Oren+Lieber-Kotz


 * Venezuela**



**Image Source:** http://www.junkyarddogcoffee.com/Venezuela_Map.jpg

**Student Created Map** Venezuela is shaped like a letter T. The western side of the T and the northern half of the eastern side are plains, and temperate or tropical climate. The Southern stem of the T and the southern half of the eastern side of the letter are full of mountains, and very cold. Most people live along the top of the T, by the Pacific Ocean. There is a large bay or lock in the western half of the T. The Rio Orinoco River feeds into the ocean in the eastern half, and goes south through there. About a quarter of the way through the eastern side, it splits into two, the Rio Aperture going west, out of the country in the western half. The Rio Orinoco comes back into the country in the southern stem of the T, and flows across it.
 * Map Paragraph**

__Population Density Map__
 * Other Maps**

__Vegetation Map__

=Bullet Points About the Comparison Chart and Profile=


 * Only 37% of Venezuelans use the Internet. From this statistic, we know that Many people probably don’t own computers. Only the rich and upper middle class.
 * The Venezuelan literacy rate is 93 percent. Compared to the internet users, that is a large number. Even though Venezuelan’s may not have enough money for computers, they are educated enough to read.
 * The Venezuelan Population Growth Rate is about 150% that of the United States. Venezuela is growing pretty fats.
 * 25% of Venezuelan’s are under the age of 15. Only 21% of American’s are. Coupled with Venezuela’s Population Growth rate, Venezuelan population is quickly rising.

**Topic 1. Geography and Climate**

The climate and the geography of Venezuela affect the Venezuelan people. There are three main ways that it affects them; where they live, what activities they do, and how they dress.

Before I explain these three factors, I need to give you a general understanding of the geography of Venezuela. Venezuela is shaped like a letter T with a thick cross and stem. The Atlantic Ocean is along the whole top of the country. Running from the north of the right cross to the left side of the stem is the Rio Orinoco River. In about the middle of the country, the Rio Aperture River splits off of the Rio Orinoco and runs all the way out of the left cross. Coming in from the ocean in the north of the left cross is the Lago De Marcaibo, a large bay. The area directly south of the river is full of mountains, as is the southern part of the right cross and most of the stem. Most people live on the crosses, up against the Atlantic.

People live there mostly because of the climate against the ocean, which is temperate. The weather there is very much like the weather here in Maryland. In the more southern regions, it is tropical and humid, while the Paramos of the southern part of the right cross are covered in snow year round. This Climate affects what activities they take part in.

Baseball and soccer are the most popular sports in Venezuela. Both are played outside, on a field. These are the most popular because it is not so cold there that the Venezuelans cant play sports outside, but not so hot that it is uncomfortable to exert yourself out doors.

Venezuelans dress pretty much the same as we do. Part of this comes from American influence in the region, but it also comes from the weather and temperature not being so different.
 * When traveling to Venezuela, you need the right clothes for the right climates. When traveling to big cities like Caracas, you can where your normal T-Shirt and jeans from Maryland. However, you might want to pack winter clothes and hiking boots for the mountainous regions around one your likely destinations, Angel Falls.**



Source of Image: http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/116302/116302,1224586133,1/stock-photo-venezuela-shaded-relief-map-with-major-urban-areas-surrounding-territory-greyed-out-colored-19241944.jpg

**Topic 2: Venezuelan Economy**

The Venezuelan economy is different from the American economy. One big difference is that Venezuela makes most of its money off exporting one product; oil. Venezuela’s economy is so reliant on oil that the country economic motto is “Sowing oil from the land.” However, the corrupt Venezuelan government has started taking over the oil business, corrupting the economic base of the country.

Fortunately, another sector has been growing the last decade, and that is the fishing sector. Venezuela is the 5th largest fisher in the world. This is surprise, as Venezuelans did not eat a lot of fish before the turn of the century. Other things that Venezuela exports are steel, aluminum, and cement.

One sector that has shrunk over the last few decades is the agricultural one. In the last thirty or so years, losing 50% of Venezuelan agricultural work force to either the petroleum sector, the fishing sector, or people moving to the big cities, such as Caracas. Because of this, Venezuelan exportation of agricultural products, such as the coffee bean, corn (maize), rice, cattle and cattle meat, all formerly large Venezuelan exports, has fallen in the last thirty or so years.

This rapid loss of the agricultural sector has led to the Venezuelan government trying to export other goods, such as petroleum, and to get more into mining. This has led to the exporting of gold, steel, aluminum and cement that I talked about earlier.

