Desitecture_Evolo_Competition

Venezuela is a medium income country whose economy is dominated by a substantial oil industry. The political climate in Venezuela is highly polarized and volatile. Violent crime is a serious problem, and the capital city of Caracas has been cited as having the highest per capita homicide rate in the world. Kidnappings, assaults and robberies occur throughout the country. Scheduled air service and all-weather roads connect major cities and most regions of the country. Venezuela’s tourism infrastructure varies in quality according to location and price.

THREATS TO SAFETY AND SECURITY:Violent crime in Venezuela is pervasive, both in the capital, Caracas, and in the interior. The country’s overall per capita murder rate is cited as one of the highest in the world, and Caracas was listed as the murder capital of the world in the September 2008 Foreign Policy magazine. Kidnapping is another serious concern. The Venezuelan National Counter Kidnapping Commission was created in 2006, and since then, official statistics have shown an alarming 78 percent increase in the number of reported kidnappings. Surveys show that the overwhelming majority of kidnappings are not reported to the police. Armed robberies take place throughout the city, including areas generally presumed safe and frequented by tourists. Well-armed criminal gangs operate widely, often setting up fake police checkpoints. Only a very small percentage of crimes result in trials and convictions.
Travel to and from Maiquetía Airport, the international airport serving Caracas, can be dangerous, and corruption at the airport itself is rampant. Both arriving and departing travelers have been victims of personal property theft and muggings. The Embassy has received multiple, credible reports that individuals wearing what appear to be official uniforms or other credentials are involved in facilitating or perpetrating these crimes. For this reason, American citizen travelers should be wary of all strangers, even those in official uniform or carrying official identification, and should not pack valuable items or documents in checked luggage. Valuable documents and personal items should be kept in carry-on luggage. The Embassy has also received multiple, credible reports of victims of “express kidnappings,” in which individuals are taken to make purchases or to withdraw as much money as possible from ATMs, often at gunpoint, as well as unconfirmed reports of uniformed airport officials attempting to extort money from travelers as they go through the normal check-in and boarding process for departing flights. Furthermore, there are known drug trafficking groups working from the airport. Travelers should not accept packages from anyone and should keep their luggage with them at all times.

The road between Maiquetía Airport and Caracas is known to be particularly dangerous. Visitors traveling this route at night have been kidnapped and held captive for ransom in roadside huts that line the highway. Because of the frequency of robberies at gunpoint, travelers are encouraged to arrive and depart only during daylight hours. If not, travelers should use extra care both within and outside the airport. The Embassy strongly advises that all arriving passengers make advance plans for transportation from the airport to their place of lodging. If possible, travelers should arrange to be picked up at the airport by someone who is known to them or at least try to caravan in known groups en route to Caracas. Travelers should be aware of chokepoints inside tunnels and avoid obstacles in the road. The Embassy has received frequent reports of armed robberies in taxicabs going to and from the airport at Maiquetía. There is no foolproof method of knowing whether a taxi driver at the airport is reliable. The fact that a taxi driver presents a credential or drives an automobile with official taxi license plates marked libre is no longer an indication of reliability. Incidents of taxi drivers in Caracas overcharging, robbing, and injuring passengers are common. Travelers should take care to use radio-dispatched taxis or those from reputable hotels. Travelers should call a 24-hour radio-dispatched taxi service from a public phone lobby or ask hotel, restaurant, or airline representatives to contact a licensed cab company for them.

Languages: Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects

Ethnicity/race: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, indigenous people

Religions: Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $334.6 billion; per capita $12,200. Real growth rate: 8.4%. Inflation: 18.7%. Unemployment: 8.5%. Arable land: 3%. Agriculture: corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee; beef, pork, milk, eggs; fish. Labor force: 12.37 million; services 64%, industry 23%, agriculture 13% (1997 est.). Industries: petroleum, construction materials, food processing, textiles; iron ore mining, steel, aluminum; motor vehicle assembly. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds. Exports: $69.23 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): petroleum, bauxite and aluminum, steel, chemicals, agricultural products, basic manufactures. Imports: $28.81 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials. Major trading partners: U.S., Netherlands Antilles, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico (2004).

