What in the World? Tokyo (2021) Olympic Medals

The Paris 2024 Olympics have commenced! 🏅 Taking a look back at the previous Summer Olympics, which country did not win medals at Tokyo in 2021? The answer is listed further below!

A — CHILE
B — VENEZUELA
C — UZBEKISTAN
































































Answer:
A — Chile, which won 1 gold and 1 silver medal at Paris 2024 but none at Tokyo 2021

Independence Day in Venezuela

People all across VENEZUELA commemorate their country's independence today. Venezuela declared independence from Spain on July 5th, 1811. Happy Independence Day!

Flag of the Day: Zulia

Location of the State of Zulia in VENEZUELA: Located south of the Caribbean Sea (Mar Caribe) in northwest Venezuela. Zulia State almost completely surrounds Lake Maracaibo (Lago de Maracaibo). Zulia maintains a prominent petroleum extracting and refining industry, so the lightning bolt design on its flag is likely to represent the electricity generated from burning petroleum. Towns and cities in Zulia include Maracaibo (state capital), Altagracia, Bobures, Cabimas, Casigua, Ciudad Ojeda, Encontrados, La Concepción, La Solita, Lagunillas, Machiques, Mene Grande, Palmira, Paraguaipoa, Quisiro, Rosario, San Carlos del Zulia, San Rafael, and Sinamaica.

Population: 5,150,000 (GeoFact of the Day estimate, 2018)

Venezuela Exports

According to National Geographic MapMaker (mapmaker.nationalgeographic.org) and MIT's Observatory of Economic Complexity (atlas.media.mit.edu), the following items are major exports of VENEZUELA: aluminum, animal hides, asphalt, automobile parts, bananas, basic manufactured goods, bauxite, beef, beverages (especially liquor), buckwheat, chemicals, chocolate, citrus fruit, clothing and textiles, coal briquettes, cocoa butter, coffee, corn (maize), dairy products, diamonds, eggs, electronics, excavation machinery, fertilizer, float glass, gold, insulated wire, iron materials, iron ore, melons, molasses, natural gas, oilseeds, packaged food, paper products, perfume plants, petroleum and petroleum coke, pork, rice, seafood (especially crabs and crabmeat), sorghum, steel, sugarcane, telephones, tomatoes, tree nuts, and wood fiberboard.

According to February 2017 statistics from the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports include the United States (top importer), China, India, Singapore, the Netherlands Antilles, Singapore, Cuba, Japan, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Aruba, Spain, Jamaica, Sweden, Nicaragua, Malaysia, South Africa, Nigeria, Italy, Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, France, Poland, Antigua and Barbuda, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, and Saint Lucia.

Venezuela Endangered Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for VENEZUELA in South America lists 1 extinct species (Pangani Haplo cichlid fish, possibly still living), 35 critically endangered species, and 78 endangered species. Some of Venezuela's critically endangered species are the Brown Spider Monkey, Caribbean Electric Ray, Carrizal Seedeater bird, Daggernose Shark, Elkhorn Coral, Goliath Grouper fish, Green and Red Venter Harlequin Toad (Pinango Stubfoot Toad), Leopard Rocket Frog, Merida Rocket Frog, Mucubaji Stubfoot Toad, Orinoco Crocodile, Rancho Grande Harlequin Frog, Scarlet Harlequin Toad, Staghorn Coral, Táchira Antpitta bird, and Venezuela Stubfoot Toad.

Endangered species include the Andean Tapir mammal, Baboonwood tree, Black-Capped Petrel, Durant's Rocket Frog, El Vivero Rocket Frog, Fernandez's Sword-Nosed Bat, Guaiac Tree, Isidor's Eagle, Lancini's Robber Frog, Long-Haired Spider Monkey, Northern Helmeted Curassow bird, Paria Wood Elf damselfly, Perijá Parakeet, Perijá Metaltail, Plain-Flanked Rail bird, Scissor-Tailed Hummingbird, and Williams' Ground Snake. Venezuela-named species include the Venezuela Coral Snake, Venezuela Ground Snake, Venezuela Round Stingray, Venezuelan Fish-Eating Rat, Venezuelan Flycatcher bird, Venezuelan Wood Quail, and Venezuelan Yellow Frog.

Mount Venamo

Known as Cerro Venamo in the Spanish language, Mount Venamo stands 1,890 meters and 6,201 feet in elevation on the border between GUYANA and VENEZUELA. Also named Waukauyengtipu (“mountain of the butterfly’s place”) by Arekuma Amerindians, Mt. Venamo is located in the Pakaraima mountain range, in western Guyana’s Cuyuni-Mazaruni region (formerly Mazaruni Potaro), and in eastern Venezuela’s Bolívar state. The headwaters of the Venamo (Wenamu) River flow northward along the Guyana-Venezuela border for about 120 kilometers — until it reaches the Cuyuni River, which then flows to the Atlantic Ocean. Finally, the snowless mountain can be nearly accessible on Venezuela National Highway 10 and is found in Venezuela’s Parque Nacional Canaima (Canaima National Park).