I think that if the government wants to spark agriculture, they would not do this mining in the areas where agriculture is the most common employment.


 * When traveling to Venezuela, you should try to think about the how the economy shaped the country into what you see before you. You might see many people working in oil fields, or hauling barrels of oil onto ships to be sent to other countries. You might see ships brining in metals and building materials. Be ready to think about all of this.**



Source of Image: http://laht.com/Vzla2010/0410/Oil%20Venezuela.jpg

**Topic 3: Venezuelan Arts and Literature**

Art in Venezuela is different than Art in the United States. In Venezuela, most of the Art in Modernism. Modernism is also called Modern Art or Contemporary art. It is different form classical art, also sometimes called realism, in the way that it does not seek to show real things or settings, but to show anything that the mind would like to create. This type of free art has appealed to Venezuelans very much. Artulo Michtelena and Yusef Merhi are two famous Venezuelan Contemporary, Classic, or realist artists that you may have heard of.

Music is a big part of culture in Venezuela. Music is played at all of their happy holidays. One of these is Carnival, where music is played at parties and parades. The two main instruments in Venezuelan cultural music are the drums and the Cuatro. The Cuatro is the national Instrument of Venezuela. It is like a lute, or a smaller version of the guitar. It is very much like a slightly larger ukulele. It makes a deeper sound than a ukulele, but a higher sound than the guitar played commonly here in the United States. However, the Cuatro is gaining popularity in the United States, and Venezuelan music companies are trading with companies of the same sector in the United States.

Cultural Music in Venezuela is not so different from music in the rest of South America. This can be because immigrants have moved throughout the continent, especially to Venezuela, and have thus affected the music.


 * When traveling to Venezuela, you should expect to hear cultural music. At Carnival, you might hear drums. At Venezuelan Independence Day, you might hear trumpets. Other times, you might hear the high pitch voice of the Cuatro.**



Source of Image: http://blog.dbtwang.com/dbtwangblog/wp-content/uploads/cuatro_ven_nacio.jpg

**Topic 4: Religion, Holidays and Festivals**

Venezuela, like the United States, is overwhelmingly Christian. But, unlike the United States where we live, most of the Christians are Roman Catholic, not Protestant. In Venezuela, 96 percent of the citizens are Roman Catholic, and only 2 percent are Protestant. In our United States of America, it is distributed a bit more evenly. Roman Catholic occupies about 24 percent of the population, while Protestants out number them with about 51 percent of Americans. This overwhelming difference in religion I think comes from Venezuela’s history. The first Europeans to colonize Venezuela where the Spanish, and remnants of the Spain’s heavily Roman Catholic religion stayed in Venezuela.

There are three major holidays in Venezuela. They are New Years, Christmas, and Carnival. New Years in Venezuela is celebrated at the same time that America celebrates New Years. They celebrate it the same way, too, with parties and much happiness. Christmas is celebrated about the same, too. The only difference between Venezuelan Christmas and American Christmas is that in Venezuela, it is celebrated more as a religious holiday than it is treated as here in the United States. This happens because of the large Roman Catholic majority in Venezuela, compared to the Protestant majority in the United States.

Carnival is a holiday in Venezuela, right before Easter, to say farewell to bad things in a good season. People get out from their jobs for it, and children get out of school. Many people go to Trinidad, an island off the Venezuelan Coast, for it. Trinidad is famous for its Carnival celebrations, with lots of parades, music and drinking. Big cities celebrate it that way, too. Smaller towns celebrate with large meals and drumming. Overall, carnival is a very happy time of year.


 * When traveling to Venezuela, you might want to plan your trips to come around a holiday. You might choose Carnival to see it’s unique celebrations. If so, consider going to Trinidad. You might also try for New Years, to see how one of our holidays is celebrated in Venezuela.**

Source of Image: http://culturegramtemplate.wikispaces.com/file/view/trinidad-carnival-mas5.jpg/281896502/trinidad-carnival-mas5.jpg

= Venezuela's Flag = Bands of Yellow, Blue, and Red. Coat of Arms in the top left corner. Eight white stars in the center. Yellow: Riches Blue: Courage Red: The blood shed in attaining independence

Stars: 8 provinces Coat of Arms: Venezuela

**Source Page:** Material for this presentation came from the following sources:


 * http://www.google.com/publicdata/home
 * https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela
 * http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35766.htm
 * http://venezuela-us.org/