Venezuela
Venezuela is a tropical country in South America that is a third larger than Texas. It borders Columbia on the west, Guyana on the east, Brazil on the south, and the Caribbean Sea lies to the north. It is shaped like an inverted triangle and its’ coastline is 2,800-kilometer long. Venezuela is made up of four fairly well-defined regions: The Maracaibo lowlands in the northwest, the northern mountains which extend in a broad east-west from the Colombian border along the Caribbean Sea, the wide Orinoco plains (llanos) in central Venezuela, and the highly dissected Guiana highlands in the southeast.
How Venezuela’s Name Came to Be
The name Venezuela was named by an Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, on a naval trip. He named the country Venezuela because it reminded him of Venice.
What the Country is Commonly Known For
The country is commonly known for its petroleum industry, the environmental diversity of its territory, and its natural features. It is considered to be in the world’s top 18 most biodiverse countries. Oil generates about 80 percent of the country’s total export revenue. This contributes about half of the central government’s income, and is responsible for about one-third of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Thanks to this oil income, Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, gets to expand social program spending, bolster commercial ties with other countries, and boost his own international profile.
Venezuela’s Flag
Venezuela's flag is a yellow, blue, and red horizontal tricolor rectangle with eight white stars in a semicircle in the center stripe. Francisco de Miranda, the independence troop leader, designed the basic tricolors of the flag in 1806. At first, there were only seven stars representing the seven provinces that supported Venezuela’s independence. The eighth star, the “Bolivar Star,” was added in 2006 in honor of Simon Bolivar. The red in the flag represents courage and the blue in the flag represents Venezuela’s independence from Spain.
Venezuela’s Symbols
‘On Venezuela’s national seal, the dates April 19, 1810 and February 20, 1895 remind Venezuela of the signing of the declaration of independence (although the actual signing took place on July 5, 1810) and the Federation War. The body of the shield consists of three sections with the colors of the flag.
First, the red color with 20 yellow ears symbolizes the Earth’s wealth and the union of the states. Second, the yellow color with flags and swords of Venezuela united by a laurel crown symbolizes the triumph in the struggle for Independence. Lastly, the blue color with the galloping white horse stands for an emblem of freedom. This Emblem was altered in April 2006 to reflect some changes such as the horse galloping to the left.
These are some of Venezuela’s main dishes.
Tourism
Natural features such as the largest lake and third-longest river in South America are found within Venezuela. Sierra Nevada de Mérida is the best region in the country for mountaineering, hill trekking and rock climbing is. The most distinct cultural