An Overview of the Venezuela's Economic System and Population Statistics

Venezuela is a country that consists of 353,841 square miles of land. Its absolute location is 6.4238° N, 66.5897° W. The north side of Venezuela is surrounded by the Caribbean sea. This country is separated into regions and some examples of distinct regions are the Maracaibo lowlands, Northern Highlands, Central Plains, and the Guiana Highlands. The range of different types of landscapes of the regions tells us that there are different climates according to the different regions. Some of these regions are separated by rivers or consist of lakes. The country of Venezuela has many rivers running through as well as many lakes. One of the longer rivers is the Orinoco River that runs all the way through Venezuela. The Orinoco River is very useful for Venezuela because it provides a transportation source for Venezuelans. Also, cattle are raised near the basins and crops like sugarcane and rice are grown near the water source. Venezuela is located in the Northern and Western hemispheres of the world. Venezuela is one of many countries that is located in South America. It is positioned more toward the northern part of South America. In the Northern part, Venezuela is between the two countries Colombia and Guyana. Although the two countries are right next to each other, the relationship between Colombia and Venezuela is not very good.

Due to the variety of landscape in Venezuela, there are both Rainy and Dry seasons. During the rainy seasons, if the rain gets too heavy then they to get around town with boats that are required for transportation instead of cars, bikes, motorcycles, or another method of normal transportation. In Venezuela, there aren’t four seasons so there is no real Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. It is mostly hot and humid year-round mostly in the lowlands while highlands are generally cold.

In conclusion, Venezuela is an average sized country that is located in the northern parts of South America. It has different regions which consist of hot and humid weather or colder temperatures. This country has a lot of water resources from the lakes, rivers, and the Caribbean Sea that surrounds one side of Venezuela. Transportation by boats along rivers can be common and are also common during rainy seasons when roads are flooded.

The total population of Venezuela is around 31.98 million people. Currently, they are at Demographic transition stage 3 which has a declining CBR rate with a very low CDR. During Stage three of the demographic transition, the RNI of the country generally starts declining. The Arithmetic Density of Venezuela is 32, meaning there are thirty-two people per unit of land. The Physiological Density is 797, meaning there are seven hundred and ninety-seven people per unit of arable land in Venezuela.

The crude birth rate (CBR) is 21 out of 1000 meaning there are 21 live births in one year out of 1000 people in the country of Venezuela. On the other hand, the crude death rate (CDR) of Venezuela is 5 out of 1000 meaning there are 5 deaths in a year per 1000 people. Having a higher CBR rather than a higher CDR is good because more people are being born than dying. This keeps the population from dying out. The infant mortality rate (IMR) is 15 deaths per 1000 births which means there are 15 deaths of babies for every 1000 babies that are born. The life expectancy for a person living in Venezuela is about 76 years. All these rates contribute to the natural increase rate (NIR) which is 1.6%. For a female in Venezuela, the life expectancy is 76 years old and for a male in Venezuela, the life expectancy is 77 years old. Woman in Venezuela generally has around two babies (TFR) because families can only afford two children per family. When looking at the migration trends in Venezuela more people migrate out of Venezuela than into the country. This is why the net migration of the country is -1.2/1000. Many emigrants move to places such as Brazil, Peru, Argentina, and Colombia. Some push factors that cause people to want to immigrate to another country are riots which are dangerous and are an economic threat. The climate is also very hot and humid due to its close location to the equator. Poverty and disease are also two major push factors. The pull factors of Venezuela are its biodiversity of animals, natural landmarks, closeness to the ocean, and the prominent Catholic region.

In conclusion, with a pretty large population of 31 million people, Venezuela is a country whose population continues to grow. Seeing that the life expectancy of a person is 76 in Venezuela, this tells me that they can work on sanitation and health care for people so they don’t die of the disease. Seeing that more people move out of Venezuela that is moving in ways that the conditions of this country aren’t great. More push factors in a country are never good for its economy or the people living there. Venezuela is more of a poverty filled country and they do not have the best medical care even though the population is increasing.

One type of folk culture that the Venezuelans have is the Joropo which is a type of traditional dance that they have. This is a Venezuelan folk culture because this is a dance that only native Venezuelans dance together in. On the other hand, popular culture in Venezuela can be seen as pop and rock music because those two genres of music are commonly enjoyed in Venezuela. This can be classified as a popular culture due to non-Venezuelans still listening and enjoying rock and pop music. There is a mix of identity in Venezuela. A majority (68%) of people who live in Venezuela are mixed. These mixed citizens are called Mestizos. Some examples of mixed citizens are White Venezuelans, Black Venezuelans, and Indigenous Venezuelans. These different mixed could have formed through relocation diffusion of people from different ethnicities coming to Venezuela and having children with the native Venezuelans. The Women in Venezuela want rights and are abused, because of the tendency of men to be sexist in Venezuela and women not feeling equality of rights.

Although Spanish is Venezuela's official language, there are Venezuelan dialects which have sub-families such as the Caracas dialect, Zulian dialect, Lara dialect, Andean dialect, and the Margarita dialect. The different dialects can be due to borders or separation of cities leading to different dialects of a language. There are also several indigenous languages in Venezuela such as Warao, Chengtu, Wayuu, Panare, Piaroa, Kahlina, Guahibo, etc. The dominant religion in Venezuela is Catholicism. During the colonization of Venezuela by Spain, relocation diffusion occurred bringing the religion of Catholicism to the country of Venezuela. The next largest religion in Venezuela would be protestant Christianity. In conclusion, Venezuela is filled with both folk culture, and popular culture. Although Venezuela is filled with indigenous Venezuelans, there are a large number of mixed Venezuelans that are living in Venezuela. These different identities have made different dialects of the official Venezuelan language which is Spanish.

