2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships
Race results -- Men 's
Table:
Rank
Athlete
Nationality
Time
Notes

Zersenay Tadesse
Eritrea
59:56
CR

Patrick Makau Musyoki
Kenya
1:01:54

Ahmed Hassan Abdullah
Qatar
1:01:57
SB

4
Stephen Kipkoech Kibiwott
Kenya
1:01:58

5
Yusei Nakao
Japan
1:02:05

6
Dieudonné Disi
Rwanda
1:03:03

7
Abebe Dinkessa
Ethiopia
1:03:04

8
Marilson dos Santos
Brazil
1:03:14

9
Joseph Maregu
Kenya
1:03:32

10
Essa Ismail Rashed
Qatar
1:03:57
PB

11
Sylvain Rukundo
Rwanda
1:04:02
SB

12
Michael Tesfay
Eritrea
1:04:04
SB

13
Eshetu Wondemu
Ethiopia
1:04:11

14
Raji Assefa
Ethiopia
1:04:32

15
Ignacio Cáceres
Spain
1:04:39

16
Michael Shelley
Australia
1:04:44

17
Pedro Mora
Venezuela
1:04:45
SB

18
Dereje Tesfaye
Ethiopia
1:04:57

19
Ali Dawoud Sedam
Qatar
1:04:58
SB

20
Giomar da Silva
Brazil
1:05:07
SB

Drawing on the accompanying table and the relevant paragraphs listed below.

Provide an answer to this question: What is the capital of the country whose runner won the 2011 Berlin Marathon ? Output only the correct answer as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Do not introduce information beyond the provided sources.

