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West Indies

West Indies

The Caribbean, (Spanish: Caribe) or the West Indies, is a group of islands and countries which are in or border the Caribbean Sea which lies on the Caribbean Plate. The countries and islands of the Caribbean are located to the south and east of Mexico and to the north and west of Venezuela, South America. There are at least 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cayes in the region. They are organized into 25 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. The name "West Indies" originates from Christopher Columbus' idea that he had landed in the Indies (then meaning all of south and east Asia) when he had in fact reached the Americas. The name "Caribbean" is named after the Caribs, one of the dominant Amerindian groups in the region at the time of European contact. The Caribbean consists of the Greater and Lesser Antilles, and is often considered part of North America. At one time, there was a short-lived country called the Federation of the West Indies composed of the English-speaking Caribbean islands of the region. The Caribbean area is also famous for its sea pirates. See the article piracy in the Caribbean. The region known as "Caribbean" is usually restricted to the islands of the Caribbean Sea, although sometimes the continental American coastline is included.

Historical groupings

Main article: History of the Caribbean Most islands at some point were, or still are, colonies of European nations:
- British West Indies / Anglophone_Caribbean - Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands
- Danish West Indies - present-day United States Virgin Islands
- Dutch West Indies - present-day Netherlands Antilles and Aruba
- French West Indies - Haiti and the French overseas départements of Guadeloupe and Martinique
- Spain - Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico The British West Indies were formerly united by the United Kingdom into a West Indies Federation. The independent countries which were once a part of the B.W.I. still have a unified composite cricket team that successfully competes in test matches and one-day internationals. The West Indian cricket team includes the South American nation of Guyana, the only former British colony on that continent. In addition, these countries share the University of the West Indies as a regional entity. The university consists of three main campuses in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, a smaller campus in the Bahamas and Resident Tutors in other contributing territories.

Present-day island territories of the Caribbean

Bahamas] See also: Caribbean South America, Caribbean_basin
- (British dependency)
  - Anguillita Island
  - Dog Island
  - East Cay
  - Little Scrub Island
  - Prickly Pear Cays
  - Sandy Island
  - Scrub Island
  - Seal Island
  - Sombrero
  - West Cay
-
  - Antigua
  - Barbuda
  - Redonda
- (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
-
  - Barbados
  - Culpepper Island
  - Pelican Island (now absorbed into Barbados)
- (British dependency, shares the Virgin Islands with the U.S. Virgin Islands.)
  - Anegada
  - Beef Island
  - Bellamy Cay
  - Carvel Rock
  - Cockroach Island
  - Cooper Island
  - Dead Chest Cay
  - Diamond Cay
  - Dog Islands
  - Drowned Island
  - East Seal Dog Island
  - Eustatia Island
  - Fallen Jerusalem Island
  - Frenchmans Cay
  - Grouge Dog Island
  - Ginger Island
  - Great Camanoe
  - Great Dog Island
  - Great Thatch
  - Great Tobago Island
  - Green Cay
  - Guana Island
  - Jost Van Dyke
  - Key Cay
  - Little Anegada
  - Little Camanoe
  - Little Cay
  - Little Jost Van Dyke
  - Little Seal Dog Island
  - Little Thatch
  - Little Tobago
  - Little Wickmans Cay
  - Marina Cay
  - Mosquito Island
  - Nanny Cay
  - Necker Island
  - Norman Island
  - Old Jerusalem Island
  - Oyster Rock
  - Pelican Island
  - Peter Island
  - Prickly Pear Island
  - Saba Rock
  - Salt Cay
  - Sandy Cay
  - Scrub Island
  - Spanish Island
  - Tortola
  - Virgin Gorda
  - West Dog Island
- (British dependency)
  - Cayman Brac
  - Grand Cayman (with the capital George Town)
  - Little Cayman
-
  - Cuba
  - Isla de la Juventud
-
  - Bird Island (disputed territory with Venezuela located about 110 km (70 mi) west of the island of Dominica)
- (shares the Grenadines group with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
  - Carriacou
  - Grenada
  - Petit Martinique
  - Ronde Island
  - Petite Martinique
- (overseas department of France)
  - Basse-Terre
  - La Désirade
  - Grande-Terre
  - Marie-Galante
  - Iles de la Petite Terre
  - Saint-Barthélemy (also Saint Barts)
  - Saint-Martin (part of the island Saint Martin shared with the Netherlands Antilles; note the dash)
  - Iles des Saintes
    - Terre de Haut
    - Terre de Bas
- Hispaniola
  -
  -
-
- (overseas department of France)
- (British dependency)
- Navassa Island (U.S. insular area)
- (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
  - Bonaire
  - Curaçao
  - Saba
  - Sint Eustatius
  - Sint Maarten (part of the island Saint Martin shared with Guadeloupe)
- (U.S. commonwealth)
  - Culebra
  - Mona
  - Puerto Rico
  - Vieques
-
  - Nevis
  - Saint Kitts
-
- (shares the Grenadines group with Grenada)
  - Baliceaux Island
  - Bequia
  - Canouan Island
  - Mayreau
  - Mustique
  - Palm Island
  - Petit Mustique
  - Petit Saint Vincent
  - Saint Vincent
  - Tobago Cays
  - Union Island
  - Young Island
-
  - Tobago
    - Little Tobago
  - Trinidad
    - Chacachacare
    - Gaspar Grande
    - Huevos
    - Monos
- (U.S. territory, shares the Virgin Islands with the British Virgin Islands)
  - Birsk Island
  - Buck Island
  - Capella Island
  - Cas Cay
  - Cow And Calf Island
  - Dog Island
  - Dry Rock
  - Fish Cay
  - Flat Cay
  - Grass Cay
  - Great Saint James Island
  - Green Cay
  - Hassel Island
  - Inner Brass Island
  - Johnsons Reef
  - Leduck Island
  - Little Saint James Island
  - Lovango Cay
  - Ningo Island
  - Outer Brass Island
  - Packet Rock
  - Patricia Cay
  - Saba Island
  - Saint Croix
  - Saint John
  - Saint Thomas
  - South-West Rock
  - Stranglers Island
  - Thatch Cay
  - Turtledove Cay
  - Water Island
  - Welk Rock