The city of Caracas had a population of 3,196,514 as of 2008.[1] The population of the urban agglomeration has been estimated to be approximately 4.95 million.[2]

The dramatic change in the economic structure of the country, which went from being primarily agricultural to dependent on oil production, stimulated the fast development of Caracas, and made it a magnet for people in rural communities who migrated to the capital city in an unplanned fashion searching for greater economic opportunities. This migration created the rancho (slum) belt of the valley of Caracas.

City, capital of Venezuela, and one of the principal cities of South America. It is Venezuela’s largest urban agglomeration and the country’s primary centre of industry, commerce, education, and culture. Founded in 1567 as Santiago de León de Caracas, the city grew slowly until the 1940s, after which it expanded by monumental proportions and its influence came to extend to even the remotest parts of the country. In addition to its role as the national capital, Caracas serves as the seat of government for the Capital District, comprising an area of 167 square miles (433 square km). The city itself, however, spreads across the Capital District boundary, a considerable part of its area lying in the state of Miranda, which borders the district on the east and south. Pop. (2001) 1,836,000; (2005 est.) urban agglom., 2,913,000.

The physical setting of Caracas is impressive. Steep mountains of the Venezuelan coastal range rise abruptly from the Caribbean Sea, affording little level land for urban development. About 7 miles (11 km) southward, beyond this mountainous wall, the city spreads out in a valley. Its elevation at the centre of Caracas is 3,025 feet (922 metres), and the valley extends about 15 miles (25 km) in an east–west direction. Almost all of its inhabitable area is occupied by the city, and this once green and peaceful valley is now crisscrossed by streets and highways. The valley is subject to earthquakes, including notable ones in 1755, 1812, and 1967.

Landscape

The Andes Mountains extend eastward from Colombia across all of northern Venezuela to the island of Trinidad. The site of Caracas is a high rift valley within this system; hence, mountains enclose the city at all cardinal points. The Cordillera del Litoral, which rises above 8,600 feet (2,600 metres) at the Pico Oriental and above 7,000 feet (2,100 metres) at El Avila, towers high above the city and limits its expansion northward. The Serranía del Interior, to the south, is lower but nevertheless rugged. The principal river draining the valley is the Guaire, once relatively large but now reduced in volume and highly polluted. Its principal affluent in the metropolitan area is the Río El Valle, and others include the Quebrada Baruta and Quebrada Anauco.

Climate

Climatic conditions and natural vegetation in the coastal range form an extremely complex pattern. Temperatures generally decrease with increasing elevation, and rainfall and humidity are high on slopes that face eastward toward the prevailing winds. The decisive climatic factor in the valley is elevation. Temperatures range from 45 to 91 °F (7 to 33 °C), the annual mean being about 70 °F (21 °C). In contrast, the average temperature at La Guaira, at sea level, just 10 miles (16 km) away, is 81 °F (27 °C). The seasonal range of temperature in Caracas between the average of the coldest month (January) and that of the warmest month (May) is only 5 °F, considerably less than the normal diurnal range. Annual precipitation totals about 32 inches (800 mm). There is a distinct rainy season from May through November, which accounts for more than four-fifths of the total annual precipitation and features warm, humid weather. In contrast is the dry season, from December through April, characterized by clear skies and pleasantly cool temperatures.

The higher mountain slopes, especially to the north, often have a thick cloud cover. There a fairly abundant vegetation, including forest remnants, remains green throughout the year. Other patches of luxuriant vegetation are preserved in the major parks of the city and in its various gardens, including the Botanical Garden. Where barren slopes prevail, erosion is a serious problem. Bird life, once exceeding 100 species in the valley, has been reduced dramatically.