From 1895-1899 there was a Boundary dispute between the British territory and the Venezuelan Territory because the British claimed land that was already the Venezuelans territory. The Venezuelans protested against the British for their land. This issue could have occurred due to improper territorial boundary specifications on the Venezuelan side. The shooting at the Venezuela Colombia border, led to a bad relationship between the two countries even though they are neighboring countries.

Venezuela is currently under a federal government with the central government having restricted power. The 23 states of Venezuela make up the multi-state nation of Venezuela. Many people share a common ethnic or linguistic culture throughout all of Venezuela making it a multi-state nation. A supranational organization that Venezuela is part of is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting in which Venezuela was one of the founders. Some political boundaries that Venezuela shares with are countries like Guyana, Brazil, and Colombia. Political boundaries are simply a border that separates cities or countries. A physical border that Venezuela has is the Caribbean Sea. The shape of the country of Venezuela is prorupted because there is an extension of land coming out from the country that extends out.

There are some centrifugal forces in Venezuela, and the biggest one is the division of people due to the high murder rate. The high murder rates are probably due to poverty and internal conflicts. Venezuela is more of a periphery country filled with poverty and is less developed. In conclusion, Venezuela’s political geography has a lot of room for improvement. Due to their high levels of poverty, it becomes a centrifugal force for people to become divided. Their relationship with Colombia is not on great terms, but instead of having an issue with the border, they should improve their security there so that there are no more shootings of refugees. In Venezuela crops like rice, corn, and coffee are produced. Due to the tropical climate region, Venezuela has hot and humid weather, so they grow crops that require hot temperatures and humid weather. Commercial Agriculture is present through the is plantation agriculture happening in Venezuela. The cash crops that are grown in these larger farms are typically coffee, cotton, and cacao. These crops are grown to be exported to other countries for an economic profit. Also, laborers are employed and get paid for this job. Subsistence farming is also present because there are smaller villages in which they farm for only themselves and their families.

Although there is a lot of farming there is limited deforestation. The rates of deforestation are very low in Venezuela. Conserving the forests is very helpful for them, because many of the indigenous people live in the forests and need their homes, and they are conserving resources that they might need in the future. About 10 % of the labor force of Venezuela is taken up by agriculture. In Venezuela, a law was passed to make GMOs illegal. Although GMOs have not been proven to be bad, there are many people who are afraid that GMOs with be harmful to their body. Venezuela, therefore, made GMOs illegal due to the popular demand. In conclusion, Venezuela has a very tropical climate, so crops like rice, corn, and coffee are produced. Plantation and subsistence farming are present in the country of Venezuela. They conserve their forests, therefore, leading to limited amounts of deforestation.

The largest industry of Venezuela is its oil industry. They rank 6th in the world for their oil reserves. Their oil goes to 13% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 51% of the money received by the government, and 81% of their exports. Due to Venezuela being a poor country the things they export are mainly natural products like oil.

The dependency ratio of Venezuela is 52.27%. This means that half the people that are working are under 15 or older than 64 and the other half that is working are 15-64 years old. The gross domestic product of Venezuela is $482.4 billion. This GDP is very low compared to the US which has a GDP of $19.39 trillion. The meaning of GDP is the total value to goods produced are services provided in a country during one year, so this tells us that not many goods are produced and that not many services are provided compared to other countries. The GDI of Venezuela is $400 billion. So What? Gross domestic income (GDI) is the sum of all income earned while producing goods and services within a nation's borders. The GDI of the USA is $20,000 billion. This tells us that even though it may be a lot of money for Venezuela, compared to other countries not a lot of money goes into goods and services.

The most industrialized regions of Venezuela are Valencia which is the capital of the Carabobo state and Guayana. The good that Venezuela supply and export are primary goods such as petroleum (oil), iron, agriculture, and fishing. Although Venezuela might have a lot of exports they are a periphery country due to its underdevelopment and income of a disproportionately small share of global wealth. The main industry of the country of Venezuela is the Petroleum (oil) industry. Their GDP and GDI are lower than the more developed countries but are enough to be economically stable. Venezuela is a periphery country whose exports are mostly primary goods. Although 85% of Venezuela’s population is urbanized still 90% of the population live in poverty. Caracas is the capital of Venezuela and due to harsh conditions and the weather Caracas continuously is going through gentrification. This city, Caracas, is the main city of Venezuela and it also takes the role of the central business district (CBD). The most urbanized areas in Venezuela are Caracas, Maracaibo, and Guayana.

The model that Venezuela most closely follows is the Multiple nuclei model. The CBD, in which this case is Caracas, is toward the left corner of the country just as it is in the model as well. The residential distribution is also very closely related not just with the amount of each sector but also with placement. Venezuela has a very large amount of low-income, underpaid workers. Venezuela is most densely populated on the left side and get less and less populated going toward the right side of the country. This tells us that because the majority of the population is underpaid, the most of them will be living together. This also follows the Multiple Nuclei model. In conclusion, much if Venezuela is urbanized, but there is also an overwhelming amount of poverty filling the country. Caracas is the main city of Venezuela, being the CBD and also being the most urbanized city in Venezuela. The city of Venezuela follows the city model called the Multiple Nuclei model by Harris and Ullman.