Continental countries with Caribbean coastlines and islands


-
  - Ambergris Caye
  - Belize City
  - Big Creek
  - Caye Caulker
  - Glover's Reef
  - Hicks Cays
  - Lighthouse Reef
  - South Water Caye
  - Turneffe Islands
-
  - San Andres and Providencia
-
-
-
-
-
  - Cortés department
  - Atlántida department
  - Gracias a Dios department
  - Islas de la Bahía Department
    - Puerto Cortés
    - Tela
    - La Ceiba
    - Trujillo
    - La Mosquitia
    - Puerto Lempira
    - Guanaja
    - Roatán
    - Útila
    - Cayos Cochinos
    - Swan Islands
-
  - Cancún
  - Isla Contoy
  - Isla Cozumel
  - Isla Mujeres
-
  - Corn Islands
  - Cayos Miskitos
-
  - San Blas Islands
  - Bocas del Toro
-
-
  - Isla Margarita
  - Los Monjes Archipelago
  - Las Aves Archipelago
  - Isla de Aves
  - Los Hermanos Island
  - Los Frailes Island
  - Los Roques Archipelago
  - La Sola Island
  - La Tortuga Island
  - La Orchila Island
  - Los Testigos Island
  - La Blanquilla Island
  - Isla de Patos The nations of Belize and Guyana, although on the mainland of Central America and South America respectively, were former British colonies and maintain many cultural ties to the Caribbean and are members of CARICOM. The Turneffe Islands (and many other islands and reefs) are part of Belize and lie in the Caribbean Sea.

Island territories near the Caribbean

Though not technically in the Caribbean Sea, the nearby Bahaman Archipelago is sometimes considered to be part of the Caribbean.
-
  - Abaco
  - Acklins Island
  - Andros
  - Bimini Islands
  - Cat Island
  - Crooked Island
  - Eleuthera
  - Grand Bahama
  - Great Abaco
  - Great Exuma
  - Great Inaco
  - Long Island
  - Mayaguana
  - New Providence
  - Ragged Island
  - San Salvador Island
- (British dependency)
  - Grand Turk
  - Middle Caicos
  - North Caicos
  - Parrot Cay
  - Pine Cay
  - Providenciales
  - Salt Cay
  - South Caicos

Indigenous Tribes


- Arawak
- Carib
- Ciboney
- Garifuna
- Lucayan
- Taino

See also


- African diaspora
- British Afro-Caribbean community
- Caribbean English
- CONCACAF
- Council on Hemispheric Affairs
- History of the Caribbean
- Indo-Caribbean
- Music of the Caribbean
- Politics of the Caribbean
- Tongue of the Ocean
- Tourism in Caribbean
- West Indies Federation

Regional Institutions

Here are some of the bodies that several islands share in collaboration:
- African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP)
- Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Trinidad and Tobago
- Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), Trinidad and Tobago [http://www.caic.org.tt/]
- Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Guyana
- Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Barbados
- Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), Barbados
- Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), Barbados and Jamaica
- Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), Puerto Rico [http://www.caribbeanhotels.org/]
- Caribbean Programme for Economic Competitiveness (CPEC), Saint Lucia [http://www.cpechrd.org/]
- Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), Belize [http://www.caricom-fisheries.com/]
- Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), Barbados and Dominican Republic [http://www.crnm.org/]
- Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Barbados
- Inter-American Economic Council (IAEC), Washington, D.C.
- Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC), Brazil and Uruguay
- Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Saint Lucia
- United Nations - Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Chile and Trinidad and Tobago Many of the nations in the Caribbean play international cricket as one team called the West Indies. Category:Americas ko:서인도 제도 ja:西インド諸島 simple:Caribbean

Spanish language

:This article is about the international language known as Spanish or Castilian. For other languages spoken in Spain see Languages of Spain. Spanish or Castilian (Spanish: español or castellano) is an Iberian Romance language, and the fourth most widely spoken language in the world according to some sources, while other sources list it as the second or third most spoken language. It is spoken as a first language by about 352 million people, or by 417 million including non-native speakers (according to 1999 estimates). Some assert that, after English, Spanish can now be considered the second most important language in the world (probably replacing even French), due to its increased usage in the United States, the high birth rate in most of the countries where it is official, the growing economies of the Spanish-speaking world, its enormous influence on the global music market, and simply due to the broad number of areas on the Earth's surface that the language is spoken in.

"Spanish" or "Castilian"

Spaniards tend to call this language español when contrasting it with languages of other states (for example: in a list with French and English), but call it castellano (Castilian, from the Castile region) when contrasting it with other languages of Spain (such as Galician, Basque, and Catalan). In some parts of Spain, mainly where the people speak Galician, Basque, and Catalan, it is considered offensive to call the language español, as that is what Francisco Franco called it during his reign. For the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, speakers of the language in some areas refer to it as español, and in others castellano is more common. Castellano is the name given to Spanish language in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay and Venezuela. Some philologists use Castilian only when speaking of the language spoken in Castile during the Middle Ages, stating that it is preferable to use Spanish for its modern form. Castilian can be also a subdialect of Spanish spoken in most parts of modern day Castile. It would have a series of characteristics and a specific pronunciation different to the one of Andalusia or Aragon for example, where they would speak different subdialects.

Classification and related languages

Spanish is a member of the Romance branch of Indo-European, descended largely from Latin and having much in common with its European geographical neighbors. Spanish is related to several languages in terms of phonology, grammar and orthography. Of these, Portuguese is perhaps one of the most similar in terms of major languages. However, Spanish is also closely related to Catalan, Asturian, Galician and several other Romance languages. Spanish has fewer similarities with French and Italian but shares strong ties due to Latin roots. Portuguese is orthographically similar in many ways to Spanish but it has a very distinctive phonology. A speaker of one of these languages may require some practice to effectively understand a speaker of the other (although generally it is easier for a Portuguese native speaker to understand Spanish than the other way around). Compare, for example: :Ela fecha sempre a janela antes de jantar. (Portuguese) :Ella cierra siempre la ventana antes de cenar. (Spanish) Some less common phrasings and word choices have closer cognates in Spanish because Portuguese has managed to retain a much larger vocabulary, with stronger Latin heritage: :Ela cerra sempre a janela antes de cear. (less common Portuguese) (Which translates as "She always closes the window before having dinner.") In some places, Spanish and Portuguese are spoken almost interchangeably. Portuguese speakers are generally able to read Spanish, and Spanish speakers are generally able to read Portuguese, even if they cannot understand the spoken language. In fact, the number of bilingual speakers in Brazil (where Portuguese is the official language) has greatly risen because nearly every nation bordering Brazil is Spanish speaking.

History

The Spanish language developed from vulgar Latin, with influence from Celtiberian, Basque and Arabic, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula (see Iberian Romance languages). Typical features of Spanish diachronical phonology include lenition (Latin vita, Spanish vida), palatalization (Latin annum, Spanish año) and diphthongation (stem-changing) of short e and o from Vulgar Latin (Latin terra, Spanish tierra; Latin novus, Spanish nuevo). Similar phenomena can be found in most other Romance languages as well. During the Reconquista, this northern dialect was carried south, and indeed is still a minority language in northern Morocco. The first Latin to Spanish dictionary (Gramática de la Lengua Castellana) was written in Salamanca, Spain, in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija. When Isabella of Castile was presented with the book, she asked, What do I want a work like this for, if I already know the language?, to which he replied, Ma'am, the language is the instrument of the Empire. From the 16th century on, the language was brought to the Americas, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marianas, Palau and the Philippines by Spanish colonization. In the 20th century, Spanish was introduced in Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara. For details on borrowed words and other external influences in Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language.

Geographic distribution

Spanish is one of the official languages of the United Nations and the European Union. The majority of its speakers are confined to the Western Hemisphere, Europe and the Spanish territories in Africa (Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla). With approximately 106 million first-language and second-language speakers, Mexico boasts the largest population of Spanish-speakers in the world. The four next largest populations reside in Colombia (44 million), Spain (c. 44 million), Argentina (39 million) and the United States of America (U.S. residents age 5 and older who speak Spanish at home number 31 million) [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_lang=en&_ts=134303235020]. Spanish is the official and most important language in 20 countries: Argentina, Bolivia (co-official Quechua and Aymara), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea (co-official French), Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay (co-official Guaraní), Peru (co-official Quechua and Aymara), Puerto Rico (co-official English), Spain (co-official Catalan/Valencian, Galician and Basque), Uruguay, Venezuela, and Western Sahara (co-official Arabic). In Belize, Spanish holds no official recognition, however, it is the native tongue of about 50% of the population, and is spoken as a second language by another 20%. It is arguably the most important and widely-spoken on a popular level, but English remains the sole official language. In the United States, Spanish is spoken by three-quarters of its 41.3 million Hispanic population. It is also being learned and spoken by a small, though slowly growing, proportion of its non-Hispanic population for its increasing use in business, commerce, and both domestic and international politics. Spanish does hold co-official status in the state of New Mexico, and in the unincorporated U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. See Spanish in the United States for further information. In Brazil, Spanish has obtained an important status as a second language among young students and many skilled professionals. In recent years, with Brazil decreasing its reliance on trade with the USA and Europe and increasing trade and ties with its Spanish-speaking neighbours (especially as a member of the Mercosur trading bloc), much stress has been placed on bilingualism and Spanish proficiency in the country. On July 07 2005, the National Congress of Brazil gave final approval to a bill that makes Spanish a second language in the country’s public and private primary schools [http://www.mercopress.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=5996]. The close genetic relationship between the two languages, along with the fact that Spanish is the dominant and official language of almost every country that borders Brazil, adds to the popularity. Standard Spanish and Ladino (Judæo-Spanish spoken by Sephardic Jews) may also be spoken natively by some Spanish-descended Brazilians, immigrant workers from neighbouring Spanish-speaking countries and Brazilian Sephardim respectively, who have maintained it as their home language. Additionally, in Brazil's border states that have authority over their educational systems, Spanish has been taught for years. In many other border towns and villages (especially along the Uruguayo-Brazilian border) a mixed language commonly known as Portuñol is also spoken. In European countries other than Spain and Andorra (where it holds no official status), it may be spoken by some of their Spanish-speaking immigrant communities, primarily in the Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom where there is a strong community in London. There has been a sharp increase in the popularity of Spanish in the UK over the last few years. It is spoken by much of the population of Gibraltar, though English remains the only official language. Yanito, an English-Spanish mixed language is also spoken. Among the countries and territories in Oceania, Spanish is the seventh most spoken language in Australia. It is also spoken by the approximately 3,000 inhabitants of Easter Island, a territorial possession of Chile. The island nations of Guam, Palau, Northern Marianas, Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia all once had Spanish speakers, but Spanish has long since been forgotten, and now only exists as an influence on the local native languages. In Asia the Spanish language has long been in decline. Spanish ceased to be an official language of the Philippines in 1987, and it is now spoken by less than 0.01% of the population; 2,658 speakers (1990 Census). However, the sole existing Spanish-Asiatic creole language, Chabacano, is also spoken by an additional 0.4% of the Filipino population; 292,630 (1990 census). Most other Philippine languages contain generous quantities of Spanish loan words. Among other Asian countries, Spanish may also be spoken by pockets of ex-immigrant communities, such as Mexican-born ethnic Chinese deported to China or third and fourth generation ethnic Japanese Peruvians returning to their ancestral homeland of Japan. Spanish is also spoken by segments of the populations in Aruba, Canada, Curaçao, Israel (both standard Spanish and Ladino), northern Morocco (both standard Spanish and Ladino), Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey (Ladino), and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Antarctica, the territorial claims and permanent bases made by Argentina, Chile, Peru and Spain also place Spanish as the official and working language of these enclaves.

Variations

There are important variations among the various regions of Spain and Spanish-speaking America. In Spain the North Castilian dialect pronunciation is commonly taken as the national standard (although the characteristic weak pronouns usage or laísmo of this dialect is deprecated). Spanish has three second-person singular pronouns: tú, usted, and in some parts of Latin America, vos (the use of this form is called voseo). Generally speaking, tú and vos are informal and used with friends (though in Spain vos is considered a highly exalted archaism that is now confined to liturgy). Usted is universally regarded as the formal form, and is used as a mark of respect, as when addressing one's elders or strangers. The pronoun vosotros is the plural form of tú in most of Spain, although in the Americas (and some particular southern-Spain cities such as Cádiz) it is replaced with ustedes. It is remarkable that the informal use of ustedes in southern Spain does not keep the proper pronoun-verb agreement: while the formal form of "you go" would be ustedes van, in Cádiz the informal form would be constructed as ustedes vais, making use of the second person of the plural instead of the third (which constitutes the formal construction). Vos is used extensively as the primary spoken form of the second-person singular pronoun in various countries around Latin America, including Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Uruguay. In Argentina, Uruguay, and increasingly in Paraguay, is it also the standard form used in the media, whereas media in other voseante countries continue to use usted or tú. Vos may also be present in other countries as a limited regionalism. Its use, depending on country and region, can be considered the accepted standard or reproached as sub-standard and considered as speech of the ignorant and uneducated. The interpersonal situations in which the employment of vos is acceptable may also differ considerably between regions. Spanish forms also differ regarding second-person plural pronouns. The Spanish dialects of Latin America have only one form of the second-person plural; ustedes (formal/familiar). Meanwhile, in Spain there are two; ustedes (formal) and vosotros (familiar/informal). The RAE (Real Academia Española), in association with twenty-one other national language academies, exercises a controlling influence through its publication of dictionaries and widely respected grammar guides and style guides. In part due to this influence, and also because of other socio-historical reasons, a neutral standardized form of the language (Standard Spanish) is widely acknowledged for use in literature, academic contexts and the media.

Grammar

Spanish is a relatively inflected language, with a two-gender system and about fifty conjugated forms per verb, but small noun declension and limited pronominal declension. (For a detailed overview of verbs, see Spanish verbs and Spanish irregular verbs.) As for syntax, the unmarked sentence word order is Subject Verb Object, though variations are common. Spanish is right-branching, using prepositions, and with adjectives generally coming after nouns. Spanish is also pro-drop (allows the deletion of pronouns when pragmatically unnecessary) and verb-framed.

Sounds

The consonantal system of Castilian Spanish, by the 16th century, underwent the following important changes that differentiated it from some nearby Romance languages, such as Portuguese and Catalan:
- The initial , that had evolved into a vacillating , was lost in most words (although this etymological h- has been preserved in spelling).
- The voiced labiodental fricative (that was written u or v) merged with the bilabial oclusive (written b). Orthographically, b and v do not correspond to different phonemes in contemporary Spanish, excepting some areas in Spain, particularly the ones influenced by Catalan/Valencian and some Andalusia.
- The voiced alveolar fricative (that was written s between vowels) merged with the voiceless (that was written s, or ss between vowels).
- The voiced alveolar affricate (that was written z) merged with the voiceless (that was written ç, ce, ci), and then evolved into the interdental , now written z, ce, ci. But in Andalucia, the Canary Islands and the Americas these sounds merged with as well. Notice that the ç or c with cedilla was in its origin a Spanish letter, although is no longer used.
- The voiced postalveolar fricative (that was written j, ge, gi) merged with the voiceless (that was written x, as in Quixote), and then evolved by the 17th century into the modern velar sound , now written j, ge, gi. The consonantal system of Medieval Spanish has been better preserved in Ladino, the language spoken by the descendants of the Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain in the 15th century.

Lexical stress

Spanish has a phonemic stress system — the place where stress will fall cannot be predicted by other features of the word, and two words can differ by just a change in stress. For example, the word camino (with penultimate stress) means "road" or "I walk" whereas caminó (with final stress) means "he/she/it walked". Also, since Spanish pronounces all syllables at a more or less constant tempo, it is said to be a syllable-timed language.

Writing system

The pronunciation of any Spanish word can be perfectly predicted from its written form. Spanish is written using the Latin alphabet, with the addition of ñ (eñe). Ch and ll also have their own places in the alphabet (a, b, c, ch, d, ..., l, ll, m, n, ñ, ...). Since 1990, however, words containing the letters ch and ll have been alphabetized as though spelled with the separate letters c - h and l - l. The letter u sometimes carries diaeresis (ü) after the letter g, and the stressed vowel carries an acute accent (á) in many words. Exclamatory and interrogative clauses begin with inverted question and exclamation marks.

Examples of Spanish

Note, the third column uses the International Phonetic Alphabet, the standard for linguists, to transcribe the sounds. There are several examples of travellers' vocabulary and one literary reference. You can listen to these words being read out. Both the transcription and the recording represent standard Castilian pronunciation. El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (opening sentence).

See also


- Real Academia Española
- Common phrases in Spanish
- List of English words of Spanish origin
- Names given to the Spanish language
- Spanish proverbs
- Spanish language poets
- Spanish Creole
- Portuñol
- Papiamento, Chavacano language, Spanglish, Yanito, Palenquero
- Rock en español
- Latin Union
- Islenos

Local varieties


- Argentine Spanish
- Colombian Spanish
- Cuban Spanish
- Mexican Spanish
- Panamanian Spanish
- Puerto Rican Spanish
- Rioplatense Spanish
- Spanish in the United States
- Spanish in the Philippines
- Venezuelan Spanish
- Central American Spanish

External links

About the Spanish language


-
- [http://www.rae.es Official page of the RAE] (in Spanish)
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=spa Ethnologue report for Spanish]
- [http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/i.e.mackenzie/index.html Spanish Language & Linguistics Website]
- [http://assets.cambridge.org/0521805872/sample/0521805872WS.pdf PDF: A history of the Spanish language]
- [http://www.sispain.org/english/language/worldwid.html Numbers of speakers by countries]
- [http://www.vistawide.com/spanish/why_spanish.htm Why learn Spanish?] 10 reasons for learning Spanish
- [http://spanish.about.com Spanish Language] Collection of lessons and other resources
- [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/2444/splatin.html Spanish evolution from Latin]
- [http://www.trustedtranslations.com/spanish_language.asp Spanish Language Characteristics] Some characteristics of Spanish Language

Dictionaries


- [http://buscon.rae.es/diccionario/drae.htm DRAE, Dictionary of the RAE] (Spanish-spanish)
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Spanish-english/ Spanish — English Dictionary]: from Webster's Rosetta Edition.
- [http://www.diccionarios.com Diccionarios.com]
- [http://www.my-spanish-dictionary.com/ An English-Spanish Dictionary]
- [http://www.tododiccionarios.com/ Tododiccionarios.com] a directory of reference works in English or Spanish, classified by subject, with several thousand links.
- [http://spanishdict.com/ Spanishdict.com] Another Spanish-English dictionary.
- [http://wordreference.com/ Wordreference.com] Comprehensive Spanish-English-Spanish dictionary.
- [http://www.tomisimo.org/ Tomísimo.org] A Spanish-English dictionary.

Grammatical help


- [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Spanish Spanish grammar Wikibook]
- [http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm Spanish Grammar Tutorial - with quizzes, tests, and oral activities]
- [http://tchaidze.com/spangram/tenses.html#correspondence Usage of Tenses]
- [http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/courses/accents.htm Use of written accent marks in Spanish]
- [http://verbs.obrist.org Spanish Verb Forms] — Search and conjugate Spanish verbs.
- [http://www.helloworld.com.es/english/quick%20reference/grammar.htm Grammar and more] Examples, Uses, Explanations of Grammar Points and a Free Personal Spanish Verb Conjugator

Tutorials


- [http://www.declan-software.com/spanish Spanish vocabulary learning software with audio]
- [http://spanish.mypage.org Spanish for beginners and travelers]
- [http://learno.com/spanish/index.html Free Learno.com online Spanish tutorial]
- [http://www.listenandlearn.org Practice Spanish Online with Audio Stories]
- [http://www.studyspanish.com/ StudySpanish.com] Popular website for beginners
- [http://www.angelfire.com/ego/pdf/ng/argentina/arsp.html Rioplatense Spanish] Spanish from the River Plate basin
- [http://www.spanish-kit.net Spanish-kit.net] Free Downloadable Spanish grammars, and vocabulary learning tools.
- [http://www.fridaspanish.com Fridaspanish.com Learn Spanish] Mexican Spanish
- [http://www.ielanguages.com/spanish.html Free Spanish Language Tutorial at ielanguages.com]
- [http://www.quiz-tree.com/Spanish_Language_main.html Free Spanish quizzes with audio by a native speaker]
- [http://www.spanicity.com/ SpaniCity] Free Spanish lessons, sounds, grammar and dictionary
- [http://www.loecsen.com/travel/discover_pop.php?lang=en&to_lang=14&learn-Spanish/ Learn and listen to useful expressions in Spanish] Each expression is presented with an audio recording and an illustration
- Spanish phrasebook on Wikitravel

Resources


- [http://www.spanishblogger.com Spanish Blogs & Weblog Directory]
- Category:Languages of Spain Category:Languages of Argentina Category:Languages of Belize Category:Languages of Bolivia Category:Languages of Chile Category:Languages of Colombia Category:Languages of Costa Rica Category:Languages of Ecuador Category:Languages of El Salvador Category:Languages of Guatemala Category:Languages of Honduras Category:Languages of Mexico Category:Languages of Nicaragua Category:Languages of Panama Category:Languages of Paraguay Category:Languages of Peru Category:Languages of Uruguay Category:Languages of Venezuela ja:スペイン語 ko:에스파냐어 simple:Spanish language th:ภาษาสเปน

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a tropical body of water adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and southeast of the Gulf of Mexico. It covers most of the Caribbean Plate and is bounded on the south by Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama, to the west by Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, to the north by the Greater Antilles islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest salt water seas and has an area of about 2,754,000 km² (1,063,000 square miles). The sea's deepest point is the Cayman Trench, between Cuba and Jamaica, at 7,686 m (25,220 feet) below sea level. The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, especially the numerous islands, is known as the Caribbean.

See also


- Antilles
- Caribbean South America Category:Seas Category:Caribbean ko:카리브 해 ja:カリブ海 zh-min-nan:Carib-hái

Caribbean Plate

The Caribbean Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that encompasses roughly 3.2x106 km² and underlies Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America. The Caribbean Plate borders the North American Plate, the South American Plate, and the Cocos Plate. These borders are hotspots for seismic activity, including frequent earthquakes and tremors, occasional tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. The northern boundary with the North American plate is a transform or strike-slip boundary which runs from the border area of Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras in Central America, eastward through the Cayman trough on south of the southeast coast of Cuba, and just north of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Part of the Puerto Rico Trench, the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean (roughly 8400 meters), lies along this border. The Puerto Rico trench is at a complex transition from the subduction boundary to the south and the transform boundary to the west. The eastern boundary is a subduction zone formed as the westward moving North American Plate plunges under the Caribbean Plate. Subduction forms the volcanic islands of the Lesser Antilles island arc from the Virgin Islands in the north to the islands off the coast of Venezuela in the south. This boundary contains seventeen active volcanoes, most notably Soufriere Hills on Montserrat, Mount Pelée on Martinique, La Grande Soufrière on Guadeloupe, Soufrière Saint Vincent on Saint Vincent, and the submarine volcano Kick-'em-Jenny which lies about 10 km north of Grenada. Grenada Along the geologically complex southern boundary the Caribbean Plate interacts with the South American Plate forming Trinidad (on the South American Plate) and Tobago (on the Caribbean Plate), the southern islands of the Netherlands Antilles, and other islands off the coast of Venezuela and Colombia. This boundary is in part the result of transform faulting along with thrust faulting and some subduction. The rich Venezuelan petroleum fields possibly result from this complex plate interaction. The western portion of the plate is occupied by Central America. The Cocos Plate in the Pacific Ocean is subducting the Caribbean Plate under and just off the western coast of Central America. This subduction forms the volcanoes of Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Costa Rica The Caribbean Plate is thought to be a large igneous province that formed in the Pacific Ocean tens of millions of years ago. As the Atlantic ocean widened, North America and South America were pushed westward, and the Pacific Ocean floor began to subduct under the western edges of the American continents. The Caribbean Plate is thicker and lay higher than the rest of the Pacific Ocean floor, and instead overrode the Atlantic Ocean floor, moving eastward relative to North America and South America, and, with the formation of the Isthmus of Panama 2–3 million years ago, ultimately losing its connection to the Pacific.

See also


- List of tectonic plates

External links


- [http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03trench/welcome.html NOAA Ocean Explorer]
- [http://www.geo.tu-freiberg.de/~merkel/vorlesung/OS2001/bachmann_raik.pdf Caribbean Plate formation PDF file] Category:Caribbean Category:Plate tectonics

Venezuela

Venezuela, officially known as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is the northernmost country in South America and part of Caribbean South America. It borders the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the west. Off the Venezuelan coast are also found the Caribbean states of Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles and Trinidad and Tobago. Together Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, Venezuela also is a member of Mercosur, since December, 2005, although it has yet to finalize policy changes in order to gain voting rights. A former Spanish colony, Venezuela is a Federal Republic. Culturally and geographically it is the most Caribbean country of South America, having in its possession over 600 islands in the aforementioned sea. Historically, Venezuela has had territorial disputes with Guyana, largely concerning the Essequibo area. This issue is not yet resolved. To this day, Venezuela is known for its petroleum industry, the environmental diversity of its territory, and its sheer natural beauty. It has been claimed that Christopher Columbus was so enthralled by Venezuela's landscape, when arriving to its coast in 1498, that he referred to the land as Tierra de Gracia (Land of Grace), which has become the country’s nickname.

Origin and history of the name

The name "Venezuela" is believed to have originated from the cartographer Amerigo Vespucci, who together with Alonso de Ojeda led a 1499 naval expedition along the northwestern coast (known today as the Gulf of Venezuela). On reaching the Guajira Peninsula, the crew observed the distinctive stilt villages (palafitos) that the indigenous Añu people had built over the water. This reminded Vespucci of the city of Venice and as a result the region was named Venezuela, which means Little Venice. On the other hand, Spanish conquistador and geographer Martín Fernández de Enciso, member of the same crew, says in his work Summa de Geografía that the above mentioned population was called Veneciuela, and that it was built on a large, plain rock. Therefore, the name Venezuela would be a native word. Nevertheless, the first version remains by far the most popular and accepted version.

History

geographer Venezuela was the site of one of the first permanent Spanish settlements in South America in 1522, and most of the territory eventually became part of the viceroyalty of New Granada. Parts of what is now eastern Venezuela became New Andalusia. After several unsuccessful uprisings, the country declared independence from Spain on July 5th 1811 under the leadership of its most famous son, Simón Bolívar. Nevertheless, the full control over Venezuelan territory was achieved after Bolivar, with the help of General José Antonio Páez and especially the then General Grand Marshall Antonio José de Sucre, whose battle plan Bolívar chose to follow, won the Battle of Carabobo in June 24th 1821, and after José Prudencio Padilla won the Naval Battle of Lake Maracaibo on July 24th 1823. Subsequently, Bolívar led the armies of Venezuela and other countries to freedom and founded what are now Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Another important military leader during the war was the aforementioned Antonio José de Sucre, who won many battles for Bolivar and was a candidate to become his natural successor until he was murdered. Venezuela became, after the war of independence, along with Colombia and Ecuador part of the Republic of Gran Colombia (República de Gran Colombia) until 1830, when the country separated through a rebellion led by the aforementioned Jose Antonio Páez and declared itself as a sovereign republic. Páez became the first president of Venezuela. Much of Venezuela's 19th and early 20th century history was characterized by political instability, political struggle, and dictatorial rule. Following the death of Juan Vicente Gómez in 1935 and the demise of caudillismo (authoritarian oligarchical rule), democratic struggles eventually forced the military to withdraw from direct involvement in national politics in 1958. Since that year, Venezuela has enjoyed an unbroken tradition of democratic civilian rule, though not without conflict. Venezuela is member of the South American Community of Nations (SACN). (more) See also: Discoverer of the Americas, List of Presidents of Venezuela

Politics

The Venezuelan president is elected by a popular vote, with direct and universal suffrage, and functions as both head of state and head of government. The term of office is six years, and a president may be re-elected to a single consecutive term. The president appoints the vice-president and decides the size and composition of the cabinet and makes appointments to it with the involvement of the legislature. The president can ask the legislature to reconsider portions of laws he finds objectionable, but a simple parliamentary majority can override these objections. The unicameral Venezuelan parliament is the National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional. Its 165 deputies, of which three are reserved for indigenous peoples, serve five-year terms and may be re-elected for a maximum of two additional terms. They are elected by popular vote through a combination of party lists and single member constituencies. The highest judicial body is the Supreme Tribunal of Justice or Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, whose magistrates are elected by parliament for a single 12-year term. The Consejo Nacional Electoral is in charge of electoral processes; it is formed by five main directors elected by the National Assembly. Members of the Venezuelan military, including Hugo Chávez, attempted a coup in 1992 to remove the democratically elected president, Carlos Andrés Pérez from power. The coup, which resulted in the deaths of 80 civilians and 17 members of the armed forces, failed and its supporters were jailed for treason. President Pérez was eventually impeached and convicted of corruption and his successor Rafael Caldera released the coup leaders from jail in 1994. Chávez's role in the coup made him popular amongst the lower classes leading him to run for president in 1998. Chávez was elected president in 1998 with 56% of the vote as part of a new political party, the Movement for the Fifth Republic. His platform, (Bolivarian revolution), called for the signing of a new constitution written by a Constituent Assembly and approved by referendum in 1999. Chávez was re-elected in 2000 under the new constitution with 59% of the vote. In November 2000, the National Assembly granted Chávez the right to rule by decree for one year, and in November 2001, Chávez made a set of 49 decrees, including large reforms in oil and agrarian policy which made him even more popular with the poor. Chávez has enacted a number of socialist reforms in Venezuela, fostering close ties with Cuban President Fidel Castro, including expropriation of plantations that owner-occupants claim are private property. Although political parties supporting Chávez have consistently won a majority of seats in parliament, Chávez has slowly made party policy to garner control of most branches of the government. The government has often had to create new grassroots public services in the form of "missions." The government's claim is that this is necessary to avoid going through a "corrupt bureaucracy," but after six years in power, and with a almost absolute control of the several governmental branches, it has begun to raise questions as to its indifference - or powerlessness - to eradicate corruption. (see Transparency International). In December 2001, the umbrella group of the nation's largest business organizations, Fedecamaras, several workers' groups, the Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela and the petroleum workers' union, PDVSA, called the country to a general strike. It was a first in the history of labour relations; owners, executives, managers and a few rank-and-file workers joined together to protest Chávez's economic policies. In April 11th 2002, high-ranking members within the Armed Forces, during massive opposition demonstrations that unexpectedly began to march towards the Presidential Palace refused to carry out the Plan Avila, ordered by Chávez. Although the exact circumstances are unknown, many unarmed protesters were shot at (television broadcasts at the time showed pro-government protesters firing guns into the general direction of the demonstrators), with the result that 18 people were killed. To this day, the responsibility for these deaths has not been established. During the chaos that ensued, high-ranking military officials reported that Chávez had resigned (though, later on, Chavez insisted he had been taken hostage by the military and forced to sign a letter of resignation). During the confusion that followed the power void, Fedecámaras President Pedro Carmona Estanga stepped up and took power. Though initially supported by the high-ranking military that had rebelled against Chávez, he lost support after he proceeded to dissolve all democratic institutions formed under the Chávez regime - and part of the military that remained loyal to Chávez brought him back. Diosdado Cabello, Vice President of Venezuela, exerted his constitutional rights and temporarily assumed the position of president, until Chávez was restored to the Presidency. Diosdado Cabello. This protest was in favor of the 2004 recall referendum.]] The following two years were marked by massive protests by the opposition, who managed in 2004 to obtain more than 3 million signatures to call for a referendum on Chávez, who in turn accused many of the signatures of being fraudulent. The recall referendum was held on 15 August 2004, and Chávez won (that is, he was permitted to stay in office) with approximately 60% of the vote. Leaders and supporters of the opposition refused to accept the results of the election, and claimed fraud, despite international observers that endorsed the election as free and fair. Although the Organization of American States and the Carter Center certified the referendum, disillusioned protests continued. On 4 December 2005, five of Venezuela's major opposition parties (in the end only 10% of the candidates) boycotted the elections, charging that they were not being administered fairly; the last opinion polls had indicated that the Chavez alliance would have won around 150 of the 167 seats in the National Assembly, an indication that the opposition may have tried to avoid an historical defeat. As a result of the partial boycott and the opinion polls, these parliamentary elections were marked by a low voter turnout of 25% to 30%, compared to an historical turnout figure of around 45% in such elections, parliamentary elections being held separately from presidential elections. Historical figures of voter support for the winners of the parliamentary elections: in 1998, the Democratic Action Party won control of the then Congress with 11.24% of voter support from an electoral universe of approximately 10.9 million voters. This party received 1.24 million votes. In the 2000 elections, the Chavez Fifth Republic Movement won control of the National Assembly with 17% or 1.98 million votes of the electoral universe of 11.7 million voters. In the elections on December 4th 2005, the six parties in the Chavez alliance received between 22% - 23% support of the electoral universe of 14.4 million voters or approximately 3.2 million votes. Chavez’s party, the Movement for the Fifth Republic (MVR), won 114 or 68% of the 167 seats in the new National Assembly, with the rest going to allied parties. Venezuela now no longer has a coherent, elected political opposition to Chavez's Bolivarian Revolution. This gives Chavez extremely broad latitude to enact his social and economic policies, and his overwhelming majority in the legislature allows him to easily draft amendments to Venezuela's constitution. Chavez condemned the boycott as an attempt, largely backed by the United States, to destabilize both his government and its reforms as well as the election. His critics argue that the election is illegitimate, since a parliament majority of 65% elected by 25% of eligible voters cannot truly represent the electorate. Re-elected MVR congressman, and current Assembly president Nicolás Maduro, [http://www.2001.com.ve/registro_noticias.asp?registro=58135&sw=1 has proposed to make voting mandatory] in response to December's abstention. On december 9, 2005, National Assembly President Nicolas Maduro, MVR party leader Cilia Flores, and National Assembly Vice President Pedro Carreño claimed that Venezuelan state intelligence forces thwarted a plot to destabilize Venezuela during last Sunday’s parliamentary election. They presented recordings allegedly involving active and retired dissident military officers talking about causing 15,000 deaths, chaos, and attacks on government institutions. According to the lawmakers, the CIA supported this plan. The recordings allegedly included the voices of various retired officers who were involved in the April 2002 events and are currently being sought by the police. It is worth noting that this anouncement was not made by any of the State's judicial bodies, but by the aforementioned group of congresspeople, who presented the alleged physical evidence to the media. The explosion of two small devices known in Venezuela as "niple," a few days before the election, and the sabotage of a major oil pipeline on election eve were part of the plan, said the lawmakers. The night before the election, an explosion destroyed a part of the oil pipeline that supplies Venezuela’s Paraguaná oil refining complex, one of the largest in the world. Authorities later explained that the explosion was caused by C-4 plastic explosive. A day earlier, officials discovered 24 kilos of C-4 and various weapons and grenades in Zulia state, in western Venezuela. President Chávez and members of his government have repeatedly accused the U.S. of being involved in plots to kill him and to destabilize his government with terrorist actions. The Chávez administration has so far presented no evidence supporting these accusations, however, although it has been documented that the U.S. government, via institutions such as the National Endowment for Democracy and the US Agency for International Development, has provided opposition groups with monetary support.

States and territories

Venezuela is subdivided into 23 states (estados), a Capital District (Distrito Capital) correspondent to the city of Caracas, and the Federal Dependencies (Dependencias Federales). The country is also divided into ten administrative regions (regiones administrativas), the administrative regions were established by presidential decrees. decree ----

Geography

Venezuela is home to a wide variety of landscapes, such as the north-easternmost extensions of the Andes mountains in the northwest and along the northern Caribbean coast, of which the highest point is the Pico Bolívar at 5,007 m. Pico Bolívar The centre of the country is characterised by extensive plains known as the llanos that stretch from the Colombian border to the river delta of the Orinoco east. To the south are found the dissected Guiana Highlands, home to Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall, and the northern edge of Amazonia. This is a classical division, however. The country can also be divided into nine geographical areas, some corresponding to the natural regions, one being the Andes Range. The Lake Maracaibo region comprehends the lowlands near the Gulf of Venezuela. The Coro System, a mountainous block in the northern occidental territory, is the fount of several sierras and valleys. The Central Range is tied up with the coast and the hills surrounding Caracas, while the Eastern Range, separated from the Central by the Gulf of Cariaco, covers all of Sucre State and northern Monagas. The Llanos Region involves a third part of the country's area, above the Orinoco River. Under it, is the South Orinoco Region (the Guianas, above described). The Insular Region is formed by the Nueva Esparta State and the Federal Dependencies. The last geographical region is the Deltaic System forms a pantanous triangle, covering Delta Amacuro State, with the Atlantic platform branchin off the coast. Delta Amacuro State The Orinoco River is the largest and most important river of the country, originating one of the biggest watersheds in Latin America. Other important rivers are the Caroní and the Apure. The local climate is tropical and generally hot and humid, though more moderate in the highlands. The capital, Caracas is also the country's largest city. Other major cities include Maracaibo, Barquisimeto, Valencia, Maracay, and Ciudad Guayana. Venezuela is one of the seventeen megadiverse countries, for the great number of animal and vegetable species that habitate there. (more)

Economy

(more) refinery complex in Paraguaná Peninsula]] The petroleum sector dominates the economy, accounting for roughly a third of GDP, around 80% of export earnings, and more than half of government operating revenues. The sector operates through the government-owned Petroleos de Venezuela, which among other things owns the US Citgo distributor, which has 14,000 service stations in the US. Venezuela also depends highly on the agricultural sector. Venezuela has the potential to export coffee and cocoa on a grand scale. Venezuela is one of the five founding members of OPEC. The idea itself (an international oil cartel) was the initiative of Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo, who proposed it as a response to low domestic and international oil prices in August 1960.

Demographics

OPEC]] The Venezuelan people comprise a rich combination of heritages. The historically present Amerindians, Spanish colonists and Africans were joined by Italians, Portuguese, Arabs, Germans, and others from neighbouring countries in South America during waves of immigration in the 20th century. About 85% of the population live in urban areas in the northern portion of the country. While almost half of Venezuela's land area lies south of the Orinoco river, this region contains only 5% of the population. The national and official language is Spanish, but numerous indigenous languages also exist (Wayu, Pemon, Warao, etc), as do languages introduced by immigrants. 96% of the population is at least nominally Roman Catholic. Around 4% of the population adheres to other faiths.