Zersenay Tadese [ nb ] ( Tigrinya : ዘርእሰናይ ታደሰ ; born 8 February 1982 ) is an Eritrean long-distance track and road running athlete . He held the men 's half marathon world record from 2010 to 2018 . His bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics made him the first ever Eritrean Olympic medallist , and his 20-km title at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships also made him the country 's first athlete to win at a world championship event . He does not use a sprint finish to win races ; his strategy relies on a combination of efficient running and fast pace setting . Zersenay ( Tadese is his father 's name ) has found most of his success in the half marathon , with four consecutive victories in the World Half Marathon Championships from 2006 to 2009 ( with a 2006 20km edition ) , a silver medal in 2010 and a fifth title in 2012 . His 5 titles are a record . He set a world record at the Lisbon Half Marathon in 2010 . He has also excelled in cross country running , winning a gold , a silver , and two bronze medals in the long distance race over five IAAF World Cross Country Championships . He is a four-time Olympian ( 2004 , 2008 , 2012 and 2016 ) . In 2009 , Zersenay became only the second man ( after Paul Tergat ) to win three World Championship medals over three different surfaces in the same year , winning World Cross Country bronze , 10,000 metres World Championship silver on the track , and gold in road running at the World Half Marathon Championships . He is a popular public figure in his home country ; 2500 guests attended his wedding to Merhawit Solomon , which was broadcast live on Eritrean television . His brother , Kidane Tadese , is also a professional distance runner .
Eritrea ( /ˌɛrɪˈtreɪə , ˌɛrɪˈtriːə/ ( listen ) officially the State of Eritrea ) , is a country in the Horn of Africa in East Africa , with its capital at Asmara . It is bordered by Sudan in the west , Ethiopia in the south , and Djibouti in the southeast . The northeastern and eastern parts of Eritrea have an extensive coastline along the Red Sea . The nation has a total area of approximately 117,600 km2 ( 45,406 sq mi ) , and includes the Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands . Eritrea is a multi-ethnic country , with nine recognized ethnic groups in its population of around 3 million . Eritrea has nine national languages which are Tigrinya language , Tigre , Afar , Beja , Bilen , Kunama , Nara , Saho . Tigrinya , Arabic , and English serve as the three working languages . Most residents speak languages from the Afroasiatic family , either of the Ethiopian Semitic languages or Cushitic branches . Among these communities , the Tigrinyas make up about 55% of the population , with the Tigre people constituting around 30% of inhabitants . In addition , there are a number of Nilo-Saharan-speaking Nilotic ethnic minorities . Most people in the territory adhere to Islam or Christianity . The Kingdom of Aksum , covering much of modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia , was established during the first or second centuries AD .
Patrick Makau Musyoki ( born 2 March 1985 ) is a runner from Kenya . He is a former world record holder in the marathon - His time of 2:03:38 , run at the 2011 Berlin Marathon , was the world record for two years , until it was beaten by Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich at the 2013 Berlin Marathon . He is also notable for his half marathon performances , having won a number of prominent competitions in Europe in sub-1-hour performances .
Kenya ( /ˈkɛnjə/ ( listen ) ) , officially the Republic of Kenya ( Swahili : Jamhuri ya Kenya ) , is a country in Africa with 47 semiautonomous counties governed by elected governors . At 580,367 square kilometres ( 224,081 sq mi ) , Kenya is the world 's 48th largest country by total area . With a population of more than 47.6 million people , Kenya is the 29th most populous country . Kenya 's capital and largest city is Nairobi , while its oldest city and first capital is the coastal city of Mombasa . Kisumu City is the third largest city and also an inland port on Lake Victoria . Other important urban centres include Nakuru and Eldoret . Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest , Ethiopia to the north , Somalia to the east , Uganda to the west , Tanzania to the south , and the Indian Ocean to the southeast . According to archaeological dating of associated artifacts and skeletal material , the Cushites first settled in the lowlands of Kenya between 3,200 and 1,300 BC , a phase referred to as the Lowland Savanna Pastoral Neolithic . Nilotic-speaking pastoralists ( ancestral to Kenya 's Nilotic speakers ) started migrating from present-day southern Sudan into Kenya around 500 BC . European colonisation of Kenya began in the 19th century during the European exploration of the interior . Modern-day Kenya emerged from a protectorate established by the British Empire in 1895 and the subsequent Kenya Colony , which began in 1920 . Numerous disputes between the UK and the colony led to the Mau Mau revolution , which began in 1952 , and the subsequent declaration of independence in 1963 .
Ahmad Hassan Abdullah ( Arabic : عبد الله أحمد حسن , born Albert Chepkurui on July 29 , 1981 in Kaptarakwa , Kenya ) is a long-distance and cross country runner , now representing Qatar after his switch from Kenya in 2003 . Other runners who have made the same switch include Saif Saeed Shaheen . Abdullah has won bronze medals at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the 2004 and 2008 editions of the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships . He represented Qatar over 10,000 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and three times at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics . He is a two-time Asian champion in the 10,000 m ( 2003 and 2007 ) and holds the Asian record with his personal best time of 26:38.76 minutes .