City layout

The nucleus of Caracas is near the western margin of the valley adjacent to the hill of El Calvario Park, which offers a panoramic view of the city. There, centred around the Plaza Bolívar, are many historic buildings reflecting the colonial past, including the Caracas Cathedral, the National Capitol, the Municipal Council building, the birthplace of Simón Bolívar, and Miraflores Palace, which serves as the official residence of the president of the republic. Only a short distance away is the National Pantheon, with the tomb of Bolívar and those of other national heroes. The twin towers of the Simón Bolívar Centre are also located nearby. Once the tallest buildings in the country, these 30-story structures house various ministries of the national government.
Increasingly, the civic centre of Caracas is moving eastward toward the Parque Central and Plaza Venezuela. This district focuses around a monument to Christopher Columbus, but more conspicuous is a cluster of skyscrapers, including another set of twin towers that are among the tallest buildings in all of Latin America. Begun in 1971, these structures soar to a height of 725 feet (221 metres) above street level. Planned to house the main offices of the national government, each tower is equipped for helicopter landings on its roof and affords a spectacular view of the entire valley. After a devastating fire in 2004, the east tower required extensive reconstruction. Nearby are a number of other important city landmarks, including the Botanical Garden, several museums, Parque Los Caobos, and the Central University of Venezuela.
Still farther eastward the principal landmarks of the city are the Caracas Country Club, the Parque Nacional del Este, and the Francisco de Miranda Airport. The city has also expanded southward over the hillsides and along valleys tributary to the Guaire River.

People

The people of Caracas, like those of Venezuela as a whole, are primarily mestizo. To this mixture of white and native Indian ancestry is added a lesser strain of black African origin. There are few people of Asian background, but since World War II there has been a relatively heavy influx of Europeans. During the 1950s, particularly, large numbers of Spaniards, Portuguese, and Italians settled in Caracas. By 1956, Caracas and the Federal District were the home of 42 percent of Venezuela’s 438,000 foreign residents. These immigrants and their descendants have tended to concentrate in certain barrios, or neighbourhoods, of the city. Internal migration has added significantly to the population growth rate of the capital city, as has a high index of natural fertility. The primary source of migrants is the western Andean region, particularly the states of Táchira, Mérida, and Trujillo, although Caracas likewise serves as a magnet, attracting people from all other parts of the republic.
Social-class divisions are quite sharp in Caracas, as elsewhere in South America, and are reflected in the occupancy of residential areas. Members of the upper class first gained wealth and status in Venezuela through landownership and more recently through industry, commerce, and urban real estate. Their homes are luxurious and generally occupy the eastern margins of the valley and the Caribbean coast. The middle class has developed largely in relation to the country’s petroleum wealth and recent European immigration. Middle-class housing occupies the central core of the city, plus certain residential suburbs. The lower social class, composed of labourers, servants, and the unemployed, occupies the hillside shantytowns overlooking the city from the west and south.

Roman Catholicism has been the predominant religion of Caracas since the earliest settlement, but other religions are practiced. Spanish is the most widely spoken language, although English is also commonly used in hotels, restaurants, and other tourist-related facilities.
Economy

Manufacturing

Caracas is in many ways the centre of everything Venezuelan. This was particularly true in relation to industry and commerce until the 1950s, when the national government began to promote industrial decentralization. Still, Caracas remains the leading manufacturing centre, with emphasis on textiles and clothing; processed foods and beverages; tobacco products; wood, paper, and printing; clay and stone products; rubber and leather goods; glass, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals; and metalware and plastics. The relative importance of manufacturing has decreased rapidly, however, as new industries have been developed elsewhere in the republic and those that pollute the environment are required to move from the city to less-populated areas.
Finance and other services

Most important in the economic life of Caracas is the tertiary, or service, sector. This includes wholesale and retail trade, transportation and public utilities, education and health care, and especially government. The city serves as headquarters for most of Venezuela’s commercial and industrial firms, its banks and insurance companies, and government agencies both foreign and domestic. Nearly all countries of the world maintain embassies or consulates within the city. In Caracas, as in any city of dynamic growth, the construction trades are yet another source of livelihood. Chronic unemployment nevertheless remains and is only partially relieved by activities such as street vending, peddling, and shoe shining.

