VEB

Exchange rates:

bolivars (VEB) per US dollar - 2,147 (2007), 2,147 (2006), 2,089.8 (2005), 1,891.3 (2004), 1,607 (2003) note: On 1 January 2008 Venezuela revalued its currency with 1000 old bolivares equal to 1 new bolivar

Communications
Venezuela

Telephones - main lines in use:

5.082 million (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

23.82 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: modern and expanding domestic: domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations; recent substantial improvement in telephone service in rural areas; substantial increase in digitalization of exchanges and trunk lines; installation of a national interurban fiber-optic network capable of digital multimedia services; fixed-line teledensity 20 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity more than 90 per 100 persons international: country code - 58; submarine cable systems provide connectivity to the Caribbean, Central and South America, and US; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 PanAmSat; participating with Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia in the construction of an international fiber-optic network (2007)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 201, FM NA (20 in Caracas), shortwave 11 (1998)

Radios:

10.75 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

66 (plus 45 repeaters) (1997)

Televisions:

4.1 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.ve

Internet hosts:

145,394 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

16 (2000)

Internet users:

5.72 million (2007)

Transportation
Venezuela

Airports:

390 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 128 over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 34 914 to 1,523 m: 61 under 914 m: 18 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 262 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 97 under 914 m: 149 (2007)

Heliports:

2 (2007)

Pipelines:

extra heavy crude oil 992 km; gas 5,400 km; oil 7,607 km; refined products 1,650 km; unknown (oil/water) 141 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 682 km standard gauge: 682 km 1.435-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 96,155 km paved: 32,308 km unpaved: 63,847 km (2002)

Waterways:

7,100 km note: Orinoco River (400 km) and Lake de Maracaibo navigable by oceangoing vessels (2005)

Merchant marine:

total: 62 by type: bulk carrier 9, cargo 16, chemical tanker 3, liquefied gas 5, passenger/cargo 10, petroleum tanker 17, refrigerated cargo 2 foreign-owned: 12 (Chile 1, Denmark 1, Greece 3, Mexico 5, Panama 1, Spain 1) registered in other countries: 12 (Bahamas 1, Panama 10, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

La Guaira, Maracaibo, Puerto Cabello, Punta Cardon

Transportation - note:

the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Caribbean Sea as a significant risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships; numerous vessels, including commercial shipping and pleasure craft, have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway; crews have been robbed and stores or cargoes stolen

Military
Venezuela

Military branches:

National Armed Forces (Fuerza Armada Nacionale, FAN): Ground Forces
or Army (Fuerzas Terrestres or Ejercito), Naval Forces (Fuerzas
Navales or Armada; includes Marines, Coast Guard), Air Force
(Fuerzas Aereas or Aviacion), Armed Forces of Cooperation or
National Guard (Fuerzas Armadas de Cooperacion or Guardia Nacional)

Military service age and obligation:

18-30 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; 30-month conscript service obligation - all citizens 18-50 years old are obligated to register for military service (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 6,647,124 females age 16-49: 6,801,133 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 5,280,974 females age 16-49: 5,768,814 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 275,323 female: 274,106 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

1.2% of GDP (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues
Venezuela

Disputes - international:

claims all of the area west of the Essequibo River in Guyana, preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with Venezuela extends into their waters; dispute with Colombia over maritime boundary and Venezuelan-administered Los Monjes islands near the Gulf of Venezuela; Colombian-organized illegal narcotics and paramilitary activities penetrate Venezuela's shared border region; in 2006, an estimated 139,000 Colombians sought protection in 150 communities along the border in Venezuela; US, France, and the Netherlands recognize Venezuela's granting full effect to Aves Island, thereby claiming a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea; Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines protest Venezuela's full effect claim

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; Venezuelan women and girls are trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation, lured from the nation's interior to urban and tourist areas; child prostitution in urban areas and child sex tourism in resort destinations appear to be growing; Venezuelan women and girls are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to Western Europe, Mexico, and Caribbean destinations tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Venezuela is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List, up from Tier 3, as it showed greater resolve to address trafficking through law enforcement measures and prevention efforts in 2007, although stringent punishment of offenders and victim assistance remain lacking (2008)

Illicit drugs:

small-scale illicit producer of opium and coca for the processing of opiates and coca derivatives; however, large quantities of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana transit the country from Colombia bound for US and Europe; significant narcotics-related money-laundering activity, especially along the border with Colombia and on Margarita Island; active eradication program primarily targeting opium; increasing signs of drug-related activities by Colombian insurgents on border

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

@Vietnam

Introduction
Vietnam

Background:

The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. Vietnam declared independence after World War II, but France continued to rule until its 1954 defeat by Communist forces under Ho Chi MINH. Under the Geneva Accords of 1954, Vietnam was divided into the Communist North and anti-Communist South. US economic and military aid to South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following a cease-fire agreement in 1973. Two years later, North Vietnamese forces overran the South reuniting the country under Communist rule. Despite the return of peace, for over a decade the country experienced little economic growth because of conservative leadership policies. However, since the enactment of Vietnam's "doi moi" (renovation) policy in 1986, Vietnamese authorities have committed to increased economic liberalization and enacted structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries. The country continues to experience protests from various groups - such as the Protestant Montagnard ethnic minority population of the Central Highlands and the Hoa Hao Buddhists in southern Vietnam over religious persecution. Montagnard grievances also include the loss of land to Vietnamese settlers.

Geography
Vietnam

Location:

Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia

Geographic coordinates: