Rural Life in Venezuela: Challenges and Characteristics
Rural Population in Venezuela
Rural Population: The rural population in Venezuela represents a small percentage of people who have not been part of the great migrations to the cities. It is a public institution that is smaller than the city and mainly devoted to economic activities characteristic of the primary sector, linked to the physical characteristics and natural resources of its immediate environment (agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing, or mining), but today have greatly increased the tertiary activities, and in some cases, rural tourism.
The Problems of Rural Areas
- Precarious educational services, medical care, communications, and supply.
- Prevalence of houses of vulnerable materials such as adobe, straw huts, and reused material. Many of these homes have dirt floors and lack potable water and electricity.
- Economic activity subject to the demand from major consuming centers.
- Effects of environmental pollution from excessive use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers that affect water, soil, and wildlife.
- Deforestation and slash-and-burn methods to prepare agricultural land. This results in the acceleration of processes of soil erosion and sediment yield and reduced water yields from watersheds.
- Health problems (gastrointestinal, viral, and parasitic) associated with the handling and consumption of contaminated water.
Demographic Pressure
What is population pressure? The name given to the pressure exerted on the resources of nature, caused by overpopulation, and the psychological, social, and political genera. The volume, distribution, growth, and population displacement are related to the global problems of poverty, depletion of resources, and environmental degradation.
Life in Rural Areas
The living conditions of rural inhabitants vary widely, ranging from laborers surviving the harshest conditions to the modern producer that has electromechanical equipment and a comfortable house. Rural areas are characterized by difficult access to public services (electricity, water, telephone, transportation, gas) as well as the duties of care under the jurisdiction of the State, among which are health and education. These conditions are associated with a low quality of life and have created, for many years, a condition of exclusion of these populations, which are considered to have few opportunities to achieve a higher quality of life.
Public Insecurity
The matter of public insecurity has many sides. Certainly, one cannot hide that organized and unorganized crime is very active, as are the state security forces. Individuals live unsafely. But the engine of this misfortune is the fear that someone said is an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence has crisscrossed. And invariably, fear instigates anger, vainglory, and aggression, as well from someone who prefers to remain anonymous.
Contamination
The presence in the environment of any agent (physical, chemical, or biological) or a combination of agents in places, forms, and concentrations as they are or may be harmful to health, safety, or welfare of the population, or that may be harmful to plant or animal life or prevent the normal use of property and places of recreation and enjoyment of them.
Urban Life
Urban life is made up of human settlements that have their own topographical conformation on which cultural components have been developed, such as houses and public open spaces such as plazas, gardens, and streets, with service networks.
Features
- The urban population lives in cities and its main activities are manufacturing and trade.
- In the cities, life is more active (faster), people are always running and stressed (pressed for time), and alter their emotional state.
- Also, living in the smoke pollution from factories and automobiles. They eat fast food and frozen.
- In cities with more services such as hospitals, schools of different educational levels (school, college), and additional services to rural areas.