1987 Edition

Boundary disputes

claims Essequibo area of Guyana; maritime dispute with Colombia

Climate

temperate; mild, rainy winters (September to mid-May) with hot, dry summers (May to September)

tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands

Coastline

2,800 km

Comparative area

about one-four hundredth the size of Washington, D. C.

about twice the size of California

Contiguous zone

15 nm

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploitation

Environment

urban

Angel Falls is world’s highest waterfall

Extended economic zone

200 nm

Land boundaries

4,18] km total

Land boundary

3 km with Italy

Land use

0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other

3% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 20% meadows and pastures; 39% forest and woodland; 37% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Special notes

landlocked; enclave of Rome, Italy; world’s smallest state

on major sea and air routes linking North and South America

Terrain

low hill

Andes mountains and Maracaibo lowlands in northwest; central plains (Ilanos); Guyana highlands in southeast

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

0.438 km?; land area: 0.438 km?

912,050 km?; land area: 882,050 km?

Ethnic divisions

primarily Italians but also many other nationalities

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

Infant mortality rate

36.2/1,000 (1984)

Labor force

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

5.8 million (1985), 56% services, 28% industry, 16% agriculture (1980); 10.5% unemployment (December 1986)

Language

Italian, Latin, and various other languages

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

Life expectancy

men 64.0, women 69.0

Literacy

100%

85.6%

Nationality

noun—Venezuelan(s); adjective—Venezuelan

Organized labor

32% of labor force

Population

738 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 0.14%

18,291,134 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.66%

Religion

Roman Catholic

96% nominally Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant

Administrative divisions

outside the Vatican, 13 buildings in Rome and Castel Gandolfo (the Pope’s summer residence) enjoy extraterritorial rights

20 states, 1 federal district, 2 federal territories

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 diplomacy) 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

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), Eduardo Fernandez (secretary general), Democratic Action (AD), Gonzalo Barrios, Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), Pompeyo Marquez (president), Freddy Mujfioz (secretary general)

Government leader

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

Jaime LUSINCHI, President (since February 1984)

Legal system

Canon laws of 1929 serve some 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; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Member

IAEA, INTELSAT, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, UPU, WIPO, WTO; permanent observer status at FAO, OAS, UN, and UNESCO

Member of

Andean Pact, AIOEC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, {DB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, LAIA, OAS, OPEC, PAHO, SELA, WFTU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

22 October (installation day of Pope John Paul II)

Independence Day, 5 July

Official name

State of the Vatican City

Republic of Venezuela

Other political or pressure groups

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

FEDECAMARAS, a conservative business group

Suffrage

limited to cardinals less than 80 years old

universal and compulsory over age 18, though rarely enforced

Type

monarchical-sacerdotal state

republic

Voting strength

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

Agriculture

cereals, fruits, sugar, coffee, rice; an illegal producer of cannabis for the international drug trade

Budget

revenues, $12.2 billion; expenditures, $16.6 billion (1987 est.)

Crude steel

2.8 million metric tons produced (1985), 160 kg per capita

Electric power

3,000 kW capacity (1986)—power supplied by Italy

17,000,000 kW capacity; 50,240 million kWh produced, 2,820 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$12.3 billion (f.0.b.1985) petroleum (84%)

Fishing

catch 301,372 metric tons (1985); exports $31.9 million (1985), imports $30.0 million (1982)

GDP

$57 billion (1986 est.), $3,200 per capita (1986 est.), 58% private consumption, 13% public consumption, 16% gross investment (1986); real growth rate 3% (1986); 11.5% inflation rate (1986)

Imports

$8.2 billion (c.i-f., 1985)

Major industries

petroleum, iron-ore mining, construction, food processing, textiles, steel, aluminum, motor vehicles

Major trade partners

imports—50% US, 6% Italy, 5% Japan, 5% FRG, 4.5% France, 4% Brazil, 3% UK; exports—41% US, 17% Netherlands Antilles, 7% FRG, 5% Canada, 4% Italy (1985)

Monetary conversion rate

the Vatican issues its own coinage, which is interchangeable with the Italian lira; 1,337.0 lira=US$1 (January 1987)

Natural resources

petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydroelectric power

Highways

none (city streets)

Telecommunications

2 AM and 2 FM stations; 2,000-line automatic telephone exchange