VENEZUELA

officially Republic of Venezuela, Spanish Repblica de Venezuela, country located at the northern extremity of the South American continent. It occupies a roughly triangular area of 352,144 square miles (912,050 square kilometres). It is bounded by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the southwest and west. The national capital, Caracas, is the primary centre of industry, commerce, education, and tourism. Reflecting the nation's rapid urbanization, the Caracas metropolitan area population increased sixfold between 1950 and 1980. Venezuela has jurisdiction over a number of Caribbean islands, among which are Margarita Island, the largest, Los Roques, Tortuga, and La Blanquilla. There is a long-standing dispute with Guyana, dating to 1840, over territorial jurisdiction of that country's area west of the Essequibo River, of which Venezuela claims some 53,000 square miles. A dispute with another neighbour, Colombia, over the precise demarcation of maritime boundaries has also endured at length. A physically diverse country, Venezuela has landscapes that are a complex product of the interaction of culture and nature. The republic's development pattern has been unique among Latin-American countries in terms of the speed, sequence, and timing of economic and demographic growth. The 20th century witnessed the transformation of a relatively poor agrarian society to a rapidly urbanizing one, a condition brought about by the wealth and prosperity derived from the exploitation of the country's huge petroleum reserves. These changes, however, have been accompanied by problems of economic imbalance and regional inequalities, with often acute political debate over the meaning and direction of local and national development. The government must deal with a massive and largely uncontrolled rural-to-urban migration, as well as mass immigration, much of it illegal, from Colombia and other neighbours. Once primarily a food exporter, Venezuela has become heavily dependent upon imported food and commodities to satisfy the domestic material demands and life-styles of its urban population. Years of petrodollar abundance were accompanied by undisciplined borrowing from overseas financial institutions, leaving the country with a growing debt-repayment problem, a condition that was intensified by the oil depression of the late 1970s and '80s. Venezuela has also not been exempt from the type of governmental patronage and corruption commonly regarded as traditional in Latin-American countries. On the other hand the republic can point to a notable degree of political stability and basic democracy since the late 1950s. officially Republic of Venezuela, Spanish Repblica de Venezuela country at the northern extremity of South America. The capital is Caracas. The country's greatest extent is about 650 miles (1,050 km) from north to south and about 800 miles (1,285 km) from east to west. It is bordered on the east by Guyana, on the south by Brazil, and on the west by Colombia. Venezuela fronts the Caribbean Sea on the north and the Atlantic Ocean on the northeast. Area 352,144 square miles (912,050 square km). Pop. (1991 est.) 19,733,000. Additional reading General introductions are provided by Howard I. Blutstein et al., Area Handbook for Venezuela, 3rd ed. (1977); and Esto es Venezuela (annual). The country's geography is discussed in David Robinson, Colombia and Venezuela, ch. 5 in Harold Blakemore and Clifford T. Smith (eds.), Latin AmericaGeographical Perspectives, 2nd ed. (1983), pp. 187240; and Pablo Vila (Pau Vila), Geografa de Venezuela, vol. 1, El territorio nacional y su ambiente fsico (1960), which also includes information on culture. Edgar Bustamente (ed.), Maravillosa Venezuela (1987), portrays the splendour and diversity of regional landscapes. Geographic, economic, and historical themes are presented by Venezuela, Direccin de Cartografa Nacional, Atlas de Venezuela, 2nd ed. (1979). Studies of the population include Jess A. Aguilera, La poblacin de Venezuela: dinmica histrica, socioeconmica, y geogrfica (1980); and Angelina Pollak-Eltz, "The Family in Venezuela, in Man Singh Das and Clinton J. Jesser (eds.), The Family in Latin America (1980), pp. 1245.Economic development issues are addressed in The Economist Intelligence Unit, South America (1987), a concise introduction; and Loring Allen, Venezuelan Economic Development: A Politico-Economic Analysis (1977). Regional disparities and urban and regional planning strategies are discussed by John Friedmann, Regional Development Policy: A Case Study of Venezuela (1966); and Lloyd Rodwin et al., Planning Urban Growth and Regional Development: The Experience of the Guayana Program of Venezuela (1969).A systematic history of Venezuelan politics and economy since 1958 is found in John D. Martz and David J. Myers (eds.), Venezuela: The Democratic Experience, rev. ed. (1986), with an excellent treatment of the political system. See also John A. Peeler, Latin American Democracies: Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela (1985). Studies of political parties include John D. Martz, Accin Democrtica: Evolution of a Modern Political Party in Venezuela (1966), a sympathetic history and analysis of the period 194164; and Donald L. Herman, Christian Democracy in Venezuela (1980). For the political left, see Steve Ellner, Venezuela's Movimiento al Socialismo: From Guerrilla Defeat to Innovative Politics (1988). Enrique A. Baloyra and John D. Martz, Political Attitudes in Venezuela: Societal Cleavages and Political Opinion (1979), examines democratic public opinion. Daniel H. Levine, Religion and Politics in Latin America: The Catholic Church in Venezuela and Colombia (1981), analyzes historical and current relations.Various aspects of the Venezuelan oil industry are treated in Edwin Lieuwen, Petroleum in Venezuela: A History (1954, reprinted 1967), a survey of the industry from 1907 to 1950; Franklin Tugwell, The Politics of Oil in Venezuela (1975); James F. Petras, Morris Morley, and Steven Smith, The Nationalization of Venezuelan Oil (1977); Rmulo Betancourt, Venezuela: Oil and Politics (1979; originally published in Spanish, 2nd ed., 1967), a review by a former president; Gustavo Coronel, The Nationalization of the Venezuelan Oil Industry from Technocratic Success to Political Failure (1983); and David Eugene Blank, Venezuela: Politics in a Petroleum Republic (1984). Venezuela's art and music are discussed in Alfredo Boulton et al., Arte de Venezuela (1977) and Luis Felipe Ramn y Rivera, La msica popular de Venezuela (1976). Dennis Conway Cultural life Cultural traditions In Venezuela, as in many Latin-American countries, the rich popular culture of the rural campesinos reflects a blending of Roman Catholicism and traditional folkways. The rural culture, however, was paralleled by the development of an elite culture, predominantly urban-based and European-oriented but distinctly Venezuelan in form. The rapid cityward migrations of the more dynamic and youthful segments of rural communities brought to the ranchos some of the local folk traditions, but much of the regional flavour was lost. Colonial Hispanic traditions continue to persist, however, in spite of the North Americanization of Venezuelan urban life. For example, compadrazgo (co-parenthood; a set of social and moral obligations between a child's parents and godparents) is a deeply held family tradition that is retained by the urban classes. The vast inequalities in Venezuelan society are reflected in the nation's two distinctive cultural milieusone elite, modernized, and externally oriented; the other nationalistic and selectively folk-oriented. The arts In an effort to maintain cultural autonomy in the face of foreign influences, the government has, since the 1920s, supported nationalistic artistic expression. Greater freedom for writing and publishing prompted the flourishing development of national literature. Emerging in this wave of nationalistic influence was Rmulo Gallegos, who became Venezuela's best-known writer; he received international recognition for his novel Doa Brbara (1929). Such painters as Armando Revern and Manuel Cabr also expressed nationalistic fervour. The architect Carlos Ral Villanueva won international acclaim for his design of asymmetrically arranged buildings, complemented by freestanding murals and sculpture, at the Central University in Caracas. The state-supported Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra is highly popular, and its repertoire reflects as well a spirit of nationalism. Each of the regions has its own distinctive musical expression.