to the local community that the baby was a gift from the "Golden Angels , God's agents " the Scandinavian people who helped Moses and the original Chinese who came from the Emporers Palace and were named Pharoah's. Pharoahs means" the teachers that beleive in one God". |government_type = Federal Presidential republic |leader_title1 = President |leader_name1 = Hugo Chávez Frías |leader_title2 = Vice president |leader_name2 = Ramón Carrizales |area_rank = 33rd |area_magnitude = 1 E11 |area_km2 = 916,445 |area_sq_mi = 353,841 |percent_water = 0.32 |population_estimate = 28,199,822 |population_estimate_rank = 40th |population_estimate_year = February 2008 |population_census = 23,054,985 |population_census_year = 2001 |population_density_km2 = 30.2 |population_density_sq_mi = 77 |population_density_rank = 173rd |GDP_PPP = $335 billion |GDP_PPP_rank = 30th |GDP_PPP_year = 2007 |GDP_PPP_per_capita = $12,800 |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 63rd |sovereignty_type = Independence |established_event1 = from Spain |established_date1 = July 5, 1811 |established_event2 = from Gran Colombia |established_date2 = January 13, 1830 |established_event3 = Recognized |established_date3 = March 30, 1845 |HDI = 0.792 |HDI_rank = 74th |HDI_year = 2007 |HDI_category = medium |Gini = 44.1 |Gini_year = 2000 |Gini_category = medium |currency = Bolívar fuerte |currency_code = VEF |country_code = |time_zone = UTC-4:30 |utc_offset = |time_zone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |cctld = .ve |calling_code = 58 |footnotes = The "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" has been the full official title since the adoption of the new Constitution of 1999, when the state was renamed in honor of Simón Bolívar.
The Constitution also recognizes all indigenous languages spoken in the country.
Area totals include only Venezuelan-administered territory.
On January 1, 2008 a new bolivar, the bolívar fuerte (ISO 4217 code VEF), worth 1,000 VEB, was introduced. }}

Venezuela (Template:PronEng, Spanish pronunciation: [beneˈswela]), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: República Bolivariana de Venezuela).

The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela possesses borders with Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the west. Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Lucia, Barbados, Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Leeward Antilles lie just north, off the Venezuelan coast. Falling within the tropics, Venezuela sits close to the equator, in the Northern Hemisphere.

A former Spanish colony, which has been an independent republic since 1821, Venezuela holds territorial disputes with Guyana, largely concerning the Essequibo area, and with Colombia concerning the Gulf of Venezuela. In 1895, after the dispute over the Guyana border flared up, it was submitted to a neutral commission, which in 1899 decided it mostly in Guyana's favour. Today, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is known widely for its petroleum industry, the environmental diversity of its territory, and its natural features. Venezuela is considered to be among the world's 17 most biodiverse countries.

Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America; the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north, especially in the capital Caracas which is also the largest city. Other major cities include Maracaibo, Valencia, Maracay, Barquisimeto, Ciudad Guayana and the popular tourist city of Mérida. Venezuela is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

Etymology

The name "Venezuela" is believed to have originated from the Amerigo Vespucci who, along with Alonso de Ojeda, led a 1499 naval expedition along the northwestern coast's Gulf of Venezuela. On reaching the Guajira Peninsula, the crew observed villages (palafitos) that the people had built over the water. This reminded Vespucci of the city of Venice (Template:Lang-it), so he named the region "Venezuola", meaning "little Venice" in Italian. In Spanish, the suffix -zuela is used as a diminutive term (e.g., plaza / plazuela, cazo / cazuela); thus, the term's original sense would have been that of a "little Venice".

Martín Fernández de Enciso, a member of the Vespucci and Ojeda's crew, states in his work Summa de Geografía that the indigenous population they found were called "Veneciuela", suggesting that the name "Venezuela" may have evolved from a native word. The Vespucci story, however, remains the most popular and accepted version of the origin of the country's name. In English, the word Venezuela is pronounced as /ˌvɛnɨzˈweɪlə/. The Venezuelan Spanish is IPA: [beneˈswela].