Transportation

Caracas is linked directly with other major urban centres of the world by air and ocean transport. Maiquetía Airport, located 10 miles (16 km) by road from Caracas on the coast, provides international connections as well as domestic flights to all parts of the republic. Two smaller airports, La Carlota and Francisco de Miranda, also serve the city. La Guaira and, to a lesser extent, Puerto Cabello are the natural seaports for Caracas and handle most of its import and export trade. A modern superhighway, including two long tunnels through the mountains, leads from Caracas to Maiquetía, La Guaira, and various beaches and resort areas along the coast. It was opened in 1953 to replace a tortuous 21-mile (34-km) zigzag route.

Within the city large numbers of buses, private automobiles, and taxis provide transportation, but during rush hours they clog the streets in what has become an increasing problem of traffic congestion. The public transportation system, although deficient, improved greatly with the inauguration, in 1983, of a modern subway system. Traffic is also facilitated by a system of autopistas, multilane divided highways extending east–west through the valley and connecting the city with interior locations. Railroads, which once provided Caracas with vital links to the sea and to interior valleys, have been abandoned in favour of highway transportation.
Administration and society

Government

Caracas is the seat of the national government, which includes executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The city itself is governed through the Metropolitan District of Caracas, which administers the entire Capital District and four municipalities in the neighbouring state of Miranda. Also influential in local affairs, since the early days of colonial settlement, is the Municipal Council of Caracas. Caracas has been the seat of a bishopric of the Roman Catholic Church since 1535 and of an archbishopric since 1804.

Education

Considerable emphasis has been placed on education in Caracas. There are five sectors of education, both public and private: primary, secondary, normal, arts and trades, and university. The city also has numerous kindergartens and day-care centres for those under six years of age. The leading institution of higher education is the Central University of Venezuela (also known as the University of Caracas), founded in 1725. Construction of a new campus, called Ciudad Universitaria (University City), began in 1945. Designed by Carlos Raúl Villanueva, Ciudad Universitaria was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000 in recognition of being an excellent example of modernist architecture. Other higher-educational institutions include Simón Bolívar University, which is public and oriented toward science and technology, and the private Andrés Bello Catholic, Metropolitan, and Santa María universities. Among other noteworthy educational centres are an institute of hygiene, a polytechnic institute, normal schools for girls and for boys, and a military academy.

Cultural life

Like many world capitals, Caracas is the main focus of the country’s cultural life. Among the numerous types of cultural activities are theatre, exhibitions of painting and sculpture, concerts, dance, and film. The principal cultural institutions include the Ateneo de Caracas, an ultramodern theatre inaugurated in 1983; the academy of the language; and the academies of history, medicine, and political and social sciences. Also located in Caracas are the national library, numerous other libraries, natural and fine arts museums, art galleries, municipal and national theatres, and an institute of cultural and fine arts.

Caracas is amply served by radio, television, and the press. Venezuela’s first newspaper, the Gaceta de Caracas, began publication in 1808 and was dedicated to the cause of national independence. Today Venezuela’s major newspapers are still based in Caracas, including Ultimas Noticias, El Nacional, El Mundo, and El Universal. These papers are distributed throughout the republic, as printing and publishing elsewhere in Venezuela are much less developed. There is a wide variety of radio broadcasting from many stations, and the national radio broadcasting organization is headquartered in Caracas; television, first broadcast in 1953, is popular at all sociocultural levels.

Caracas, with its mild climate and excellent facilities, affords its citizens ample opportunity to express their interest in sports and recreation. Baseball and football (soccer), the leading national sports, are concentrated in Caracas. The city also has a horse-racing facility, widely renowned for its beauty, and a bullring that is the site of several events per year. There are many golf courses, swimming pools, and tennis courts, and the mountains and beaches along the Caribbean coast also offer recreational opportunities. The city abounds with public gardens and plazas and many people are attracted to its zoo, museums, historic buildings, and boulevards. The most popular parks are the huge Parque Nacional el Avila (a forest preserve on the Cerro El Avila), Parque Los Caobos, the Botanical Garden, and the Parque Nacional del Este.