Qatar ( /ˈkætɑːr/ , /ˈkɑːtɑːr/ ( listen ) , /ˈkɑːtər/ or /kəˈtɑːr/ ( listen ) ; Arabic : قطر Qaṭar [ ˈqɑtˤɑr ] ; local vernacular pronunciation : [ ˈɡɪtˤɑr ] ) , officially the State of Qatar ( Arabic : دولة قطر Dawlat Qaṭar ) , is a country located in Western Asia , occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula . Whether the sovereign state should be regarded as a constitutional monarchy or an absolute monarchy is disputed . Its sole land border is with neighbouring Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC ) monarchy Saudi Arabia to the south , with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf . The Gulf of Bahrain , an inlet of the Persian Gulf , separates Qatar from nearby Bahrain . In early 2017 , Qatar 's total population was 2.6 million : 313,000 Qatari citizens and 2.3 million expatriates . Islam is the official religion of Qatar . The country has the highest per capita income in the world . Qatar is classified by the UN as a country of very high human development and is widely regarded as the most advanced Arab state for human development . Qatar is a high-income economy , backed by the world 's third-largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves . Qatar has been ruled by the House of Thani since Mohammed bin Thani signed a treaty with the British in 1868 that recognised its separate status . Following Ottoman rule , Qatar became a British protectorate in the early 20th century until gaining independence in 1971 . In 2003 , the constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum , with almost 98% in favour .
Stephen Kipkoech Kibiwott ( born 3 April 1980 ) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in marathons and half marathons . He came fourth at the 2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and shared in the team gold medal . Kibiwott began competing on the European professional road running circuit in 2006 after a top three finish at the Eldoret Half Marathon . He won both the Prague Half Marathon and Turin Marathon that same year and was runner-up at the Alexander the Great Marathon . He was much less success in 2007 , failing to finish the London and Prague Marathons , then finishing 28th at the Frankfurt Marathon . He returned to form in 2008 with wins at the Paris Half Marathon and another victory in Turin . His runner-up finish in a personal best of 59:44 minutes at the Lille Half Marathon secured his selection for Kenya at the 2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships , where he came fourth . He had the best year of his career in 2009 , setting personal bests of 59:37 minutes for the half marathon ( winning in Lille ) , and 2:07:54 hours for the marathon ( while runner-up at the Prague International Marathon ) . In his Asian debut , he came third at the JoongAng Seoul Marathon . He did not finish the 2011 Boston Marathon and despite quick times that year only managed one top three finish - doing so in Lille with a season 's best of 60:23 minutes . He entered the 2012 Dubai Marathon and recorded 2:08:11 hours ( his second fastest run ) , but was only 15th in the high quality race . He continued to run marathons , but failed to break two hours and ten minutes again .
Japan ( Japanese : 日本 , Nippon [ ɲippoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) or Nihon [ ɲihoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) ) is an island country located in East Asia . It is bordered by the Sea of Japan to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east , and spans more than 3,000 kilometers ( 1,900 mi ) along the coast of the continent from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Philippine Sea in the south . Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire , Japan encompasses a stratovolcanic archipelago of about 6,852 islands , with five main islands ( Hokkaido , Honshu , Kyushu , Shikoku , and Okinawa ) comprising 97% of the country 's total area of 377,975 square kilometers ( 145,937 sq mi ) . Japan is officially divided into 47 prefectures and traditionally into eight regions . Approximately two-thirds of the country 's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested , and less than one-eighth of land is suitable for agriculture . Consequently , Japan is among the most densely populated and urbanized countries in the world , with over 90% of its population living in urban areas . The largest of these is the metropolitan area centered on the capital city of Tokyo , which is the most populous in the world and home to more than 38 million people . Japan itself is the world 's eleventh most populous country with a population of 126.2 million , of which 97.8% are ethnically Japanese . The kanji ( or Chinese characters ) that make up the name of Japan in the Japanese language mean sun origin ; in the Western world , the country is often known by the sobriquet Land of the Rising Sun . Periods of influence from other regions , primarily China , followed by periods of isolation , particularly from Western Europe , have characterized the history of Japan . While archaeological evidence indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period , the first written mention of the archipelago appears in Chinese texts from the first century AD . Between the fourth and ninth centuries , the kingdoms of Japan became gradually unified under an Emperor and imperial court based in Heian-kyō ( modern Kyoto ) .