History

Human habitation of Venezuela is estimated to have commenced at least 15,000 years ago from which period leaf-shaped flake tools, together with chopping and plano-convex scraping implements, have been found exposed on the high riverine terraces of the Rio Pedregal in western Venezuela. Late Pleistocene hunting artifacts, including spear tips, have been found at a similar series of sites in northwestern Venezuela known as "El Jobo"; according to radiocarbon dating, these date from 13,000 to 7,000 BC. In the 16th century, when the Spanish colonization of Venezuela began, indigenous peoples such as the Mariches, themselves descendants of the Caribs, were systematically killed. Indian caciques (leaders) such as Guaicaipuro and Tamanaco attempted to resist Spanish incursions, but were ultimately subdued; Tamanaco himself, by order of Caracas' founder Diego de Losada, was also put to death.

Venezuela was first colonized by Spain in 1522, when it hosted the Spanish Empire's first permanent South American settlement in what is now Cumaná. These portions of eastern Venezuela were incorporated into New Andalusia. Administered by the Audiencia of Santo Domingo since the early 16th century, most of Venezuela became part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in the early 18th century, and was then reorganized as an autonomous Captaincy General starting in 1776. After a series of unsuccessful uprisings, Venezuela—under the leadership of Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan marshal involved in the French Revolution—declared independence on July 5, 1811. This began the Venezuelan War of Independence. However, a devastating earthquake that struck Caracas in 1812, together with the rebellion of the Venezuelan llaneros, helped bring down the first Venezuelan republic. A second Venezuelan republic, proclaimed on August 7, 1813, lasted several months before being crushed as well.

Sovereignty was only attained after Simón Bolívar, aided by José Antonio Páez and Antonio José de Sucre, won the Battle of Carabobo on June 24, 1821. José Prudencio Padilla and Rafael Urdaneta's victory in the Battle of Lake Maracaibo on July 24, 1823 helped seal Venezuelan independence. New Granada's congress gave Bolívar control of the Granadian army; leading it, he liberated several countries and founded Gran Colombia. Sucre, who won many battles for Bolívar, went on to liberate Ecuador, and later become the second president of Bolivia. Venezuela remained part of Gran Colombia until 1830, when a rebellion led by Páez allowed the proclamation of a new Republic of Venezuela; Páez became its first president.

Much of Venezuela's nineteenth century history was characterized by political turmoil and dictatorial rule. During first half of the 20th century, caudillos (military strongmen) continued to dominate, though they generally allowed for mild social reforms and promoted economic growth. Following the death of Juan Vicente Gómez in 1935 and the demise of caudillismo (authoritarian rule), pro-democracy movements eventually forced the military to withdraw from direct involvement in national politics in 1958. Since that year, Venezuela has had a series of democratically elected governments. The discovery of massive oil deposits, totaling some 400 million barrels, during World War I prompted an economic boom that lasted into the 1980s; by 1935, Venezuela's per capita GDP was Latin America's highest,.

After World War II the globalization and heavy immigration from Southern Europe (mainly from Spain, Italy, Portugal) and poorer Latin American countries markedly diversified Venezuelan society.

The huge public spending and accumulation of internal and external debts by the government and private sector during the Petrodollar years of the 1970s and early 1980s, followed by the collapse of oil prices during the 1980s, crippled the Venezuelan economy. As the government devalued the currency in order to face its mounting local and non-local financial obligations, Venezuelans' real standard of living fell dramatically. A number of failed economic policies and increasing corruption in government and society at large, has led to rising poverty and crime and worsening social indicators and increasing political instability, resulting in two major coup attempts in 1992.

In the February 1992 coup, Hugo Chávez, a former paratrooper, attempted to overthrow the government of President Carlos Andrés Pérez as anger grew against the President's economic austerity measures. Chávez was unsuccessful and landed in jail. In November of that year, another unsuccessful coup attempt occurred, organized by other revolutionary groups in the Venezuelan Armed Forces and those that remained from Chávez’s previous attempt.

