Suffering from widespread shortages of food, water,and health care, along with triple-digit inflation,many Venezuelans in 2016 saw a solution to their

country’s problems in the removal of Pres. NicolásMaduro. By May some 1.8 million signatures had beencollected on a petition to trigger a broader petition onwhether to hold a recall vote. Dates were set in October,during which the signatures of 20% of eligible voters ineach state would have to becollected to bring about arecall referendum; however,the second round of signa-ture collection was indefi-nitely suspended after lowercourts declared that fraudhad compromised the first-round effort.

Vital statisticsBirth rate per 1,000 pop-ulation (2015): 19.5(world avg. 19.5).

Death rate per 1,000population (2015): 5.2(world avg. 8.1).

Life expectancy at birth(2015): male 72.5 years;female 78.7 years.

DemographyPopulation (2016): 31,029,000.Density (2016): persons per sq mi 87.7,persons per sq km 33.9.

Sex distribution (2015): male 49.78%;female 50.22%.

Population projection: (2020)32,605,000; (2030) 36,112,000.

Major cities (urban agglomer-ations; 2011): Caracas1,942,652 (3,242,000); Mara-caibo 1,898,770 (2,310,000);Valencia 1,378,958 (1,866,-000); Barquisimeto 936,651(1,245,000); CiudadGuayana 672,651 (799,000).

Urban-rural (2014):

Venezuela

Official name: República Bolivariana deVenezuela (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela).

Form of government: federal multiparty republicwith a unicameral legislature (NationalAssembly [1671]).

Head of state and government: President NicolásMaduro.

Capital: Caracas.Official language: Spanish2.Official religion: none.Monetary unit: bolívar3 (plural bolívares; VEF);

valuation (Sept. 1, 2016) 1 U.S.$ = VEF 9.994; 1 £ = VEF 13.28.

Ethnic composition (2000):

Age breakdown (2015):

Religious affiliation (2005):

Area and populationarea population area population

2011 2011States sq km census States sq km census

Amazonas 180,145 146,480Anzoátegui 43,300 1,469,747Apure 76,500 459,025Aragua 7,014 1,630,308Barinas 35,200 816,264Bolívar 238,000 1,410,964Carabobo 4,650 2,245,744Cojedes 14,800 323,165Delta Amacuro 40,200 167,676Falcón 24,800 902,847Guárico 64,986 747,739Lara 19,800 1,774,867Mérida 11,300 828,592Miranda 7,950 2,675,165Monagas 28,900 905,443

Nueva Esparta 1,150 491,610Portuguesa 15,200 876,496Sucre 11,800 896,291Táchira 11,100 1,168,908Trujillo 7,400 686,367Vargas 1,497 352,920Yaracuy 7,100 600,852Zulia 63,100 3,704,404

Other federal entitiesDependencias Federales 120 2,155

Distrito Capital 433 1,943,901

TOTAL 916,445 27,227,9305

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National economyBudget (2006). Revenue: VEB 117,326,000,000,000 (petroleum income

52.9%; nonpetroleum income 47.1%). Expenditures:VEB 117,255,000,000,000 (current expenditure 75.0%;development expenditure 22.8%).

Production (metric tons except as noted). Agriculture,forestry, fishing (2014): sugarcane 6,185,875, corn(maize) 2,271,059, rice 1,158,056, oranges 669,3548,pineapples 564,2028, potatoes 503,367, bananas 459,3528,palm fruit oil 407,111, plantains 391,8878, cassava357,876, carrots and turnips 220,1218, sorghum 131,876,coconuts 121,096, avocados 113,8428, coffee 77,2158;livestock (number of live animals) 16,816,301 cattle,450,000 rabbits and hares, 123,000,000 chickens; round-wood (2015) 5,514,360 cu m, of which fuelwood 76%;fisheries production 240,447 (from aquaculture 13%).

Mining and quarrying (2013): iron ore 6,600,00012; bauxite 2,160,000;aluminum13 152,100; gold 1,691 kg12. Manufacturing (value added inVEB ’000,000,000; 2004): food and food products 8,122; iron and steel3,022; refined petroleum products 2,890; soaps, paints, and pharma-ceuticals 1,835; base chemicals 1,582; printing and publishing 1,580;fabricated metal products 1,465; nonferrous base metals 1,377. Energyproduction (consumption): electricity (kW-hr; 2012) 127,600,000,000(87,873,000,000), by source (2013): fossil fuels 30.8%; renewable ener-gy 69.2%, of which hydroelectric 69.2%; coal (metric tons; 2012)1,300,000 ([2011] 281,000); crude petroleum (barrels; 2013–14)988,000,000 ([2011] 375,000,000); petroleum products (metric tons;2012) 62,414,000 ([2011] 34,290,000); natural gas (cu m; 2012)24,900,000,000 ([2011] 33,100,000,000).

