notes on venezuela
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Cultural, Geographical and Historical information aboutTRANSCRIPT
Notes of VenezuelaSpanish 2Denver High School (Mrs. Huff)
Location
On the Northern coast of South America, touching the Caribbean Sea
Bordering Guyana (east), Brazil (south) and Colombia (west)
Cities and Urban Areas
Capital: Caracas Other major cities:
Maracaibo & Valencia
Venezuela is the most urbanized South American nation
85% of the total population lives in cities in Northern Venezuela
23 StatesAnd 1 Federal District (Caracas) and 1 zone of dispute with Guyana
People and Population
Population is 29,105,632 Pop. of Texas =
25,000,000
An estimated 1,000,000 illegal immigrants live in Venezuela (mostly from Colombia)
Venezuela does not report information about ethnicity (meaning they don’t gather data on the race of the population)
Best estimates say
60% of the pop. = Mestizo or Mulatto
30% of the pop. = European
10% of the pop. = Various Indian tribes
Languages & Geography
Language: Venezuelan Spanish A different type of
Spanish that comes from the Canary Islands
Over 40 different languages regularly spoken in Venezuela
92% Roman Catholic; 7% Christian
Money and Economy
Currency: Bolivar Fuerte
$1.00 US = $4.967 VEF (Bolivar Fuerte)
Has a profitable oil industry and a lot of corruption 13th highest GDP in the
world but most citizens live on less than $2
Government
President: Hugo Chavéz Took office in 1999 Very controversial
figure; major opposition in 1997
Free, universal health care for everybody
13,000 – 17,000 BCEHunting artifacts, tools and tribal remains in Venezuela
1498
Christopher Columbus lands on the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama and sends explorers out to discover new land
1499 – Explorers arrive in Venezuela and name it “Venezuela”, which means “Little Venice”
African Slaves brought to Venezuela to work in gold mines1550’s: Slave trade strong in South American/Caribbean (becomes popular in the US)
1770’s
Venezuela’s economy is largely agricultural, thanks to the cocoa industry
1808 Problems over in Spain
French take over Spain
French leader Napoleon appoints his brother, Joseph as King of Spain
South American countries are unhappy with Joseph as their King.
1811: Venezuela begins the War for Independence
1821 Independent Super Country
Revolutionary hero and leader Simon Bolivar creates an independent country called Gran Colombia Consists of all of
today’s present day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela, parts of Guyana, Brazil & Peru
1830 Venezuela separates and becomes own country
1899-1925 Big Men, Big Guns
Military strongmen operate Venezuela
No one leader
Very poor nation with an unstable and dangerous government and economy
Venezuela Hearts Baseball1941: After a World Baseball exhibition game in Havana, Cuba, baseball becomes popular in Hispanic countries (very much so in Venezuela)
1925 – 1980 Struck it Rich
Discovery and export of oil in Venezuela booms the economy Mixed results for the total
population Country has a lot of
money, some rich people
Citizens still poor and needy
1980: Oil market crashes and Venezuela’s economy is crippled
1992 Here Comes Hugo
Hugo Chavez attempts to overthrown the out of control and unstable government leaders
Thrown in jail; later released
1998: Chavez elected president Attempts to disperse
money to low-class through health care and education
Hugo + FidelHugo and Fidel Castro of Cuba become best friends and allies. Adopt a similar leadership style
2002 Unpopular Leader Chavez is overthrown but
regains control after 2 days
2005: United States FBI and CIA discuss attempts to assassinate Hugo Chavez
2006: Hugo is “re-elected” and changes term limits Largely suspected that
he rigged the election No limit on how long a
leader may serve = Hugo Forever