In 1998, Hugo Chávez (who led the first unsuccessful coup in 1992) was elected president as a reaction against the established political parties and the corruption and inequalities their policies created. He remains president today. Since coming to power, Chávez has attracted some controversy through his reforms of the Constitution, the implementation of his "Bolivarian Revolution", and in April 2002 (though now a democratically elected president) Chávez was temporarily ousted from power by right-wing elements in the army and the business sector.

The Venezuelan president is elected by a 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 diminish these objections.

The unicameral Venezuelan parliament is the National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional. Its 167 deputies, of which three are reserved for indigenous people, 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 twelve-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.

Public health

Infant mortality in Venezuela stood at 16 deaths per 1,000 births in 2004, much lower than the South American average (by comparison, the U.S. stands at 5 deaths per 1,000 births in 2006). Child malnutrition (defined as stunting or wasting in children under age five) stands at 17%; Delta Amacuro and Amazonas have the nation's highest rates. According to the United Nations, 32% of Venezuelans lack adequate sanitation, primarily those living in rural areas. Diseases ranging from typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis D are present in the country. Only 3% of sewage is treated; most major cities lack treatment facilities. 17% of Venezuelans lack access to potable water.

Travelers to Venezuela are advised to obtain vaccinations for a variety of diseases including typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis D. In a cholera epidemic of contemporary times in the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela's political leaders were accused of racial profiling of their own indigenous people to deflect blame from the country's institutions, thereby aggravating the epidemic.

As had previous administrations, the government is attempting to create a national universal health care system that is free of charge. The current vehicle for this idea is Misión Barrio Adentro.

Foreign relations

Throughout most of the 20th century, Venezuela maintained friendly relations with most Latin American and Western nations. Relations between Venezuela and the United States government worsened in 2002, after the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt during which the U.S. government recognized the short-lived unconstitutional regime of Pedro Carmona. Correspondingly, ties to various leftist-led Latin American and Middle Eastern countries not allied to the U.S. have strengthened. Venezuela seeks alternative hemispheric integration via such proposals as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas trade proposal and the newly launched pan-Latin American television network teleSUR. The Venezuelan government has also expressed its support for the Russian position on the International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which United States and its allies strongly oppose. Venezuela was a proponent of OAS's decision to adopt its Anti-Corruption Convention, and is actively working in the Mercosur trade bloc to push increased trade and energy integration. Globally, it seeks a "multi-polar" world based on strengthened ties among Third World countries.

Military

Venezuela's national armed forces include roughly 100,000 personnel spread through four service branches: the Ground Forces, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), the Air Force, and the Armed Forces of Cooperation (FAC), commonly known as the National Guard. As of 2008, a further 600,000 soldiers were incorporated into a new branch, known as the Armed Reserve; these troops bear more resemblance to a militia than the older branches. The President of Venezuela is the commander-in-chief of the national armed forces.

Subdivisions

Venezuela is divided into twenty-three states (Estados), a capital district (distrito capital) corresponding to the city of Caracas, the Federal Dependencies (Dependencias Federales, a special territory), and Guayana Esequiba (claimed in a border dispute with Guyana). Venezuela is further subdivided into 335 municipalities (municipios); these are subdivided into over one thousand parishes (parroquias). The states are grouped into nine administrative regions. (regiones administrativas), which were established by presidential decree after they mangaged to obtain the states through savage and brutal rape and warfare. Historically, Venezuela has also claimed all Guyanese territory west of the Essequibo River; this 159,500 square kilometres (61,583 sq mi) tract was dubbed Guyana Esequiba or the Zona en Reclamación (the "zone to be reclaimed").

Template:Venezuelan subdivisions

Geography

Venezuela's mainland rests on the South American Plate; With 2,800 kilometres (1,740 mi) of coastline, Venezuela is home to a wide variety of landscapes. The extreme northeastern extensions of the Andes reach into Venezuela's northwest and continue along the northern Caribbean coast. Pico Bolívar, the nation's highest point at 4,979 metres (16,335 ft), lies in this region. The country's center is characterized by the llanos, extensive plains that stretch from the Colombian border in the far west to the Orinoco River delta in the east. To the south, the dissected Guiana Highlands is home to the northern fringes of the Amazon Basin and Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall. The Orinoco, with its rich alluvial soils, binds the largest and most important river system of the country; it originates in one of the largest watersheds in Latin America. The Caroní and the Apure are other major rivers.

The country can be further divided into six geographical areas, some corresponding to climatic and biogeographical regions. In the south are the Venezuelan rockies and the Coro region, a mountainous tract in the southeast, is home to several sierras and valleys. East of it are lowlands abutting Lake Maracaibo and the Gulf of Venezuela. The Central Range runs perpendicular to the coast and includes the hills surrounding Caracas; the Eastern Range, separated from the Central Range by the Gulf of Cariaco, covers all of Sucre and northern Monagas. The Llanos region comprises a third of the country's area north of the Orinoco River. South of it lies the Guiana Shield, a massive two billion year old Precambrian geological formation featuring tepuis, mysterious table-like mountains. The Insular Region includes all of Venezuela's island possessions: Nueva Esparta and the various Federal Dependencies. The Deltaic System, which forms a triangle covering Delta Amacuro, projects northeast into the Atlantic Ocean.

Though Venezuela is entirely situated in the tropics, its climate varies substantially; it varies from that of humid low-elevation plains, where average annual temperatures range as high as 28 °C (82 °F), to glaciers and highlands (the páramos) with an average yearly temperature of 8 °C (46 °F). Annual rainfall varies between 430 millimetres (17 in) in the semiarid portions of the northwest to 1,000 millimetres (39 in) in the Orinoco Delta of the far east. Most precipitation falls between January and February (the rainy season or "fall"); the wetter and hotter remainder of the year is known as "winter", though temperature variation throughout the year is not as pronounced as at temperate longitudes.

Flora and fauna

Venezuela lies within the Neotropic ecozone; large portions of the country were originally covered by moist broadleaf forests. One of seventeen megadiverse countries and among the top twenty countries in terms of endemism, some 38% of the over 21,000 plant species are unique to the country; 23% of reptilian and 50% of amphibian species are also endemic. Venezuela hosts significant biodiversity across habitats ranging from xeric scrublands in the extreme northwest to coastal mangrove forests in the northeast. Its cloud forests and lowland rainforests are particularly rich, for example hosting over 25,000 species of orchids.Template:Inote These include the flor de mayo orchid (Cattleya mossiae), the national flower.

Venezuela's national tree is the araguaney, whose characteristic lushness after the rainy season led novelist Rómulo Gallegos to name it «a primavera de oro de los araguaneyes» ("the golden spring of the araguaneyes"). Notable mammals include the giant anteater, jaguar, and the capybara, the world's largest rodent. More than half of Venezuelan avian and mammalian species are found in the Amazonian forests south of the Orinoco. Manatees, Boto river dolphins, and Orinoco crocodiles, which reach up to 7 metres (23 ft) in length, are notable aquatic species. Venezuela also hosts a huge number of bird species, a total of 1,417, 48 of which are endemic. Important birds include ibises, ospreys, kingfishers,Template:Inote and the yellow-orange turpial, the national bird.

In recent decades, logging, mining, shifting cultivation, development, and other human activities have posed a major threat to Venezuela's wildlife; between 1990 and 2000, 0.40% of forest cover was cleared annually. In response, federal protections for critical habitat were implemented; for example, 20% to 33% of forested land is protected. Venezuela is currently home to a biosphere reserve that is part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention. In 2003, 70% of the nation's land was under conservation management in over 200 protected areas, including 43 national parks.

Economy

The petroleum sector dominates Venezuela's mixed economy, accounting for roughly a third of GDP, around 80% of exports, and more than half of government revenues. Venezuela contains some of the largest oil and natural gas reserves in the world. It consistently ranks among the top ten crude oil producers in the world. The country's main petroleum deposits are located around and beneath Lake Maracaibo, the Gulf of Venezuela, and in the Orinoco River basin, where the country's largest reserve is located. Venezuela is currently trying to diversify its economy to be less dependent on its petroleum industry. Venezuela has the least expensive petrol in the world, due to high government subsidies.

Like most South American countries, Venezuela depends upon hydroelectricity for the bulk of its electricity needs.