Average household size (2005): 4.5.Gross national income (GNI; 2014): U.S.$395,597,000,000 (U.S.$12,820per capita); purchasing power parity GNI (U.S.$17,140 per capita).

Public debt (external, outstanding; 2013): U.S.$45,607,000,000.Population economically active (2014): total 15,040,000; participationrates (2015): age 15 and over, male 78.1%; female 49.9%; unemployed6.8%, of which youth (ages 15–24) 14.6%.

Land use as % of total land area (2011): in temporary crops or left fal-low 2.9%, in permanent crops 0.7%, in pasture 20.4%, forest area52.1%.

MilitaryTotal active duty personnel (November 2015):

115,000 (army 54.8%, navy 15.2%, air force10.0%, national guard 20.0%). Militaryexpenditure as percentage of GDP (2015):0.9%; per capita expenditure U.S.$41.

Foreign tradeImports (2013): U.S.$45,151,100,000 (machinery andelectrical equipment 27.5%; chemicals and chemi-cal products 16.6%; base and fabricated metals9.5%; live animals and animal products 8.9%; veg-etables and vegetable products 5.8%). Major import sources:

Exports (2010): U.S.$66,962,700,000 (mineral fuelsand lubricants 93.4%, of which crude petroleum65.9%; basic manufactures 2.9%; iron and steel1.6%). Major export destinations:

Transport and communicationsTransport. Railroads: route length(2009) 806 km; metric ton-km cargo(2004) 22,000,000. Roads (2004):total length 96,200 km (paved 34%).Vehicles (2007): passenger cars2,952,129; trucks and buses 1,091,883.

Education and healthLiteracy (2015): percentage of population age 15 and overliterate 96.3%; males literate 96.4%; females literate96.2%.

Health: physicians (2007) 35,247 (1 per 769 persons); hospi-tal beds (2011) 25,918 (1 per 1,111 persons); infant mortal-ity rate (2015) 12.8; undernourished population (2006–08)1,900,000 (7% of total population based on the consump-tion of a minimum daily requirement of 1,840 calories).

1Includes 3 seats reserved for indigenous residents. 2Indigenous Indian languages are also official. 3Thebolívar was redenominated on Jan. 1, 2008; as of this date 1,000 (old) bolívares (VEB) = 1 (new) bolí-var or “bolívar fuerte” (VEF). 4The rising black market rate of the “bolívar fuerte” (VEF) byNovember 2016 was about 1 U.S.$ = VEF 1,500. 5Census figures not adjusted for underenumeration;preliminary estimated total population (2011) 28,946,101. 6At prices of 1997. 7Includes refined petrole-um. 82013. 9Excludes refined petroleum. 10Includes 872,900 unemployed. 11Detail does not add to totalgiven because of rounding. 12Metal content. 13Metal; primary; unalloyed. 14Subscribers.

Internet resources for further information:• Instituto Nacional de Estadística www.ine.gov.ve• Banco Central de Venezuela www.bcv.org.ve

Structure of gross domestic product and labour force2009 2008

in value % of total labour % of labourVEB ’000,000,0006 value6 force force

Agriculture, forestry, fishing … … 1,005,900 7.9Petroleum and natural gas 6,471.47 11.57

106,800 0.8Mining and quarrying 307.4 0.5Manufacturing 8,633.99 15.49 1,416,400 11.1Construction 3,890.8 6.9 1,153,700 9.1Public utilities 1,292.9 2.3 54,700 0.4Transp. and commun. 5,092.5 9.1 1,042,500 8.2Trade, hotels 5,687.7 10.2 2,808,900 22.1Finance, real estate 7,877.3 14.1 614,000 4.8Pub. admin., defense 6,610.7 11.8 3,633,800 28.5Services 3,292.8 5.9Other 6,865.2 12.3 899,40010 7.110

TOTAL 56,022.711 100.0 12,736,100 100.0

}

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Communications units unitsnumber per 1,000 number per 1,000

Medium date in ’000s persons Medium date in ’000s persons

TelephonesCellular 2015 29,09414 93014

Landline 2015 7,780 249

Internet users 2009 8,847 310Broadband 2015 2,58014 8214

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