History

The settlement of Caracas occurred more than 40 years after that of Cumaná (1523), to the east, and Coro (1527), to the west. A ranch was established in the valley in 1557 by Francisco Fajardo, the son of a Spanish captain and an Indian chief’s daughter, and in 1561 Juan Rodríguez Suárez founded a town on the site of the ranch; but the town was soon destroyed by Indian attacks. The conquest and resettlement of the region began in 1566, and Diego de Losada is credited with the actual founding of the city in 1567. He named it Santiago de León de Caracas in honour of the apostle James, who is the patron saint of Spain, Don Pedro Ponce de León, who was the provincial governor, and the Caracas Indians, who inhabited the region.

In 1578 the city was a quadrilateral formed of 24 squares centred on a plaza. The streets were straight and cobbled, and rivulets of water from the hills ran along their margins. Three houses were made of brick, each of two floors, with straw roofs; most houses had walls of bajareque (cane and earth), packed earth, or adobe and roofs of straw or tile. During this era, the average house of the upper class was large, with tree-filled patios and arcades and with separate slave quarters and stable. Initial growth was along the road to the north and then to the south. Later, development advanced to the west and east.

The cabildo, or town council, of Caracas increasingly exercised authority over the entire central portion of Venezuela, and an elite group emerged to manage the political and economic affairs of the city. In 1577 Caracas acquired its status as a provincial capital. The city was sacked by English buccaneers in 1595, and its buildings were almost totally destroyed by two earthquakes in 1755 and 1812. During the 17th and 18th centuries, however, Caracas gradually emerged as the predominant urban centre of Venezuela. The Indian resistance to settlement was quickly overcome, in part owing to an epidemic of smallpox that decimated the native population. The valley was relatively free from pirate attacks, despite its central location near the north coast of the country. The valley itself and adjacent valleys produced some gold and then became important for exportation of cacao (cocoa), the source of chocolate. In addition, Caracas offered a healthful, comfortable climate and an abundance of fresh water.

For almost three centuries of settlement in the valley, local water supplies were considered abundant. Not until 1940 did water shortages become critical, but since that date a continued search for new sources has been required to meet the city’s growing demand. La Mariposa and Agua Fría dams were completed in 1949, and in 1956 an aqueduct from the Tuy River to La Mariposa reservoir brought water for the first time from a source outside the valley. Water supply remains one of the most critical problems to be resolved as the city continues to grow. Also of major concern are waste disposal, contamination, and pollution. Raw sewage is discharged directly into the Guaire River, and air pollution results from industry and severe traffic congestion within the relatively small, enclosed valley.

Caracas has had electric power since 1897 and is now included within a national electrification grid. Natural gas is supplied by pipelines from Guárico and Anzoátegui states in the eastern Llanos region of Venezuela.

In the last half of the 20th century, both government and private investments in Venezuela focused on Caracas, with the result that the city prospered beyond all others. Immigrants have arrived in massive numbers from the rest of Venezuela, as well as from most European countries. A high birth rate contributes an additional dimension to population growth and to a severe housing problem.

Increasingly, Caracas has become a city of high-rise apartments that provide clean, modern, and attractive housing. Yet sprawled across the hillsides are countless thousands of ranchitos, homes constructed of corrugated metal, cardboard, or other scrap materials. The construction of new housing is impressive but remains totally inadequate to meet the continually increasing demand. Since the 1960s, large blocks of uniform dwellings have gradually replaced old homes in the Spanish colonial style, of which few now remain.

Health facilities in Caracas, like those of most large urban centres, have been challenged by the rapidly growing population, pollution, and the problems of treating a large poor population. Within the metropolitan area there are numerous clinics, sanatoriums, hospitals, and rest homes that provide health care for the capital’s inhabitants.