1. Venezuela By: Priya Deshmukh http://politweets.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/post-11-venezuelan-flag-face.jpg

2. Venezuela’s Location o Located in the north of South America o On the coast of the Caribbean Sea o Guyana, Brazil, and Colombia border it http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/samerica/ve.htm

3. Venezuela’s Map o Capital of Venezuela is Caracas o Some major cities are Maracay, Petare, and Valencia http://www.flickr.com/photos/99028199@N00/1653381046 / http://www.ducksters.com/geography/country.php?country=Venezuela

4. Flag of Venezuela o The arch of the eight stars represents the early provinces that supported the fight for independence o Yellow stands for the richness of the land o Blue stands for the sea that is separating them from Spain o Red stands for the blood that the patriots spilled during the war for independence http://www.tattoosales.com/tattooimages/flag-131.jpg

5. Important Facts o Language: o The official language is Spanish o People in smaller areas speak other languages o Religion: o 96% are Roman Catholic o 2% Protestant(type of Catholic) o Population: o 27,223,228 in 2010 o Climate/Weather o Two seasons o Wet-May-November o Temperatures-70-85°F o Mountains are usually cooler o Money: o Monetary unit is Bolivar o One US dollar is equal to about four Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2315/2387461534_f1781e3de9.jpg

6. Government/Eco nomy o Form of Government: o Federal Republic o This means the government has strong central powers o Current Leader: o Hugo Chávez o He will serve for six years o Industry: o Their main export is oil o It is also their most valuable natural resource o Agriculture: o Their main exports are grains, sugar cane, fruits, and coffee http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/ops/images/hugo-chavez-01.jpg

7. Way of Life o Schools/Education: o Go to primary school from 7-16 o Three-fourths of all students complete it o About two-thirds of the school-age population don’t attend a secondary school because they can’t afford the books and the transportation o Their literacy rate is 93% o Food: o Common foods are pasta, rice, beans, plantains, white cheese, chicken, potatoes, and fish o Corn is the base for a lot of dishes o One favorite food is the arepa o It is a deep-fried pancake made from white corn flour o They also like casseroles, meat pies, meatloaf, and stews o The most popular dish is Pabellón criollo (rice and beans) o It is prepared with shredded beef, stewed black beans, sweet plantain, and rice http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__N5hDcfFbvk/SJyLjy7A60I/AAAAAAAAAbk/n8B_BH7fcLU/s400/pabell on.jpg

8. Way of Life o Sports/Games o Baseball is Venezuela’s national and most popular sport o Some Venezuelans play soccer, but it is not as popular there o Some other sports they enjoy include basketball, fishing, swimming, cycling, karate, and tennis o Bolas criollas is a popular game o One player throws a a target ball onto a flat surface o Then all the other players try to throw balls close to the target ball o The player who gets closest, wins o Music: o The most common Venezuelan music is the joropo o It is played with the harp, bandola (a pear shaped guitar), cuarto(a small four stringed internet), and maracas o They listen to American pop music, salsa, merengue, and reggaeton o Reggeaton is a mixture of reggae and salsa http://ed101.bu.edu/StudentDoc/current/ED101sp10/lna/Images/venezuela%20baseball.jpg

9. Customs and Holidays o On January 6, it is Día de los Reyes Magos o This is when the children receive gifts from the Three Kings in their shoes o On July 5, it is Independence Day for Venezuela o Before Venezuela was independent, they were ruled by Spain http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2804/4163861704_53993a7bd7.jpg

10. Places to Visit o If you are going to Venezuela, be sure to visit the famous Angel Falls o It is the tallest waterfall in the world o The waterfall drops nearly a kilometer from a plateau http://www.etravelphotos.com/photos/1998sa/1998sa-024-06s-w.jpg

11. Places to Visit o If you like exploring rainforests Southern Venezuela is where you should go! o It is filled with tropical rainforests and jungle rivers o It also has a few tribes called, Piaroa, Pemón, and Yanomami http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/ibc99/bonn/Epiphytes/hpsucanopy.JPG

12. Fun Facts! o Their national flower is the orchid o They were ruled by Spain for about 300 years o The country got its name from Venice, Italy because they liked it so much o Taking a hot shower in this country is rare because they don’t have hot water heaters o You can’t watch “The Simpsons” in Venezuela because they banned it! o They felt it was inappropriate! X http://www.fox.com/_ugc/images/simpsons/simpsons_187x240.jpg

13. Sources o http://www.google.com/ http://www.google.com/ o http://www.google.com/imghp http://www.google.com/imghp o http://compfight.com/ http://compfight.com/ o http://www.infoplease.com/countries.html http://www.infoplease.com/countries.html o http://portal.bigchalk.com/portalweb/home.do http://portal.bigchalk.com/portalweb/home.do o http://portal.bigchalk.com/portalweb/home.do http://portal.bigchalk.com/portalweb/home.do  http://extensionenespanol.net/articles.cfm?articleid=117 http://extensionenespanol.net/articles.cfm?articleid=117