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
Total: 1,098,580 km²
Land: 1,084,390 km²
Water: 14,190 km²
Comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Montana

Land boundaries
Total: 6,743 km
Border countries: (5) Argentina 832 km; , Brazil 3,400 km; , Chile 861 km; , Paraguay 750 km; , Peru 900 km

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
Extremes lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
Extremes highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m

Natural resources: tin natural gas petroleum zinc tungsten antimony silver iron lead gold timber hydropower

Land use
Arable land: 2%
Permanent crops: 0%
Permanent pastures: 24%
Forests and woodland: 53%
Other: 21% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 1750 km² (1993 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: 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: 8,300,463 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 1.76% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: 70% (1999 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Bolivian
Adjective: Bolivian

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
0-14 years: 38.46% (male 1,626,698; female 1,565,748)
15-64 years: 57.07% (male 2,315,098; female 2,421,987)
65 years and over: 4.47% (male 166,986; female 203,946) (2001 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.76% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 27.27 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 8.2 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.45 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 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
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male/female
Total population: 0.98 male/female (2001 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 58.98 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 64.06 years
Male: 61.53 years
Female: 66.72 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.51 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 4,200 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 380 (1999 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 83.1%
Male: 90.5%
Female: 76% (1995 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Bolivia
Conventional short form: Bolivia
Local long form: Republica de Bolivia
Local short form: 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; 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
Chief of state: President Hugo BANZER Suarez (since 6 August 1997); Vice President Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez (since 6 August 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Hugo BANZER Suarez (since 6 August 1997); Vice President Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez (since 6 August 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
Elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held May or June 2002)
Election results: Hugo BANZER Suarez elected president; percent of vote - Hugo BANZER Suarez (ADN) 22%; Jaime PAZ Zamora (MIR) 17%, Juan Carlos DURAN (MNR) 18%, Ivo KULJIS (UCS) 16%, Remedios LOZA (CONDEPA) 17%; no candidate received a majority of the popular vote; Hugo BANZER Suarez won a congressional runoff election on 5 August 1997 after forming a 'megacoalition' with MIR, UCS, CONDEPA, NFR, and PDC

Legislative branch
Elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held NA June 2002)
Election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ADN 11, MIR 7, MNR 4, CONDEPA 3, UCS 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ADN 32, MNR 26, MIR 23, UCS 21, CONDEPA 19, MBL 5, IU 4

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges appointed for 10-year terms by National Congress); District Courts (one in each department); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases)

Political parties and leaders
Note: the ADN, MIR, and UCS comprise the ruling coalition

International organization participation: CAN CCC 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
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Marlene FERNANDEZ del Granado
In the us chancery: 3,014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 483-4,410
In the us fax: [1] (202) 328-3,712
In the us consulates general: Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador V. Manuel ROCHA
From the us embassy: Avenida Arce 2,780, San Jorge, La Paz
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34,032
From the us telephone: [591] (2) 432,254
From the us fax: [591] (2) 433,854

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 (1993-97) included the signing of a free trade agreement with Mexico and joining 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. In 2000 major civil disturbances in April and again in September and October held down overall growth to 2.5%.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 2.5% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2000 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 16%
Industry: 31%
Services: 53% (1999 est.)

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
Note: widespread underemployment

Youth unemployment

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

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.3%
Highest 10: 31.7% (1990)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $2.7 billion
Expenditures: $2.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 4.4% (2000 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: $1.26 billion (f.o.b. 2000 est.)
Commodities: soybeans natural gas zinc gold wood
Partners: UK 16% US 12% Peru 11% Argentina 10% Colombia 7% (1998)

Imports: $1.86 billion (f.o.b. 2000 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% other 6% (1998)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $6.6 billion (2000)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: bolivianos per US dollar - 6.4071 (January 2001) 6.1835 (2000) 5.8124 (1999) 5.5101 (1998) 5.2543 (1997) 5.0746 (1996)


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Electricity
Production: 3.625 billion kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 56.61%
Production by source hydro: 41.6%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 1.79% (1999)
Consumption: 3.377 billion kWh (1999)
Exports: 4 million kWh (1999)
Imports: 10 million kWh (1999)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 327,600 (1996)
Mobile cellular: 116,000 (1997)

Telephone system
General assessment: new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile cellular telephone use expanding rapidly
Domestic: primary trunk system, which is being expanded, employs digital microwave radio relay; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; mobile cellular systems are being expanded
International: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .bo
Service providers isps: 9 (2000)
Users: 35,000 (2000)

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: 1093 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 13
With paved runways over 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 4
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 1,080
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 65
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 212
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 800 (2000 est.)

Heliports

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

Railways
Total: 3,691 km (single track)
Narrow gauge: 3,652 km 1.000-m gauge; 39 km 0.760-m gauge (13 km electrified) (1995)

Roadways

Waterways: 10,000 km (commercially navigable)

Merchant marine
Total: 42 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 141,017 GRT/211,058 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 5, cargo 20, chemical tanker 3, container 1, petroleum tanker 10, roll on/roll off 3 (2000 est.)

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