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Venezuela's mountains long impeded the nation's economic development because of the communications problems they presented. The country has developed a fine highway system, but goods are still carried primarily by ship. Oil accounts for about 80% of the export income, 50% of government earnings, and 25% of the gross domestic product. Venezuela is the largest foreign supplier of oil to the United States. Other exports are iron ore, bauxite, aluminum, coffee, cocoa, rice, and cotton. The main imports are manufactured goods : especially machinery, vehicles, and chemicals : and food. The main trading partners are the United States, Germany, and Japan. A large amount of oil is exported to the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba for refining. Maracaibo, Puerto Cabello, La Guaira, and CumanA are the important ports.
The government has used oil revenues to stimulate manufacturing industries. Food processing and the manufacture of construction materials, textiles, chemicals, and automobiles have become well established. Heavy-metalworks have been built on the Orinoco near Ciudad Guayana. Also, Venezuela uses its rivers to great advantage as sources of hydroelectric power. Despite government reform programs, Venezuela's wealth remains in the hands of a small minority. A disproportionately high percentage of the population lives in poverty; since the end of the oil boom in the early 1980s, the percentage of poor Venezuelans has increased dramatically, from 28% to 68%. Many cities have squalid shanty towns, and in the countryside many people are still tenant farmers.
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