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Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Patrick DUDDY

embassy: Calle F con Calle Suapure, Urbanizacion Colinas de Valle Arriba, Caracas 1080

mailing address: P. O. Box 62291, Caracas 1060-A; APO AA 34037

telephone: [58] (212) 975-9234, 975-6411

FAX: [58] (212) 975-8991

Flag description:

three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), blue, and red with the coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band and an arc of eight white five-pointed stars centered in the blue band

Economy Venezuela

Economy - overview:

Venezuela remains highly dependent on oil revenues, which account for roughly 90% of export earnings, more than 50% of the federal budget revenues, and around 30% of GDP. A nationwide strike between December 2002 and February 2003 had far-reaching economic consequences - real GDP declined by around 9% in 2002 and 8% in 2003 - but economic output since then has recovered strongly. Fueled by high oil prices, record government spending helped to boost GDP in 2006 by about 9% and in 2007 by about 8%. This spending, combined with recent minimum wage hikes and improved access to domestic credit, has created a consumption boom but has come at the cost of higher inflation-roughly 20 percent in 2007. Imports also have jumped significantly. Embolden by his December 2006 reelection, President Hugo CHAVEZ in 2007 nationalized firms in the petroleum, communications, and electricity sectors, which reduced foreign influence in the economy. Although voters in December 2007 rejected CHAVEZ's proposed constitutional changes, CHAVEZ still has significant control of the economy and has indicated he intends to continue to consolidate and centralize authority over the economy by implementing "21st Century Socialism."

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$334.6 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$236.4 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

8.4% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$12,200 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 3.8%

industry: 38.4%

services: 57.8% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

12.37 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 13%

industry: 23%

services: 64% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate:

8.5% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:

37.9% (end 2005 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 0.7%

highest 10%: 35.2% (2003)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

48.2 (2003)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

18.7% (2007)

Investment (gross fixed):

23.7% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $65.83 billion

expenditures: $58.9 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt:

19.3% of GDP (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products:

corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee; beef, pork, milk, eggs; fish

Industries:

petroleum, construction materials, food processing, textiles; iron ore mining, steel, aluminum; motor vehicle assembly

Industrial production growth rate:

3.9% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:

99.2 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 31.7%

hydro: 68.3%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption:

73.36 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2005)

Oil - production:

2.802 million bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - consumption:

599,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

2.203 million bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - imports:

0 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - proved reserves:

79.14 billion bbl (2007 est.)

Natural gas - production:

27.53 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

27.53 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2005)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

4.112 trillion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:

$23.23 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:

$69.17 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

petroleum, bauxite and aluminum, steel, chemicals, agricultural products, basic manufactures

Exports - partners:

US 46.2%, Netherlands Antilles 13.5%, China 3.2% (2006)

Imports:

$45.46 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials

Imports - partners:

US 30.6%, Colombia 10.2%, Brazil 10.1%, Mexico 5.9%, China 4.9%, Panama 4.8% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:

$48.66 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$33.48 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$41.52 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$46.04 million (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$13.8 million (2007 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$8.251 billion (2006)

Currency (code):

bolivar (VEB)

Currency code:

VEB

Exchange rates:

bolivares per US dollar - 2,147 (2007), 2,147 (2006), 2,089.8 (2005), 1,891.3 (2004), 1,607 (2003)

note: On 1 January 2008 Venezuela revalued its currency with 1000 old bolivares equal to 1 new bolivar

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Communications Venezuela

Telephones - main lines in use:

4.217 million (2006)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

18.79 million (2006)

Telephone system:

general assessment: modern and expanding

domestic: domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations; recent substantial improvement in telephone service in rural areas; substantial increase in digitalization of exchanges and trunk lines; installation of a national interurban fiber-optic network capable of digital multimedia services; fixed-line teledensity is 16 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership jumped 50 percent in 2006

international: country code - 58; submarine cable systems provide connectivity to the Caribbean, Central and South America, and US; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 PanAmSat; participating with Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia in the construction of an international fiber-optic network

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 201, FM NA (20 in Caracas), shortwave 11 (1998)

Radios:

10.75 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

66 (plus 45 repeaters) (1997)

Televisions:

4.1 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.ve

Internet hosts:

126,500 (2007)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

16 (2000)

Internet users:

4.14 million (2006)

Transportation Venezuela

Airports:

390 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 128

over 3,047 m: 5

2,438 to 3,047 m: 10

1,524 to 2,437 m: 34

914 to 1,523 m: 61

under 914 m: 18 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 262

2,438 to 3,047 m: 1

1,524 to 2,437 m: 15

914 to 1,523 m: 97

under 914 m: 149 (2007)

Heliports:

2 (2007)

