The South America Caribbean coast

Territory et Population

	Status	Area (km²)	Population	Population density (per km²)	Life expectancy
					Women	Men	Total
Colombia	Independent State (1)	1 141 748	46 927 000	41	78	71	75
Guyana	Independent State	214 969	756 000	4	71	63	67
French Guiana	French Overseas Department (2)	83 846	224 469	3	83	76
Suriname	Independent State	163 265	529 000	3	77	72	74
Venezuela	Independent State	912 050	29 278 000	32	77	71	74

(1) For the United States, Colombia represents the center of operations in South America. The military and financial exposure (so called “help”) is very important. In Colombia, there are 7 military bases of the US Army. According to documents, presented by Prof. Doug Stokes, the United States are responsible for the creation of paramilitary groups (“paramilitares”) like the AUC. These groups are widely known for systematic human rights violation, participation in drug trafficking, relentlessness against democratic players in society like trade unionists, minorities and armed groups fighting against latifundium and neoliberalism within the country (particularly FARC-EP). The Colombian “independence” vis-à-vis the United States (and the US-based multinationals, omnipresent in this rich in natural resources country) is therefore contengious.

(2) The French overseas departments (DOM in French) are completely and equally part of the French Republic (and the European Union) as any other French department. Nevertheless the French overseas departments are the poorest departments in comparison to national standard. These departments are  also characterized by strong economic inequalities on French standart.

Urbanisation / migration

	Urbanisation	Migration	Median age
			Women	Men	Total
Colombia	75%	-0,67%	28,9	27	28
Guyana	29%	-14,32%	24,6	23,2	23,9
French Guiana	NC	NC	NC	NC	NC
Suriname	76%	0%	29,1	28,3	28,7
Venezuela	94%	0%	26,8	25,4	26,1

Economy

	GDP billions of USD	GDP capital	HDI	Growth rate of GDP	Composition of GDP / sector			unemployment rate	Population below poverty line	Debt (% of PBN)
					Agriculture	Industry	Services
Colombia	288	6 225	0,689	4,3%	7%	32%	61%	11,7%	45,5%	44,8%
Guyana	2,222	2 945	0,611	4,4%	19%	36%	46%	11,8%	NC	57,0%
French Guiana			0,850	3,2%				21,1%
Suriname	3,251	6 255	0,646	3,1%	5%	40%	56%	9,5%	70,0%	NC
Venezuela	387	13451	0,696	-1,9%	4,1%	34,9%	61,1%	7,4%	37,9%	25,5%

BUSINESS

	Main exports	Main export partners	Main import partners
				Colombia	Petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, emerald, clothing bananas, cut flowers	United states 42%, Europe 12,6%, China 5,2%, Ecuador 4,5%	United states 25,5%, China 13,4%, Mexico 9,4%, Brazil 5,9%, Germany 4,1%
Guyana	Sugar, gold, bauxite, alumina, rice, shrimp, molasses, rum, lumber	Canada 27,6%, United states 17%, United kingdom10,9%, Ukraine 5,6%, Netherlands 5,1%, Trinidad and Tobago 4,3%, Jamaica 4,3%	United states  24,9%, Trinidad and Tobago 22,9%, Cuba 6,3%, China 5,7%
French Guiana	NC	NC	NC
Suriname	Alumina, gold, petroleum, framework, Shrimp and fish, rice, bananas	Canada 35,1%, Belgium 14,7%, United states 10%, United Arab Emirates 9,8%, Norway 4,9%,  Netherlands 4,7%, France 4,4%	United states 30%, Netherlands 18,7%, Trinidad and Tobago 12,7%, China 7,6%, Japan 5,7%
Venezuela	Petroleum, bauxite and alumina, cocoa, Chemical compound, agricultural products, finished base	United states 37,8%, China 5,8%, Singapore 4,9%, Cuba 4,3%	United states27,1%, Colombia 11,8%, China 8,6%, Brazil 8,4%