What is the capital of Venezuela?
Country Name | Venezuela |
Full Country Name | Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela |
Local - Long | Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela |
Local - Short | Venezuela |
Etymology- history of name | native stilt-houses built on Lake Maracaibo reminded early explorers Alonso de OJEDA and Amerigo VESPUCCI in 1499 of buildings in Venice and so they named the region "Venezuola," which in Italian means "Little Venice" |
Government Type | federal presidential republic |
Capital Name | Caracas |
Capital - geographic coordinate | 10 29 N, 66 52 W |
Capital Time Difference | UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) |
Independence | 5 July 1811 (from Spain) |
National Holiday | Independence Day, 5 July (1811) |
Constitution |
history: many previous; latest adopted 15 December 1999, effective 30 December 1999 amendments: proposed through agreement by at least 39% of the National Assembly membership, by the president of the republic in session with the cabinet of ministers, or by petition of at least 15% of registered voters; passage requires simple majority vote by the Assembly and simple majority approval in a referendum; amended 2009; note - in 2016, President MADURO issued a decree to hold an election to form a constituent assembly to change the constitution; the election in July 2017 approved the formation of a 545-member constituent assembly and elected its delegates, empowering them to change the constitution and dismiss government institutions and officials |
Who is the president of Venezuela?
Executive Branch: |
chief of state: Notification Statement: the United States recognizes Juan GUAIDO as the Interim President of Venezuela President Nicolas MADURO Moros (since 19 April 2013); Executive Vice President Delcy RODRIGUEZ Gomez (since 14 June 2018); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Nicolas MADURO Moros (since 19 April 2013); Executive Vice President Delcy RODRIGUEZ Gomez (since 14 June 2018) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections/appointments: president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 6-year term (no term limits); election last held on 20 May 2018 (next election scheduled for 2024) election results: Nicolas MADURO Moros reelected president; percent of vote - Nicolas MADURO Moros (PSUV) 68%, Henri FALCON (AP) 21%, Javier BERTUCCI 11%; note - the election was marked by serious shortcomings and electoral fraud; voter turnout was approximately 46% due largely to an opposition boycott of the election |
Citizenship Criteria: |
citizenship by birth: yes citizenship by descent: yes dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years |
Legal System: | civil law system based on the Spanish civil code |
Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
Legislative Branch: |
description: unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (167 seats; 113 members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, 51 directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed, party-list proportional representation vote, and 3 seats reserved for indigenous peoples of Venezuela; members serve 5-year terms) elections: last held on 6 December 2015 (next to be held by 2020) election results: percent of vote by party - MUD (opposition coalition) 56.2%, PSUV (pro-government) 40.9%, other 2.9%; seats by party - MUD 109, PSUV 55, indigenous peoples 3; composition - men 143, women 24, percent of women 14.4% |
Judicial Branch: |
highest court(s): Supreme Tribunal of Justice (consists of 32 judges organized into 6 divisions - constitutional, political administrative, electoral, civil appeals, criminal appeals, and social (mainly agrarian and labor issues) judge selection and term of office: judges proposed by the Committee of Judicial Postulation (an independent body of organizations dealing with legal issues and of the organs of citizen power) and appointed by the National Assembly; judges serve non-renewable 12-year terms subordinate courts: Superior or Appeals Courts (Tribunales Superiores); District Tribunals (Tribunales de Distrito); Courts of First Instance (Tribunales de Primera Instancia); Parish Courts (Tribunales de Parroquia); Justices of the Peace (Justicia de Paz) Network |
Regions or States: |
23 states (estados, singular - estado), 1 capital district* (distrito capital), and 1 federal dependency** (dependencia federal); Amazonas, Anzoategui, Apure, Aragua, Barinas, Bolivar, Carabobo, Cojedes, Delta Amacuro, Dependencias Federales (Federal Dependencies)**, Distrito Capital (Capital District)*, Falcon, Guarico, Lara, Merida, Miranda, Monagas, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Tachira, Trujillo, Vargas, Yaracuy, Zulia note: the federal dependency consists of 11 federally controlled island groups with a total of 72 individual islands |
Political Parties and Leaders: |
A New Era (Un Nuevo Tiempo) or UNT [Omar Enrique BARBOZA Gutierrez] Brave People's Alliance or ABP [Antonio LEDEZMA] Cambiemos Movimiento Ciudadano or CMC [Timoteo ZAMBRANO] Christian Democrats or COPEI [Juan Carlos ALVARADO Prato, Roberto ENRIQUEZ] Citizens Encounter or EC [Delsa SOLORZANO] Clear Accounts or CC [Enzo SCARANO] Coalition of parties loyal to Nicolas MADURO - Great Patriotic Pole or GPP [Nicolas MADURO] Coalition of opposition parties - Democratic Alliance (Alianza Democratica) (includes AD, EL CAMBIO, COPEI, CMC, and AP) Come Venezuela (Vente Venezuela) or VV [Maria Corina MACHADO] Communist Party of Venezuela or PCV [Oscar FIGUERA] Consenso en la Zona or Conenzo [Enzo SCARANO and Leon JURADO] Convergencia [Juan Jose CALDERA] Democratic Action or AD [Jose Bernabe GUTIERREZ Parra] Fatherland for All (Patria para Todos) or PPT [Ilenia MEDINA] Fuerza Vecinal or FV [leaders include mayors Gustavo DUQUE, Darwin GONZALEZ, Elias SAYEGH, Manuel FERREIRA, Josy FERNANDEZ, and Morel David RODRIGUEZ]; note - national spokesman David UZCATEGUI Hope for Change (Esperanza por el Cambio) or EL CAMBIO [Javier Alejandro BERTUCCI Carrero] Justice First (Primero Justicia) or PJ [Tomas GUANIPA] LAPIZ [Antonio Domingo ECARRI Angola] Movement to Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo) or MAS [Segundo MELENDEZ] Popular Will (Voluntad Popular) or VP [Leopoldo LOPEZ] Progressive Advance (Avanzada Progresista) or AP [Henri FALCON] The Radical Cause or La Causa R [Andres VELAZQUEZ] United Socialist Party of Venezuela or PSUV [Nicolas MADURO] Venezuela First (Primero Venezuela) or PV [Luis PARRA] Venezuelan Progressive Movement or MPV [Simon CALZADILLA] Venezuela Project or PV [Carlos BERRIZBEITIA] We Are Venezuela (Somos Venezuela) or MSV [Delcy RODRIGUEZ and Vanessa MONTERO] |
International Law Organization Participation: | has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCT jurisdiction |
International Organization Participation: | Caricom (observer), CD, CDB, CELAC, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, LAS (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, Petrocaribe, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Diplomatic Representation in the US: |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant) (since July 2014); Charge d'Affaires (vacant) (since March 2016) chancery: 1099 30th Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 342-2214 FAX: [1] (202) 342-6820 consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico) |
Diplomatic Representation from US: |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Lee MCCLENNY (July 2014) embassy: Calle F con Calle Suapure, Urbanizacion Colinas de Valle Arriba, Caracas 1080 mailing address: P. O. Box 62291, Caracas 1060-A; APO AA 34037 telephone: [58] (212) 975-6411, 907-8400 (after hours) FAX: [58] (212) 907-8199 |