Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a former South American Spanish colony. The country borders on Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Republic of Guyana as well as on Brazil and Colombia. Venezuela lies just above the equator. The country has many scenic beauties. A visitor can admire snow-capped Andean peaks in the west and Amazonian jungles in the south. The country has wonderful beaches and belongs also among the most highly urbanized countries in Latin America. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela occupies 881,050 sq km. There live some 26.6 million people in this state. As it is former Spanish colony – Spanish is the official language, nevertheless, English, French, German and Portuguese are also widely spoken. There are also some 25 Indian languages used in Venezuela. The country has some of the world"s largest proven oil deposits as well as huge quantities of coal, iron ore, bauxite and gold. However, the standard of living is low, many Venezuelans live in poverty and the unemployment rate is high.
Nowadays, the tourism industry is very important for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The Tourism industry became so important for this state that the Tourism Ministry was established and it has to be admitted that the tourism activity is steadily growing. This development is supported by high oil revenues and a large public expenditure. As mentioned above, the country boasts with beautiful nature, but this is not the only allurement that brings foreigners here. Venezuelans are really fond of plastic surgeries so that the country has one of the highest numbers of plastic procedures per capita. As the global transporting prices are quite low, Venezuela becomes an attractive destination for medical tourists. The fact is that prices here are much lower than for example in the UK. It is said that the prices could be as much as 50% cheaper here than in the UK. For example nose reshaping costs some L3,000 but only as much as L1,450 in Venezuela.
