1986 Edition

Aid

Australia (1980-83), $14.4 million

Airfields

31 total, 25 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways, 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

none

Branches

the Pope possesses full executive, legislative, and judicial powers; he delegates these powers to the President of the Pontifical Commission, who is subject to pontifical appointment and recall; the administrative structure of the Roman Catholic Church is known as the Roman Curia; its most important temporal components include the Secretariat of State and Council for Public Affairs (which handles Vatican d'plomacy) and the Prefecture of Economic Affairs; the College of Cardinals act as chief papal advisers

executive (President), bicameral legislature (National Congress — Senate, Chamber of Deputies), judiciary

Capital

Vatican City

Caracas

Civil air

no major transport aircraft

no major transport aircraft

Coastline

2,800 km People

Communists

none known

10,000 members (est.)

Elections

Supreme Pontiff elected for life by College of Cardinals

every five years by secret ballot; last held December 1983; next national election for President and bicameral legislature scheduled for December 1988 Political parties and leaders: Social Christian Party (COPEI), Godof redo Gonzalez; Democratic Action (AD), Gonzalo Barrios; Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), Pompeyo Marquez (president), Freddy Mufioz (secretary general)

Electric power

3,000 kW (standby) capacity (1985); power supplied by Italy

Ethnic divisions

primarily Italians but also many other nationalities

67% mestizo, 21% white, 10% black, 2% Indian

Government leader

JOHN PAUL II, Supreme Pontiff (Karol WOJTYLA, elected Pope 16 October 1978)

Jaime LUSINCHI, President (since February 1984)

Highways

at least 240 km sealed or all-weather roads

none (city streets)

Imports

$66 million (1984); 18% food

Infant mortality rate

36.2/1,000(1984)

Inland waterways

none

Labor force

approx. 1,500; Vatican City employees divided into three categories — executives, office workers, and salaried employees Government

5.9 million (1985); 27% services; 22% commerce; 16% agriculture; 16% manufacturing; 9% construction; 7% transportation; 3% petroleum, utilities, and other; 13.4% unemployment (1984)

Land boundaries

3 km People

4,181 km Water

Language

Italian, Latin, and various other languages

Spanish (official); Indian dialects spoken by about 200,000 Amerindians in the remote interior

Legal system

Canon laws of 1929 serve some of the functions of a constitution

based on Napoleonic code; constitution promulgated 1961; judicial review of legislative acts in Cassation Court only; dual court system, state and federal; legal education at Central University of Venezuela; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Life expectancy

men 64.0, women 69.0

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (200 nirt exclusive economic zone)

Literacy

100%

85.6%

Member

IAEA, INTELSAT, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, UPU, WIPO, WTO; permanent observer status at FAO, OAS, UN, and UNESCO Economy The Vatican City, seat of the Holy See, is supported financially by contributions (known as Peter's pence) from Roman Catholics throughout the world; some income derived from sale of Vatican postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to Vatican museums, and sale of publications; industrial activity consists solely of printing and production of a small amount of mosaics and staff uniforms; the banking and financial Vatican City (continued) Venezuela activities of the Vatican are worldwide; the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) carries out fiscal operations and invests and transfers funds of Roman Catholic religious communities throughout the world; the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See manages the Holy See's capital assets; the Vatican announced an operating deficit of $25 million for 1981

Monetary conversion rate

102.034 vatu=US$l; 1.44 Australian dollars=US$l (6 February 1986) Communications

the Vatican issues its own coinage, which is interchangeable with the Italian lira; 1,785.4 lira=US$ 1 (February 1984) Communications

National holiday

30 June

Independence Day, 5 July

Nationality

noun — Venezuelan(s); adjective— Venezuelan

Official name

State of the Vatican City

Republic of Venezuela

Organized labor

32% of labor force Government

Other political or pressure groups

none (exclusive of influence exercised by other church officers in universal Roman Catholic Church)

Personnel

no military forces maintained; however, a paramilitary force is responsible for internal and external security 250 meters Land 0.438 km2

Political subdivisions

Vatican City includes St. Peter's, the Vatican Palace and Museum, and neighboring buildings covering more than 100 acres; 13 buildings in Rome and Castel Gandolfo, the Pope's summer residence, although outside the boundaries, enjoy extraterritorial rights

20 states, 1 federal district, 2 federal territories, and 72 island dependencies in the Caribbean

Population

737 (July 1986), average annual growth rate 0.1%

17,791,000 (July 1986), average annual growth rate 2.7%

Ports

2 minor (PortVila, Santo)

Railroads

none

none

Religion

Roman Catholic

96% nominally Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant

Suffrage

limited to cardinals less than 80 years old

universal and compulsory over age 18, though rarely enforced

Telecommunications

2 AM stations; 2,400 telephones (2.4 per 100 popl.); 1 ground satellite station under construction Defense Forces

2 AM and 2 FM stations; 2,000-line automatic telephone exchange Defense Forces Defense is the responsibility of Italy 400km Caribbean Sea Boundary represenlal not necessarily authoriU1 S« regional mip IV Land 912,050 km2; more than twice the size of California; 21% forest; 18% pasture; 4% cropland; 57% urban, waste, or other

Type

monarchical-sacerdotal state

republic

Voting strength

(1983 election) 56.8% AD, 34.5% COPEI, 4.17% MAS, 4.53% others