CARACAS, VENEZUELA
Pop. approx. 6,000,000
Size: approx. 10 mi. long x 2 mi. wide

Fact:
The country of 24 million people is full of natural resources and produces bauxite, iron ore, and mines gold and diamonds. The complete bottom half of the country is the Amazon jungle. It is a very diverse country with the Andes mountains to the west, over 2,000 miles of beautiful beaches to the north, and the interior of the country dedicated to farming and ranching. Venezuela's cocoa is known as some of the worlds best in quality. It is grown in the eastern part, then shipped to Belgium for processing then returned for marketing and resale both in country and internationally.

Venezuela is a democratic country with elected officials and open elections. Many of the leaders in government and in the business community have attended some of the finest universities in the United States for their education.

Venezuela is located at the very top of South America right above Brazil and beside Columbia.
Fact: Venezuela is known for its oil production as it supplies approx 15% of all US oil imports. The gas company CITGO in the USA is owned by the Venezuelan government.	Fact: The people of Venezuela are very warm, affectionate and passionate people. They love to talk about baseball, politics and current affairs. Although Spanish is the national language, many speak English and other languages.

Caracas:
The capital city of Venezuela, Caracas, is filled with people. Over 6 million are sharing a space of land that is 2 miles wide by 10 miles long. Caracas is surrounded by a mountain that has homes built all the way to the top. These homes are in areas called "barrios" (below) which generally indicate the poor areas. The houses have no foundations or footings and whenever heavey rains come many of them are washed down the hillside. This caused a national tragedy in 2000 when an estimated 100,000 people lost their lives to the mudslides and floods.