History And Geography

History

Nomadic Indian tribes originally inhabited Venezuela until Christopher Columbus sighted this place on his third voyage. After the country was discovered, it became a colony managed by Spanish bureaucrats and the clergy. The earlier colonists initially explored the land in the hope of finding gold, but soon turned their attention to agriculture, using Indian labor and imported black slaves. The Spaniards ruled comfortably for the next three hundred years without facing any rebellion.

Under the guidance of Simon Bolivar, the South American independence movement, previously started by Francisco de Miranda, resulted in the defeat of the Spanish and freedom of Venezuela in 1821. Columbia, Ecuador and Venezuela unified into one state soon after liberation. The leaders of the new state of Gran Columbia, failed however, to maintain stable control over such a vast region. In 1830, it was divided into three independent republics. From 1830 to 1858, Venezuela was controlled by a succession of military dictatorship, frequented by political strife and civil wars.

The country also faced international problems in the 1840s when Venezuela laid claim on two thirds of the British controlled Guyana territory, initiating a long running border dispute. As a result, international relations between the two countries grew bitter.

Military rule continued in Venezuela right up to the 1900s and under the administration of General Juan Vicente Gomez, the country was fairly stabilized, mainly due to the discovery of oil. Venezuela took little time to become one of the world's leading oil exporters and prospered greatly.

Oil production increased in the 1940s and 1950s, and enabled President Marcos Perez Jimenez to reward members of his government with large sums of money and modernize the country. The country gradually began to oppose the Jimenez regime. After his overthrow in 1958, Romulo Bertancourt was elected President and the nation became highly democratic. He was the first Venezuelan president to serve full term. His programs helped to stabilize the economy and the political scenario in the country. Over the next twenty-five years, five presidents were constitutionally elected. Today, Venezuela is under the presidency of Hugo Chavez Frķas, who was elected in the December of 1998.

Geography

The geographic co-ordinates of Venezuela are 8 00 N and 66 00 W. The country lies in a tropical zone, occupying the far northeastern part of South America. Venezuela is bordered by Brazil to the south, Columbia to the west and Guyana to the southeast. The Caribbean Sea lies to the north and the Atlantic Ocean lies to its east.

The country covers an area of 912,050 square kilometers (566,383 square miles). Venezuela stretches up to 1,290 kilometers (801 miles) east to west and 1,050 kilometers (652 miles) north to south. The elevation of the Guiana Highlands is around 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) above sea level and that of the Andes Mountains is 5,007 meters (16,427 feet) above sea level.

Venezuela features an incredibly diverse landscape encompassing 10 broad geographical areas. Numerous Caribbean Islands, lie of the north coast of the country, the biggest of which is Isla Margarita. The Andes in the west connect with the Cordillera de la Costa, a mountain chain in the north, which runs along the Caribbean coast. The Andes also continue south to Los Llanos, a giant plain that stretches east as far as the Caura River, which flows through Venezuela's second largest forest reserve after Amazonas. The Amazon basin is located south of Los Llanos and is the largest rain forest in the world. The Gran Sabana begins east of the Caura River forest and forms a part of the Guayana Highlands that extend up to the rainforests of the Orinoco Delta in the northeast and the Brazilian border in the south.

The nation's capital, Caracas and the majority of developed areas are situated in the Central region of Venezuela. Half the country is occupied by vast grasslands and rainforests, while semi-tropical evergreen forests cover around two-fifths of the nation. Less than 4% of the land is cultivated with irrigated land of about 540 square kilometers. Major natural resources available in the country are petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower and diamonds.