Pipelines:

extra heavy crude oil 992 km; gas 5,400 km; oil 7,607 km; refined products 1,650 km; unknown (oil/water) 141 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 682 km

standard gauge: 682 km 1.435-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 96,155 km

paved: 32,308 km

unpaved: 63,847 km (1999)

Waterways:

7,100 km

note: Orinoco River (400 km) and Lake de Maracaibo navigable by oceangoing vessels (2005)

Merchant marine:

total: 59 ships (1000 GRT or over) 808,721 GRT/1,285,783 DWT

by type: bulk carrier 7, cargo 14, chemical tanker 3, container 1, liquefied gas 6, passenger/cargo 10, petroleum tanker 17, refrigerated cargo 1

foreign-owned: 12 (Denmark 3, Greece 3, Mexico 3, Panama 1, Russia 1, Spain 1)

registered in other countries: 11 (Bahamas 1, Panama 10) (2007)

Ports and terminals:

La Guaira, Maracaibo, Puerto Cabello, Punta Cardon

Military Venezuela

Military branches:

National Armed Forces (Fuerza Armada Nacionale, FAN): Ground Forces or Army (Fuerzas Terrestres or Ejercito), Naval Forces (Fuerzas Navales or Armada; includes Marines, Coast Guard), Air Force (Fuerzas Aereas or Aviacion), Armed Forces of Cooperation or National Guard (Fuerzas Armadas de Cooperacion or Guardia Nacional)

Military service age and obligation:

18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 30 months; all citizens of military service age (between 18 and 50 years old) are obligated to register for military service (2007)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 6,647,124

females age 16-49: 6,801,133 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 5,280,974

females age 16-49: 5,768,814 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

males age 16-49: 275,323

females age 16-49: 274,106 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:

1.2% (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues Venezuela

Disputes - international:

claims all of the area west of the Essequibo River in Guyana, preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with Venezuela extends into their waters; dispute with Colombia over maritime boundary and Venezuelan-administered Los Monjes islands near the Gulf of Venezuela; Colombian-organized illegal narcotics and paramilitary activities penetrate Venezuela's shared border region; in 2006, an estimated 139,000 Colombians sought protection in 150 communities along the border in Venezuela; US, France, and the Netherlands recognize Venezuela's granting full effect to Aves Island, thereby claiming a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea; Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines protest Venezuela's full effect claim

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; Venezuelan women and girls are trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation, lured from the nation's interior to urban and tourist areas; child prostitution in urban areas and child sex tourism in resort destinations appear to be growing; Venezuelan women and girls are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to Western Europe, Mexico, and Caribbean destinations

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Venezuela is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List, up from Tier 3, as it showed greater resolve to address trafficking through law enforcement measures and prevention efforts in 2007, although stringent punishment of offenders and victim assistance remain lacking (2008)

Illicit drugs:

small-scale illicit producer of opium and coca for the processing of opiates and coca derivatives; however, large quantities of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana transit the country from Colombia bound for US and Europe; significant narcotics-related money-laundering activity, especially along the border with Colombia and on Margarita Island; active eradication program primarily targeting opium; increasing signs of drug-related activities by Colombian insurgents on border

This page was last updated on 15 July, 2008

The World Factbook

Vietnam

Introduction Vietnam

Background:

The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. Vietnam declared independence after World War II, but France continued to rule until its 1954 defeat by Communist forces under Ho Chi MINH. Under the Geneva Accords of 1954, Vietnam was divided into the Communist North and anti-Communist South. US economic and military aid to South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following a cease-fire agreement in 1973. Two years later, North Vietnamese forces overran the South reuniting the country under Communist rule. Despite the return of peace, for over a decade the country experienced little economic growth because of conservative leadership policies. However, since the enactment of Vietnam's "doi moi" (renovation) policy in 1986, Vietnamese authorities have committed to increased economic liberalization and enacted structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries. The country continues to experience protests from various groups - such as the Protestant Montagnard ethnic minority population of the Central Highlands and the Hoa Hao Buddhists in southern Vietnam over religious persecution. Montagnard grievances also include the loss of land to Vietnamese settlers.

Geography Vietnam

Location:

Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia

Geographic coordinates:

16 00 N, 106 00 E

Map references:

Southeast Asia

Area:

total: 329,560 sq km

land: 325,360 sq km

water: 4,200 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly larger than New Mexico

Land boundaries:

total: 4,639 km

border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km

Coastline:

3,444 km (excludes islands)

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:

tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (May to September) and warm, dry season (October to March)

Terrain:

low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: South China Sea 0 m

highest point: Fan Si Pan 3,144 m

Natural resources:

phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower

Land use:

arable land: 20.14%

permanent crops: 6.93%

other: 72.93% (2005)

Irrigated land:

30,000 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

891.2 cu km (1999)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic / industrial / agricultural):

total: 71.39 cu km/yr (8%/24%/68%)

per capita: 847 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong River delta

Environment - current issues: