25 April 2013 Last updated at 08:55 ET 
Venezuela has some of the world’s largest proven oil deposits as well as huge quantities of coal, iron ore, bauxite and gold.
Yet most Venezuelans live in poverty, many of them in shanty towns, some of which sprawl over the hillsides around the capital, Caracas.
Venezuela’s economic fortunes are tied to world oil prices. A 1970s boom largely benefited the middle classes, but a subsequent price collapse condemned many of this class to poverty while eroding the living standards of the already impoverished.
National hero Simon Bolivar led several Latin American countries to independence from Spain Unemployment is high and, according to official figures, around 60% of households are poor.
In 1998 Venezuelans broke the stranglehold of the discredited party system to elect the populist left-winger Hugo Chavez, a former army officer who proclaimed a “Bolivarian revolution”, named after South America’s independence hero. Mr Chavez died in 2013, but was succeeded by his vice-president, Nicolas Maduro, who pledged to continue his policies.
A country of striking natural beauty, which ranges from the snow-capped Andean peaks in the west, through the Amazonian jungles in the south, to the beaches of the north, Venezuela is among the most highly urbanised countries in Latin America.
Radical reform, political unrest and deep divisions characterised the President Chavez’s term in office. His supporters – known as “chavistas” – and his detractors both staged street protests.
Continue reading the main story Politics: President Hugo Chavez died in March 2013. He led a self-styled socialist revolution but polarised domestic opinionEconomy: Venezuela is a major oil producer; export revenues fund huge social programmesInternational: President Chavez was a strident critic of Washington; the US portrayed him as a security threat. Critics said he used fuel sales under preferential terms to extend political influence in the regionCountry profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring
Supporters said his economic reforms – including the nationalisation of much of the economy, especially the oil sector – and his expansion of social programmes helped the poor benefit from the country’s oil export revenues.Critics said his actions damaged economic performance and encouraged inflation, running at 27.2% in 2010. In January 2010, the government had devalued the bolivar in an attempt to boost oil revenues and simulate domestic production.
Venezuela under Mr Chavez sought to strengthen its regional influence through diplomatic and economic overtures towards other South American and Caribbean nations.
This has been seen, in part, as an effort to counter Washington’s influence in the region, and has been a contributory factor in strained relations with US allies such as Colombia.
Mr Chavez also aligned himself with Russia and Iran, and frequently expressed support for anti-Western leaders in the Middle East and elsewhere.
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Venezuela country profile - Overview
