Statistical information Bolivia 1992

Bolivia in the World

Bolivia - Introduction 1992

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Background: Bolivia broke away from Spanish rule in 1825. Its subsequent history has been marked by a seemingly endless series of coups, counter-coups, and abrupt changes in leaders and policies. Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in the 1980s, but the leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, strikes, and drug dealing. Current issues include encouraging and negotiating the terms for foreign investment; strengthening the educational system; continuing the privatization program; pursuing judicial reform and an anti-corruption campaign.

Bolivia - Geography 1992

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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area
Total: 1,098,580 km²
Land: 1,084,390 km²
Comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Montana

Land boundaries: 6,743 km; Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km

Coastline: none - landlocked

Maritime claims: none - landlocked
Disputes:

has wanted a sovereign corridor to the South Pacific Ocean since the Atacama area was lost to Chile in 1884; dispute with Chile over
Rio Lauca water rights

Climate: varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid

Terrain: rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon basin

Elevation

Natural resources: tin, natural gas, crude oil, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron ore, lead, gold, timber

Land use

Land use: arable land: 3%; permanent crops: NEGL%; meadows and pastures 25%; forest and woodland 52%; other 20%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography

Bolivia - People 1992

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Population: 7,323,048 (July 1992), growth rate 2.3% (1992)

Nationality: noun - Bolivian(s; adjective - Bolivian

Ethnic groups: Quechua 30%, Aymara 25%, mixed 25-30%, European 5-15%

Languages: Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara (all official)

Religions:

Roman Catholic 95%; active Protestant minority, especially
Evangelical Methodist

Demographic profile

Age structure

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 33 births/1000 population (1992)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1000 population (1992)

Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1000 population (1992)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: cold, thin air of high plateau is obstacle to efficient fuel combustion; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Current issues note: landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Peru

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 82 deaths/1000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth: 59 years male, 64 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate: 4.5 children born/woman (1992)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 78% (male 85%, female 71%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment

Bolivia - Government 1992

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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Bolivia

Government type: republic

Capital: La Paz (seat of government; Sucre (legal capital and seat of judiciary)

Administrative divisions:

9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi,
Santa Cruz, Tarija

Dependent areas

Independence: 6 August 1825 (from Spain)

National holiday: Independence Day, 6 August (1825)

Constitution: 2 February 1967

Legal system: based on Spanish law and Code Napoleon; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18 (married) or 21 (single)
Chamber of Deputies: last held 7 May 1989 (next to be held May 1993); results - percent of vote by party NA; note - legislative and presidential candidates run on a unified slate, so vote percentages are the same as in section on presidential election results; seats - (130 total) MNR 40, ADN 35, MIR 33, IU 10, CONDEPA 9, PDC 3
Chamber of Senators:

last held 7 May 1989 (next to be held May 1993); results - percent of vote by party NA; note - legislative and presidential candidates run on a unified slate, so vote percentages are the same as in section on presidential election results; seats - (27 total) MNR 9, ADN 7,
MIR 8, CONDEPA 2, PDC 1

President:

last held 7 May 1989 (next to be held May 1993); results -
Gonzalo SANCHEZ de Lozada (MNR) 23%, Hugo BANZER Suarez (ADN) 22%, Jaime PAZ
Zamora (MIR) 19%; no candidate received a majority of the popular vote;
Jaime PAZ Zamora (MIR) formed a coalition with Hugo BANZER (ADN); with ADN support PAZ Zamora won the congressional runoff election on 4 August and was inaugurated on 6 August 1989

Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Chamber of Senators (Camara de Senadores) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation:

AG, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICO, IDA, IFAD,
IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA, LORCS,
NAM, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO,
WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation:

Ambassador Jorge CRESPO; Chancery at 3,014
Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008; telephone (202) 483-4,410 through 4,412; there are Bolivian Consulates General in Los Angeles, Miami,
New York, and San Francisco

US:

Ambassador Charles R. BOWERS; Embassy at Banco Popular del Peru
Building, corner of Calles Mercado y Colon, La Paz (mailing address is P. O.
Box 425, La Paz, or APO AA 34,032); telephone 591 (2) 350,251 or 350,120; FAX 591 (2) 359,875

Diplomatic representation

Flag description

: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band; similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage

Bolivia - Economy 1992

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Economy overview:

The Bolivian economy steadily deteriorated between 1980 and 1985 as La Paz financed growing budget deficits by expanding the money supply, and inflation spiraled - peaking at 11,700%. An austere orthodox economic program adopted by then President Paz Estenssoro in 1985, however, succeeded in reducing inflation to between 10% and 20% annually since 1987, eventually restarting economic growth. Since August 1989, President Paz
Zamora has retained the economic policies of the previous government, keeping inflation down and continuing moderate growth. Nevertheless, Bolivia continues to be one of the poorest countries in Latin America, with widespread poverty and unemployment, and it remains vulnerable to price fluctuations for its limited exports - agricultural products, minerals, and natural gas. Moreover, for many farmers, who constitute half of the country's work force, the main cash crop is coca, which is sold for cocaine processing.

GDP: exchange rate conversion - $4.6 billion, per capita $630; real growth rate 4% (1991)

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for about 20% of GDP (including forestry and fisheries; principal commodities - coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes, timber; self-sufficient in food

Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverage, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing; illicit drug industry reportedly produces significant revenues

Industrial production growth rate:

growth rate 6% (1991); accounts for almost 30% of
GDP

Labor force: 1,700,000; agriculture 50%, services and utilities 26%, manufacturing 10%, mining 4%, other 10% (1983)
Organized labor:

150,000-200,000, concentrated in mining, industry, construction, and transportation; mostly organized under Bolivian Workers'
Central (COB) labor federation

Labor force

Unemployment rate: 7% (1991 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $900 million; expenditures $825 million, including capital expenditures of $300 million (1991 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $970 million (f.o.b., 1991)
Commodoties: metals 45%, natural gas 25%, other 30% (coffee, soybeans, sugar, cotton, timber)
Partners: US 15%, Argentina

Imports: $760 million (c.i.f., 1991)
Commodoties: food, petroleum, consumer goods, capital goods
Partners: US 22%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: bolivianos ($B) per US$1 - 3.7534 (January 1992), 3.5806 (1991), 3.1727 (1990), 2.6917 (1989), 2.3502 (1988), 2.0549 (1987)

Bolivia - Energy 1992

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Electricity
Production: 849,000 kW capacity; 1,798 million kWh produced, 251 kWh per capita (1991)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita

Bolivia - Communication 1992

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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions

Bolivia - Military 1992

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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp:

exchange rate conversion - $80 million, 1.6% of
GDP (1990 est).

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups

Bolivia - Transportation 1992

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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports:

1,105 total, 943 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; 2
with runways over 3,659 m; 7
with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 146
with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 1,800 km; petroleum products 580 km; natural gas 1,495 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 10,000 km of commercially navigable waterways

Merchant marine: 2 cargo and 1 container ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,951 GRT/26,320 DWT
Civil air: 56 major transport aircraft

Ports and terminals

Bolivia - Transnational issues 1992

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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: world's second-largest producer of coca (after Peru) with an estimated 47,900 hectares under cultivation; voluntary and forced eradication program unable to prevent production from rising to 78,400 metric tons in 1991 from 74,700 tons in 1989; government considers all but 12,000 hectares illicit; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported to or through Colombia and Brazil to the US and other international drug markets