Map of Bolivia | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: Bolivia named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and counter-coups. Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in the 1980s but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty social unrest and drug production. Current goals include attracting foreign investment strengthening the educational system continuing the privatization program and waging an anti-corruption campaign.


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Location: Central South America southwest of Brazil

Geographic coordinates: 17 00 S 65 00 W

Map reference: South America

Area
Comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Montana

Land boundaries

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

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 petroleum zinc tungsten antimony silver iron lead gold timber hydropower

Land use

Irrigated land: 1750 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: cold thin air of high plateau is obstacle to efficient fuel combustion as well as to physical activity by those unaccustomed to it from birth; flooding in the northeast (March-April)

Geography
Note: landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m) with Peru


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Population: 8,152,620 (July 2000 est.)
Growth rate: 1.83% (2000 est.)
Below poverty line: 70% (1999 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic groups: Quechua 30% Aymara 25% mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30% white 15%

Languages: Spanish (official) Quechua (official) Aymara (official)

Religions: Roman Catholic 95% Protestant (Evangelical Methodist)

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.83% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 28.15 births/1000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 8.36 deaths/1000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.47 migrant(s)/1000 population (2000 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: the clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the international demand for tropical timber are contributing to deforestation; soil erosion from overgrazing and poor cultivation methods (including slash-and-burn agriculture); desertification; loss of biodiversity; industrial pollution of water supplies used for drinking and irrigation

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 60.44 deaths/1000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total fertility rate: 3.66 children born/woman (2000 est.)

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

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name

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; revised in August 1994

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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age universal and compulsory (single)

Executive branch

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema) judges appointed for 10-year terms by National Congress

Political parties and leaders: Alternative of Democratic Socialism or ASD [Jerjes JUSTINIANO]; April 9 Revolutionary Vanguard or VR-9 [Carlos SERRATE]; Bolivian Communist Party or PCB [Marcos DOMIC]; Bolivian Renovating Alliance or ARBOL [Marcelo FERNANDEZ Hugo VILLEGAS]; Bolivian Socialist Falange or FSB [leader NA]; Christian Democrat or PDC [Benjamin MIGUEL]; Civic Solidarity Union or UCS [Johnny FERNANDEZ]; Conscience of the Fatherland or CONDEPA [Remedios LOZA Alvarado]; Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Antonio ARANIBAR]; Front of Katarista Unity or FULKA [Genaro FLORES]; Front of National Salvation or FSN [Manual MORALES Davila]; Katarismo National Unity or KND [Filepe KITTELSON]; Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR [Oscar EID]; Movement Towards Socialism-Popular Instrument for Solidarity with the People or MAS-IPSP [leader Evo MORALES]; Nationalist Democratic Action or ADN [Enrique TORO]; Nationalist Katarista Movement or MKN [Fernando UNTOJA]; Nationalist Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA]; New Republican Force or NFR [Manfred REYES VILLA]; New Youth Force [Alfonso SAAVEDRA Bruno]; Patriotic Axis of Convergence or EJE-P [Ramiro BARRANECHEA]; Popular Patriotic Movement or MPP [Julio MANTILLA]; Revolutionary Front of the Left or FRI [Oscar ZAMORA]; Socialist Party One or PS-1 [leader NA]; Solidarity and Democracy or SYD [leader NA]; Tupac Katari Revolutionary Liberation Movement or MRTK-L [Victor Hugo CARDENAS Conde]; United Left or IU [Marcos DOMIC]; Unity and Progress Movement or MUP [Ivo KULJIS]

International organization participation: CAN ECLAC FAO G-11 G-77 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Intelsat Interpol IOC IOM ITU LAES LAIA Mercosur (associate) MONUC NAM OAS OPANAL OPCW PCA RG UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNMIK UNTAET UPU WCL WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO

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


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Economy overview: Bolivia long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries has made considerable progress toward the development of a market-oriented economy. Successes under President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA (1993-1997) included the signing of a free trade agreement with Mexico and the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur) as well as the privatization of the state airline telephone company railroad electric power company and oil company. His successor Hugo BANZER Suarez has tried to further improve the country's investment climate with an anticorruption campaign. Growth slowed in 1999 in part due to tight government budget policies which limited needed appropriations for anti-poverty programs and the fallout from the Asian financial crisis. Growth should rebound to perhaps 4% in 2000 given reasonably favorable world commodity prices.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 2% (1999 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,000 (1999 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: soybeans coffee coca cotton corn sugarcane rice potatoes; timber

Industries: mining smelting petroleum food and beverages tobacco handicrafts clothing

Industrial production growth rate: 4% (1995 est.)

Labor force: 2.5 million
By occupation agriculture: NA%
By occupation industry: NA%
By occupation services: NA%

Unemployment rate: 11.4% (1997) with widespread underemployment

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 70% (1999 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.1% (1999 est.)

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: $1.1 billion (f.o.b. 1999 est.)
Commodities: soybeans natural gas zinc gold wood
Partners: UK 16% US 12% Peru 11% Argentina 10% Colombia 7% (1998)

Imports: $1.6 billion (c.i.f. 1999 est.)
Commodities: capital goods raw materials and semi-manufactures chemicals petroleum food
Partners: US 32% Japan 24% Brazil 12% Argentina 12% Chile 7% Peru 4% Germany 3% (1998)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $5.7 billion (1999)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: bolivianos ($B) per US$1 - 6.0065 (January 2000) 5.8124 (1999) 5.5101 (1998) 5.2543 (1997) 5.0746 (1996) 4.8003 (1995)


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Electricity
Production: 2.576 billion kWh (1998)
Consumption: 2.412 billion kWh (1998)
Exports: 4 million kWh (1998)
Imports: 20 million kWh (1998)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 368,874 (1996)
Mobile cellular: 7,229 (1995)

Telephone system: new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities

Broadcast media

Internet
Service providers isps: 5 (1999)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $147 million (FY99)
Percent of gdp: 1.8% (FY99)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 1109 (1999 est.)

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 1800 km; petroleum products 580 km; natural gas 1495 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 10,000 km of commercially navigable waterways

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: 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

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Peru and Colombia) with an estimated 21,800 hectares under cultivation in 1999 a 45% decrease in overall cultivation of coca from 1998 levels; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported to or through Colombia Brazil Argentina and Chile to the US and other international drug markets; alternative crop program aims to reduce illicit coca cultivation