Military

Culture

Roman Catholic Venezuelan dance]] The Venezuelan culture comes from a wide variety of heritages, mainly of the indigenous populations, Spanish and African provenance, dating from the Colony. Before this period, indigenous cultural manifestations were expressed in art (petroglyphs), crafts, architecture (shabonos) and social organization. Aboriginal culture was subsequently assimilated by Spaniards; over the years, the hybrid culture had diversified by region. Venezuelan art is gaining attention within and outside the country. Firstly dominated by religious motives, in the late 19th century changed to historical and heroic representations, led by Martín Tovar y Tovar. Modernism took over in the 20th century. Some very remarkable Venezuelan artists include Arturo Michelena, Cristóbal Rojas, Armando Reverón, Jesús-Rafael Soto, Carlos Cruz-Diez (who both contributed greatly to kinetic art), and Manuel Cabré. Manuel Cabré (Dancing Devils of Yare)]] Venezuelan literature began developing soon after Spanish conquest, and it was dominated by Spanish culture and thinking. Following the rise of political literature during the Independence War, was the Romanticism, the first important genre in the region, whose great exponent was Juan Vicente González. Although mainly focused on narrative, poets figure with great importance, being Andrés Eloy Blanco the most famous of them, aside Fermín Toro. Major writers and novelists are Rómulo Gallegos, Teresa de la Parra, Arturo Uslar Pietri, Adriano González León, Miguel Otero Silva and Mariano Picón Salas. Another great poet and humanist was Andrés Bello, besides being and educator and a intellectual. Other philosophers and intellectuals, like Laureano Vallenilla Lanz and José Gil Fortoul, along with many other writers, sustained the theory of the Venezuelan positivism. The great architect of the Venezuelan Modern era was Carlos Raúl Villanueva, who designed and built the Universidad Central de Venezuela(World Heritage)) and its Aula Magna. Venezuelan architecture examples are the National Pantheon, the Baralt Theatre, the Teatro Teresa Carreño,and the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge. Autoctonal music styles are sort of a crisol of the Venezuelan cultural inheritages, most noted in groups like Un Solo Pueblo and Serenata Guayanesa. The national musical instrument is the cuatro. The national songs are mainly from the llanos area and its environment, so is the case of the Alma Llanera and Caballo Viejo by Simón Díaz. The gaitas is also a popular style, played generally on Christmas, typical of Zulia State. The national dance is the joropo. Teresa Carreño was a world famous piano virtuosa during late 19th century. Venezuela is also a reference for their world famous baseball players, such as Luis Aparicio, David Concepción, Oswaldo Guillén, Andrés Galarraga, Omar Vizquel, Luis Sojo, and Johan Santana, winner of the Cy Young Award in 2004. Although baseball is tremendously popular, football (soccer) is also gaining popularity, due to the increasing performance of the Venezuela national football team. See also:
- Music of Venezuela
- Cuisine of Venezuela

Holidays

Personalities


- List of Venezuelans
- List of players from Venezuela in Major League Baseball

National symbols

List of players from Venezuela in Major League Baseball Venezuela's national symbols include the Flag, the Coat of Arms, and the National Anthem. Other elements relative to the typical flora and fauna of the territory are remarkable. The governments through history have officially declared these as national symbols: ;National Flower
- The orchid (Cattleya mossiae) This kind of orchid is also known as Flor de Mayo (May Flower). Was first discovered in the northern land in 1839. Was given the status of National Flower on 23 May 1951. 1951 ;National Tree
- The araguaney (Tabebuia chrysantha) Called aravanei by the caribes, it can be found mostly in regions with temperate weather. It can reach a height between 6 and 12 m. The araguaney flourishes within the period following a rainy season, mostly on the first months of the year. Rómulo Gallegos referred to these months as "La primavera de oro de los araguaneyes" (the golden spring of the araguaneyes). Declared National Tree on 29 May 1945. 1945] ;National Bird
- The turpial (Icterus icterus) Fully coloured with yellow-orange tones except in the head and the wings, which are black with a few tones in white; also has a blue spot surrounding the eyes. It can be found in woods, the llanos, at the shores of jungles, and in northern and southern Orinoco. The turpial is fairly appreciated due to its singing and was declared the National Bird on 23 May 1958.

Related topics

External links

;Official
- [http://www.asambleanacional.gov.ve Asamblea Nacional] - Official Parliamentary Site.
- [http://www.cne.gov.ve Consejo Nacional Electoral]
- [http://www.gobiernoenlinea.ve Gobierno en Línea] - Official governmental portal.
- [http://www.fiscalia.gov.ve Ministerio Público]
- [http://www.venezuela.gov.ve Presidencia de la República de Venezuela] - Official Presidential Site.
- [http://www.rethinkvenezuela.com Venezuela Information Office] - Dedicated to informing the American public about contemporary Venezuela, and receives its funding from the government of Venezuela.
- [http://www.tsj.gov.ve Tribunal Supremo de Justicia] ;Media and communications
- [http://www.analitica.com Analítica]
- [http://www.cadenaglobal.com Cadena Global]
- [http://www.el-nacional.com Diario El Nacional]
- [http://www.talcualdigital.com Diario Tal Cual]
- [http://www.eud.com Diario El Universal]
- [http://www.globovision.com Globovisión] - 24 Hour News Channel
- [http://www.magicafm.com Magica 99.1FM]
- [http://www.panodi.com Panorama] - Maracaibo based newspaper
- [http://www.rctv.net Radio Caracas Televisión]
- [http://www.vtv.gov.ve/ Venezolana de Televisión]
- [http://www.laverdad.com La Verdad]
- [http://www.notisur.com/nts Notisur]
- [http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/ VenezuelAnalysis.com]- News, Views and Analysis from Venezuela
- [http://notiven.com Noticias de Venezuela]
- [http://www.venezuelatoday.net/ Venezuelatoday.net] - One Stop Source for Latest News and Information
- [http://www.vheadline.com/main.asp VHeadline.com]
- [http://www.unionradio.com.ve Unión Radio]
- [http://www.rnv.gov.ve/noticias/ Radio Nacional de Venezuela] ;Culture, Images and Tourism
-
- [http://www.discovervenezuela.com Discover Venezuela] - for more information and images.
- [http://www.efemeridesvenezolanas.com Efemérides Venezolanas]
- [http://www.marceloanelli.com/xoom/ Venezuela in Photographs]
- [http://www.venezuelatuya.com Venezuela Tuya (Venezuela Yours - Le Venezuela Votre): A country to love] - Venezuelan touristic portal.
- [http://www.turpial.org Venezuelan Picture Gallery] Pictures of cities, landscapes, animals and plants. ;Miscellaneous
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/South_America/Venezuela Open Directory Project] directory category (various languages)
- [http://www.auyantepui.com/ Auyantepui] - Directory of Venezuelan websites
- [http://www.veneblogs.com/ Veneblogs] - Directory of Venezuelan weblogs
- [http://www.venezolano.web.ve/ Weblog Venezolano] - Discussion about recent news
- [http://theletterisback.blogspot.com/ The Letter is back]

References

# . Category:South American countries Venezuela ja:ベネズエラ ko:베네수엘라 ms:Venezuela simple:Venezuela th:ประเทศเวเนซุเอลา zh-min-nan:Venezuela

South America

South America is a continent, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. South America is situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Commonly referred to as part of America, like North A