Venezuela 2 example essay topic

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 1. Venezuela 2. Located on the continent of South America 3.25,017,387 (estimated as of July 2004) 4. Size- 912,050 sq km (land / water ) 5. Petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds 6.96% Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant, 2% Other Religions The Venezuelans were tracked back to about 13,000 BC. The settlers of that time came from three different directions.

Present day Guyana, present day Brazil, and present day Antilles were the three directions. At the time there are about 500,000 indigenous peoples living in Venezuela. There was much diversity in the different tribes that settled there during this time. Religion has always been dominated by the Catholic faith. Some Venezuelans of the time had been farmers, hunters, and fishermen.

The name "Venezuela" was given and the literal translation is "Little Venice". Venezuela was rich with grasslands and had six navigable rivers. There were many streams that also ran through the country. Mountainous areas also were abundant in the Venezuelan countryside. Venezuela has a very tropical climate. It is also rich in mineral resources.

The country's most important resource is petroleum. They are also known for their abundance of diamonds and gold which are found in the mountains. Christopher Columbus first sighted the coast of Venezuela in 1498. In 1499 Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda followed that same coast to Lake Maracaibo. He was the one who named the region Venezuela because it reminded him of the buildings in Venice. The Spanish had started to settle in Venezuela in 1520.

In 1528, Charles V of Spain gave the part of Venezuela that lied between Cape Vela and Maraca pana to the Weslers, Bavarian bankers to whom he owed money to. The Weslers were to fill and develop the region as part of the arrangement with Charles V. They were also to set up establishments to live. Instead, their representatives enslaved the Native Americans of the area and so demoralized the European settlers that in 1546 the Spanish government revoked the grant and reassume d control. The first important settlement in Venezuela was that of Caracas which later the capital of this country became. It was settled in 1567. The economy and its activities in the colonial period centered on agriculture, mainly tobacco and cacao.

Some livestock were also traded amongst the people. Venezuela became the center of piracy and illegal smuggling, things both of which the English and the Dutch were the most notorious participants in. Venezuela at the time of colonization operated under a number of administrative jurisdictions. Originally, the Spanish authorities divided the territories of what is now Venezuelan territory between the Viceroyalty of Peru and the Audiencia of Santo Domingo. The Superintendency of Venezuela, more or less the present territory, was created in the year 1783.

In 1728, the Spanish government chartered the Guipuzcoan a Company and gave it a monopoly of trade in Venezuela, with of course the additional duties of patrolling the coasts to prevent smuggling of goods between countries. The company was very unpopular and it did a lot of things to stir up political discontent in the Venezuelan colony. To add, the Spanish policy of appointing peninsular es to major administrative positions in their American colonies caused much resentment among the Creoles, who had been excluded from seats of power. The first decisive attempt by a Spanish American colony to gain independence from Spain had been set off by Venezuela. In 1808, the armies of French emperor Napoleon I overran Spain and Portugal at the same time.

They disposed of Ferdinand VII of Spain. In 1810, the Creoles in the, or town of council, of Caracas overthrew the Spanish authorities and formed the junta, or governing body, to rule in the name of their king. However, the junta soon threw aside all the pretense of loyalty to the Spanish crown and issued a formal declaration of independence on July 5th in the year 1811. Just when they thought things were going good, the year 1812 came. Spanish troops began reconquering the colony. Francisco de Miranda, the C in C of the revolutionary forces, tried to negotiate peace with the commander of the Spanish army.

He was then taken to Spain and thrown in jail where he later died. Leadership in this movement of independence was then passed on to Simon Bolivar, one of his lieutenants. He recovered control of Caracas for a very short time in 1813, but was then driven out by the Spanish again a year later. Spanish rule had been regained in Venezuela in 1815. Bolivar, whose forces were too weak to oppose the Spanish army, withdrew from war and went to Haiti. In 1816, however, he returned to the mainland with a reinforced army and seized control of the lower Orinoco Valley.

Over the next few years, Bolivar gathered together his many forces. Though weak, he tried to overtake the Spanish rule. On June 24th 1821, the Spanish army was decisively beaten in Venezuela at the Battle of Cara bobo, assuring the final independence of the new nation. Venezuela seceded from the Spanish crown in 1829 and formed an independent republic with its capital as Caracas. Jose Antonio Pae z, a hero of the revolution, served as the republic's president and remained the dominant political figure until the year 1846.

He was tolerant towards the R.C.C. and fostered a few measures for the simulation of trade, agriculture, and education in this newly formed nation. Over time they had a series of dictators and then later created different voting parties so the residents could vote on one main leader. 1. Literacy rate: Age 15 and over can read and write 93.4 of the entire population 2. Life expectancy: Male: 71.02 years Female 77.32 years 3. Infant mortality: Total 22.99 deaths/1,000 live births Male: 26.18 deaths/1,000 live births Female: 19.57 deaths/1,000 live births 4.

Political stand of nation: Federal Republic divided into 23 states/ 3 branches of government and lead by different political leaders voted by election 5. It is a very up and coming nation because since its independence day in 1811, they have been very active in wars of the world, they have created their very own government, and have tried to keep peace over the last 200 years. web.