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 | many previous; latest adopted 15 December 1999, effective 30 December 1999; amended 2009 |
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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 Time or UNT [Enrique MARQUEZ] Brave People's Alliance or ABP [Richard BLANCO] Christian Democrats or COPEI [Roberto ENRIQUEZ] Coalition of opposition parties -- The Democratic Unity Table or MUD [Jesus "Chuo" TORREALBA] Communist Party of Venezuela or PCV [Oscar FIGUERA] Democratic Action or AD [Henry RAMOS ALLUP] Fatherland for All or PPT [Rafael UZCATEGUI] For Social Democracy or PODEMOS [Didalco Antonio BOLIVAR GRATEROL] Justice First or PJ [Julio BORGES] Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Segundo MELENDEZ] Popular Will or VP [Leopoldo LOPEZ] Progressive Wave or AP [Henri FALCON] The Radical Cause or La Causa R [Americo DE GRAZIA] United Socialist Party of Venezuela or PSUV [Nicolas MADURO] Venezuelan Progressive Movement or MPV [Simon CALZADILLA] Venezuela Project or PV [Henrique Fernando SALAS FEO] |
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 |