Dieudonné Disi ( born 24 November 1980 in Ntyazo , Butare ) is a Rwandan long-distance and cross country runner . In 2009 he competed in the marathon at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics , but pulled out at the 28 km mark due to an injury . He rebounded after this with a series of victories in October , winning the 10,000 metres race at the Jeux de la Francophonie , the 20 Kilometres de Paris two weeks later , then equalling the course record at the Reims Half Marathon .
Rwanda ( /ruˈɑːndə , -ˈæn-/ ( listen ) ; Kinyarwanda : u Rwanda [ u.ɾɡwaː.nda ] ( listen ) ) , formerly Ruanda , officially the Republic of Rwanda ( Kinyarwanda : Repubulika y ' u Rwanda ; Swahili : Jamhuri ya Rwanda ; French : République du Rwanda or République Rwandaise ) , is a country in Central Africa and one of the smallest countries on the African mainland , and its capital city is Kigali . Located a few degrees south of the Equator , Rwanda is bordered by Uganda , Tanzania , Burundi , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Rwanda is in the African Great Lakes region and is highly elevated ; its geography is dominated by mountains in the west and savanna to the east , with numerous lakes throughout the country . The climate is temperate to subtropical , with two rainy seasons and two dry seasons each year . Rwanda has a population of over 12.6 million living on 26,338 sq . km of land , and therefore it is the most densely populated mainland African country . The population is young and predominantly rural , with a density among the highest in Africa . Rwandans are drawn from just one cultural and linguistic group , the Banyarwanda , although within this group there are three subgroups : the Hutu , Tutsi and Twa . The Twa are a forest-dwelling pygmy people and are often considered descendants of Rwanda 's earliest inhabitants . Scholars disagree on the origins of and differences between the Hutu and Tutsi ; some believe differences are derived from former social castes within a single people , while others believe the Hutu and Tutsi arrived in the country separately , and from different locations . Christianity is the largest religion in the country ; the principal language is Kinyarwanda , spoken by most Rwandans , with English and French serving as additional official languages . The sovereign state of Rwanda has a presidential system of government .
Abebe Dinkesa Negera ( born 6 March 1984 , in Ambo ) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres . He came to prominence with a silver medal at the 2004 African Championships in Athletics and he won a bronze medal in the same event two years later . He is the fifth fastest ever over the 10,000 m with a best time of 26:30.74 set in 2005 . He was fourth at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and also represented Ethiopia at the World Championships in Athletics later that year . An Achilles tendon problem ruled him out entirely in 2007 and affected his later performances . He won the African Mountain Running Championships at the Obudu Ranch Race in 2010 . He also competes in road running competitions , having won at the BOclassic and Great Ethiopian Run as well as coming fifth at the World Half Marathon Championships in 2005 .
Ethiopia ( /ˌiːθiˈoʊpiə/ ; Amharic : ኢትዮጵያ , ʾĪtyōṗṗyā , listen ( help·info ) , Tigrinya : ኢትዮጵያ , Oromo : Itiyoophiyaa , Somali : Itoobiya , Afar : Itiyoophiyaa ) , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia , is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa . It shares borders with Eritrea to the north , Djibouti to the northeast , Somalia , and the de facto state of Somaliland to the east , Kenya to the south , South Sudan to the west and Sudan to the northwest . With over 109 million inhabitants , Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populous nation on the African continent with a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres ( 420,000 sq mi ) . Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa , which lies a few miles west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the Nubian and Somali tectonic plates . Some of the oldest skeletal evidence for anatomically modern humans has been found in Ethiopia . It is widely considered as the region from which modern humans first set out for the Middle East and places beyond . According to linguists , the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations settled in the Horn region during the ensuing Neolithic era . Tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BCE , Ethiopia 's governmental system was a monarchy for most of its history . Oral literature tells that the monarchy was founded by the Solomonic dynasty of the Queen of Sheba , under its first king , Menelik I . In the first centuries , the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region , followed by the Ethiopian Empire circa 1137 . During the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa , Ethiopia and Liberia were two nations that preserved their sovereignty from long-term colonisation by a European colonial power and many newly-independent nations on the continent subsequently adopted its flag colours . However , the country was later occupied by Italy in 1936 and became Italian Ethiopia ( part of Italian East Africa ) until it was liberated during World War II .
