ve: slightly more than twice the size of California

Land boundaries:
total: 4,993 km
border countries: Brazil 2,200 km, Colombia 2,050 km, Guyana 743 km

Coastline: 2,800 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 15 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea : 12 nm

Climate: tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands

Terrain: Andes Mountains and Maracaibo Lowlands in northwest; central
plains (llanos); Guiana Highlands in southeast

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point : Pico Bolivar (La Columna) 5,007 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite,
other minerals, hydropower, diamonds

Land use:
arable land : 4%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures : 20%
forests and woodland: 34%
other: 41% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 1,900 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: subject to floods, rockslides, mud slides; periodic
droughts

Environment - current issues: sewage pollution of Lago de Valencia;
oil and urban pollution of Lago de Maracaibo; deforestation; soil
degradation; urban and industrial pollution, especially along the
Caribbean coast

Environment - international agreements:
party to : Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Marine
Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Tropical
Timber 94

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

@Venezuela:People

Population: 22,396,407 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years : 34% (male 3,964,886; female 3,720,984)
15-64 years: 61% (male 6,877,890; female 6,838,799)
65 years and over: 5% (male 456,182; female 537,666) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.83% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 23.67 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 5.03 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 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
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 28.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population : 72.37 years
male: 69.4 years
female : 75.58 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility ra