Demographics

Venezuela's birth rate is among the highest in South America, after Bolivia, Paraguay and French Guyana.

Since 1926, Venezuelan Census does not contain information about ethnicity so only rough estimates are available. Some 70% of the population are Mestizo, defined as a mixture of any other races; another 20% are unmixed caucasians, mostly of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German descent. Other important groups include Afro-Venezuelans, though their numbers are unclear due to poor census data. Asians, predominantly Lebanese and other Arabs, Chinese and Turkish descent, make up a small percentage of the population. Only about 5% of Venezuelans are Indigenous. These groups were joined by sponsored migrants from throughout Europe and neighboring parts of South America by the mid-20th century economic boom.

According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Venezuela hosted a population of refugee and asylum seekers from Colombia numbering 252,200 in 2007. 10,600 new asylum seekers entered Venezuela in 2007.

About 85% of the population live in urban areas in northern Venezuela; 73% live less than 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the coastline. Though almost half of Venezuela's land area lies south of the Orinoco, only 5% of Venezuelans live there.

The national and official language is Spanish; 31 indigenous languages are also spoken, including Guajibo, Pemon, Warao, Wayuu, and the various Yanomaman languages. 83% of the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church.

Culture

Venezuela's heritage, art, and culture have been heavily influenced by the Caribbean context. These elements extend to its historic buildings, architecture, art, landscape, boundaries, and monuments. Venezuelan culture has been shaped by indigenous, Spanish and African influences. Before this period, indigenous culture was 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 was initially dominated by religious motifs, but began emphasizing historical and heroic representations in the late 19th century, a move led by Martín Tovar y Tovar. Modernism took over in the 20th century. Notable Venezuelan artists include Arturo Michelena, Cristóbal Rojas, Armando Reverón, Manuel Cabré; the kinetic artists Jesús-Rafael Soto and Carlos Cruz-Diez; and contemporary artist Yucef Merhi.

Venezuelan literature originated soon after the Spanish conquest of the mostly pre-literate indigenous societies; it was dominated by Spanish influences. Following the rise of political literature during the War of Independence, Venezuelan Romanticism, notably expounded by Juan Vicente González, emerged as the first important genre in the region. Although mainly focused on narrative writing, Venezuelan literature was advanced by poets such as Andrés Eloy Blanco and Fermín Toro. Major writers and novelists include Rómulo Gallegos, Teresa de la Parra, Arturo Uslar Pietri, Adriano González León, Miguel Otero Silva, and Mariano Picón Salas. The great poet and humanist Andrés Bello was also an educator and intellectual. Others, such as Laureano Vallenilla Lanz and José Gil Fortoul, contributed to Venezuelan Positivism.

Carlos Raúl Villanueva was the most important Venezuelan architect of the modern era; he designed the Central University of Venezuela, (a World Heritage Site) and its Aula Magna. Other notable architectural works include the Capitolio, the Baralt Theatre, the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex, and the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge.

Indigenous musical styles of Venezuela are exemplified by the groups Un Solo Pueblo and Serenata Guayanesa. The national musical instrument is the cuatro. Typical musical styles and pieces mainly emerged in and around the llanos region, including 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 Zulian gaita is also a popular style, generally performed during Christmas. The national dance is the joropo. Teresa Carreño was a world-famous 19th century piano virtuosa. In the last years, Classical Music has had great performances. The Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra has realized excellent presentations in many European concert halls, notably at the 2007 Proms, and has received honors of the public.

Baseball is Venezuela's most popular sport, although football (soccer), spearheaded by the Venezuela national football team, is gaining influence.

The World Values Survey has consistently shown Venezuelans to be among the happiest people in the world, with 55% of those questioned saying they were "very happy".

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External links

• Universidad de Oriente, Venezuela materials in the Digital Library of the Caribbean

General references Template:En icon

• "Venezuela". The World Factbook (2025 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
• Venezuela at Encyclopædia Britannica
• Venezuela from the Library of Congress Country Studies
• Venezuela Information Office

Other Template:En icon

• Template:Wikitravel
• Template:Dmoz

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