Marílson Gomes dos Santos ( born 6 August 1977 ) is a Brazilian long-distance runner . He won the 2006 and 2008 New York City Marathon , becoming the first South American to win the race . He was selected as the best male performer at the 2009 Brazilian national championships after breaking the meet records in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres races . He is the current South American record holder in both these events with times of 13:19.43 and 27:28.12 , respectively . He has won medals at the South American Cross Country Championships , starting with a silver in the junior race in 1996 , then taking the bronze in the men 's long race in 2000 , before winning his first championship title in 2008 . He ran at the 2010 London Marathon and came close to a personal best time , finishing in 2:08:46 for sixth place behind Abel Kirui . He signed up for the New York Marathon that year and used the Troféu Brasil de Atletismo ( the Brazilian athletics championships ) as his preparation , winning the 10,000 m title . He secured his third career win at the Saint Silvester Race in São Paulo at the end of the year - a record number for the competition in the international era . At the 2011 London Marathon , he set a personal best of 2:06:34 hours and placed fourth in the fast race behind a Kenyan trio of Emmanuel Mutai , Martin Lel and Patrick Makau . Dos Santos competed in the marathon at the 2008 , 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Olympics with the best result of fifth place in 2012 . He is married to Juliana Paula dos Santos , a fellow runner who won gold medals at the 2007 and 2015 Pan American Games . They have a son Miguel .
Brazil ( Portuguese : Brasil ; Portuguese pronunciation : [ bɾaˈziw ] ) , [ nt 1 ] officially the Federative Republic of Brazil ( Portuguese : República Federativa do Brasil , listen ( help·info ) ) , is the largest country in both South America and Latin America . At 8.5 million square kilometers ( 3.2 million square miles ) and with over 211 million people , Brazil is the world 's fifth-largest country by area and the sixth most populous . Its capital is Brasília , and its most populous city is São Paulo . The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states , the Federal District , and the 5,570 municipalities . It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas ; it is also one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations , due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world . Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east , Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers ( 4,655 mi ) . It borders all other countries in South America except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47.3% of the continent 's land area . Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest , home to diverse wildlife , a variety of ecological systems , and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats . This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries , and is the subject of significant global interest and debate regarding deforestation and environmental protection . Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral , who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire . Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808 , when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro . In 1815 , the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal , Brazil and the Algarves .
Joseph Nganga Maregu ( born 22 November 1977 ) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in road running events from 10K to the marathon . A journeyman competitor on the roads , he made only one international appearance at the 2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships , taking ninth place and a team gold medal with Kenya . Active between 2004 and 2014 , he initially focused on 10K and half marathon races and won a number of low level French competitions . His highest standard victories came at the Lille Half Marathon ( 2006 and 2007 ) and the Paris Half Marathon ( 2007 ) . His lifetime best of 59:45 minutes came during his second win in Lille . He ran his first marathon in Kenya in 2006 , but his debut time of 2:24:18 hours was slow . He turned to marathon running proper in 2009 , taking third at the Vienna City Marathon in a time of 2:09:25 hours . This was to be his best however and in five subsequent outings he did not better two hours and ten minutes . He had his last road win in 2010 at the Olomouc Half Marathon .
Essa Ismail Rashed ( Arabic : عيسى اسماعيل راشد ; born Daniel Kipkosgei on 14 December 1986 ) is a long-distance runner now representing Qatar after his switch from Kenya in 2004 . He represented his adopted country at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the World Championships in Athletics in 2005 and 2007 . He is coached by the Italian Renato Canova . In 10,000 metres he won a gold medal at the 2005 Asian Championships in Incheon and a silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha . He came twentieth in the 10,000 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics . He was the 5000 m bronze medallist at the 2009 Asian Athletics Championships and went on to claim another bronze over 3000 m at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games later that year . Rashed ran an Asian indoor record for the 5000 m at the PSD Bank Meeting in Düsseldorf in 2010 , running a time of 13:19.10 minutes . Later that month he was just pipped to the gold in the 3000 m by teammate James Kwalia at the 2010 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships . He gained selection for the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships and came ninth in the 3000 m final . He claimed a consecutive silver medal in the 10,000 m at the 2010 Asian Games . He ran a personal best in the marathon at the 2012 Amsterdam Marathon , coming eleventh with his run of 2:09:22 hours .
Ignacio Cáceres ( born 18 June 1976 ) is a Spanish long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres , half marathon and marathon . He lives in Viladecans , Spain and his wife is the Spanish racewalker Eva Pérez .