Rivers Near South American Capitals

Capital cities in all varieties of countries are often located next to or close to rivers and streams. Rivers facilitate trade, convenient transportation, beautification of cities, and recreation activities for residents and tourists. Almost every capital in South America straddles a major river. At the very least, every capital in the continent has rivers, streams, and canals flowing near or within them. In the text below, every country's name has a convenient link to their posts; these links open in new tabs or windows.

Buenos Aires, the capital of ARGENTINA
     ― Río de la Plata and Riachuelo (Río de la Matanza)

La Paz, one of the capitals of BOLIVIA
     ― Río Choqueyapu and Río Seco

Sucre, the other capital of Bolivia
     ― Río Cachimayu

Brasília, the capital of BRAZIL
     ― Ribeirão Taguatinga (stream) and Río São Bartolomeu

Santiago, the capital of CHILE
     ― Canal San Carlos (manmade canal), Río Maipo, and Río Mapocho

Bogotá, the capital of COLOMBIA
     ― Río Bogotá and Río Tunjuelo

Quito, the capital of ECUADOR
     ― Río San Pedro

Cayenne, the capital of FRENCH GUIANA (overseas territory)
     ― Canal LeBlond (manmade canal) and Rivière des Cascades

Georgetown, the capital of GUYANA
     ― Demerara River and east of Essequibo River

Asunción, the capital of PARAGUAY
     ― Arroyo Leandro Sosa (stream) and Río Paraguay

Lima, the capital of PERU
     ― Río Lurín, Río Rímac, and south of Río Chillón

Paramaribo, the capital of SURINAME
     ― Suriname River (Surinamerivier in Dutch)

Montevideo, the capital of URUGUAY
     ― Arroyo Miguelete and Arroyo Pantanoso (streams north and northwest of Montevideo)

Carácas, the capital of VENEZUELA
     ― Quebrada Caroata (stream) and Río Guaire

Countries with Z in their Names

There are sixteen countries with Z in their names. Two countries start with the letter Z: Zambia and Zimbabwe. Other countries with the letter Z in their names are Azerbaijan, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, New Zealand, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela. Zaire was a former Z country, but that became the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Paria Peninsula

The Paria Peninsula, known as Península de Paria in Spanish, is a skinny peninsula jutting horizontally into the Caribbean Sea from VENEZUELA's mainland. It is in Northeast Venezuela to be exact and part of the state of Sucre. It is south of the Caribbean Sea and north of the Gulf of Paria. The peninsula is also west of Trinidad and Tobago; between the two countries, there is an interestingly named water body called Dragon's Mouths. The easternmost tip of Paria Peninsula is Punta Peñas. Communities on the peninsula include Irapa, Guiria, Macuro, Puerto de Hierro, and Yoco. For your information, there is another major peninsula in Venezuela, called Paraguaná.

Venezuela

Map Credit: © Maps of the World (mapsofworld.com)
Click on map to enlarge it in a lightbox window.

Officially named the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (República Bolivariana de Venezuela), VENEZUELA is a Spanish-speaking country situated in northern South America, south of the Caribbean Sea. Bordering countries are Brazil located south and southeast of Venezuela, Colombia to the west, and Guyana to the east. The island country Trinidad and Tobago, islands belonging to the Netherlands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao), and smaller islands are located north of Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea. Venezuelans annually celebrated Independence Day since July 5th in 1811, when the nation declared independence from Spain.

● ● ● ● ●  People and Places  ● ● ● ● ●  The capital of Venezuela is Caracas, which has a population around 2,100,000. Other large cities in Venezuela include Ciudad Guayana, Maracaibo, Mérida, San Cristóbal, and Valencia. For their currency, Venezuelans use the Venezuelan Bolívar. The ISO 4217 currency code is VEF. Indigenous Indian groups in Venezuela, including but not certainly not limited to Baniwa, Barí, Warao, Wayuu, and Yaruro tribes, speak about 25 languages. They typically inhabit western and southern Venezuela, especially the provinces of Zulia (west) and Amazonas (south). Spanish is the national and official language, while English has become the second most spoken language. Religion-wise, most Venezuelans are Roman Catholics while indigenous people continue worshipping their own religions and beliefs.

● ● ● ● ●  Land Features  ● ● ● ● ●  Venezuela has some neat land geography facts. Standing at almost 980 meters and over 3,000 feet in the Bolívar state of southeastern Venezuela, the world-renown Angels Falls is the tallest waterfall with no interruptions. Lake Maracaibo in northwestern Venezuela is generally considered a lake even though it is technically a bay. The northernmost land-connected extension of Venezuela, the Paraguaná Peninsula features the Paraguaná Refinery Complex. This refinery facility is one of the largest oil refineries in the world. Another major peninsula of Venezuela jutting out into the Caribbean Sea is Paria Peninsula, also known as Peninsula de Paria ↗ (blog post link). This peninsula is about 1,000 kilometers east of Paraguaná Peninsula and just west of Trinidad and Tobago. The Andes Mountains (Cordillera de los Andes in Spanish) stretch from southwest to northeast across western Venezuela. Pico Bolívar is Venezuela's highest peak, standing tall at over 5,000 meters and over 16,400 feet.