d: Marine Dumping

Geography-note: on major sea and air routes linking North and South
America

@Venezuela:People

Population: 22,803,409 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 34% (male 3,979,045; female 3,733,364)
15-64 years: 62% (male 7,054,525; female 7,011,814)
65 years and over: 4% (male 469,799; female 554,862) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.77% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 22.96 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 4.98 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 27.52 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.66 years
male: 69.68 years
female: 75.87 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.7 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Venezuelan(s)
adjective: Venezuelan

Ethnic groups: mestizo 67%, white 21%, black 10%, Amerindian 2%

Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%

Languages: Spanish (official), native dialects spoken by about 200,000
Amerindians in the remote interior

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.1%
male: 91.8%
female: 90.3% (1995 est.)

@Venezuela:Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Venezuela
conventional short form: Venezuela
local long form: Republica de Venezuela
local short form: Venezuela

Data code: VE

Government type: republic

National capital: Caracas

Administrative divisions: 22 states (estados, singular-estado),1
federal district* (distrito federal), and 1 federal dependency**
(dependencia federal); Amazonas, Anzoategui, Apure, Aragua, Barinas,
Bolivar, Carabobo, Cojedes, Delta Amacuro, Dependencias Federales**,
Distrito Federal*, Falcon, Guarico, Lara, Merida, Miranda, Monagas,
Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Tachira, Trujillo, Yaracuy, Zulia
note: the federal dependency consists of 11 federally controlled
island groups with a total of 72 individual islands

Independence: 5 July 1811 (from Spain)

National holiday: Independence Day, 5 July (1811)

Constitution: 23 January 1961

Legal system: based on Napoleonic code; judicial review of legislative
acts in Cassation Court only; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction

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