Spain ( Spanish : España [ esˈpaɲa ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Kingdom of Spain ( Spanish : Reino de España ) , [ a ] [ b ] is a country in Southwestern Europe with some pockets of Spanish territory across the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean . Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula . Its territory also includes two archipelagoes : the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa , and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea . The African enclaves of Ceuta , Melilla , and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country ( Morocco ) . [ h ] Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory . The country 's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar ; to the north and northeast by France , Andorra , and the Bay of Biscay ; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean . With an area of 505,990 km2 ( 195,360 sq mi ) , Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe , the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union , and the fourth largest country in the European continent . By population ( about 47 million ) , Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union . Spain 's capital and largest city is Madrid ; other major urban areas include Barcelona , Valencia , Seville , Zaragoza , Málaga and Bilbao . Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago . Iberian cultures along with ancient Phoenician , Greek , Celtic and Carthaginian settlements developed on the peninsula until it came under Roman rule around 200 BCE , after which the region was named Hispania , based on the earlier Phoenician name Sp ( a ) n or Spania . At the end of the Western Roman Empire the Germanic tribal confederations migrated from Central Europe , invaded the Iberian peninsula and established relatively independent realms in its western provinces , including the Suebi , Alans and Vandals .
Michael Shelley ( born 10 October 1983 ) is an Australian long-distance runner who competes in track events and road races . He has won gold medals in the marathon event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow , Scotland , as well as the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast , Australia . He has also represented Australia at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships . On the road , he has won at the Gold Coast Half Marathon and the City2Surf race in Sydney .
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia , is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania , and numerous smaller islands . It is the largest country in Oceania and the world 's sixth-largest country by total area . The population of 26 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard . Australia 's capital is Canberra , and its largest city is Sydney . The country 's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne , Brisbane , Perth , and Adelaide . Indigenous Australians inhabited the continent for about 65,000 years prior to the first arrival of Dutch explorers in the early 17th century , who named it New Holland . In 1770 , Australia 's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788 , a date which became Australia 's national day . The population grew steadily in subsequent decades , and by the time of an 1850s gold rush , most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established . On 1 January 1901 , the six colonies federated , forming the Commonwealth of Australia . Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy , comprising six states and ten territories . Australia is the oldest , flattest , and driest inhabited continent , with the least fertile soils . It has a landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres ( 2,941,300 sq mi ) .
Pedro Jesús Mora Suescun ( born 20 September 1977 in Independencia , Táchira ) is a Venezuelan long-distance runner . At the 2012 Summer Olympics , he competed in the Men 's marathon , finishing in 62nd place .
Venezuela ( /ˌvɛnəˈzwɛlə/ ( listen ) ; American Spanish : [ beneˈswela ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( Spanish : República Bolivariana de Venezuela ) , is a country on the northern coast of South America , consisting of a continental landmass and many small islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea . It has a territorial extension of 916,445 km2 ( 353,841 sq mi ) . The continental territory is bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean , on the west by Colombia , Brazil on the south , Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east and on the east by Guyana . The Venezuelan government maintains a claim against Guyana to Guayana Esequiba , an area of 159,542 km2 ( 61,600 sq mi ) . For its maritime areas , Venezuela exercises sovereignty over 71,295 km2 ( 27,527 sq mi ) of territorial waters , 22,224 km2 ( 8,581 sq mi ) in its contiguous zone , 471,507 km2 ( 182,050 sq mi ) of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean under the concept of exclusive economic zone , and 99,889 km2 ( 38,567 sq mi ) of continental shelf . This marine area borders those of 13 states . The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of Caracas . The country has extremely high biodiversity and is ranked seventh in the world 's list of nations with the most number of species . There are habitats ranging from the Andes Mountains in the west to the Amazon basin rain-forest in the south via extensive llanos plains , the Caribbean coast and the Orinoco River Delta in the east . The sovereign state is a federal presidential republic consisting of 23 states , the Capital District ( covering Caracas ) , and federal dependencies ( covering Venezuela 's offshore islands ) . Venezuela also claims all Guyanese territory west of the Essequibo River , a 159,500-square-kilometre ( 61,583 sq mi ) tract dubbed Guayana Esequiba or the Zona en Reclamación ( the zone under dispute ) . Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America ; the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north , especially in the capital ( Caracas ) which is also the largest city in Venezuela .