Map of Bolivia | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | 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 countercoups. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982 but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty social unrest and illegal drug production. In December 2005 Bolivians elected Movement Toward Socialism leader Evo MORALES president - by the widest margin of any leader since the restoration of civilian rule in 1982 - after he ran on a promise to change the country's traditional political class and empower the nation's poor indigenous majority. However since taking office his controversial strategies have exacerbated racial and economic tensions between the Amerindian populations of the Andean west and the non-indigenous communities of the eastern lowlands.


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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: 1,098,581 km²
Rank: 28
Land: 1,083,301 km²
Water: 15,280 km²
Comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Montana

Land boundaries
Total: 6,940 km
Border countries: (5) Argentina 832 km; Brazil 3,423 km; Chile 860 km; Paraguay 750 km; Peru 1075 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: 2.78%
Permanent crops: 0.19%
Other: 97.03% (2005)

Irrigated land: 1320 km² (2003)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources: 622.5 km³ (2000)

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: 9,775,246 (July 2009 est.)
Rank: 84
Growth rate: 1.772% (2009 est.)
Growth rate rank: 74
Below poverty line: 60% (2006 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Bolivian
Adjective: Bolivian

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

Languages: Spanish 60.7% (official) Quechua 21.2% (official) Aymara 14.6% (official) foreign languages 2.4% other 1.2% (2001 census)

Religions: Roman Catholic 95% Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5%

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 35.5%
15-64 years: 60% (male 2,877,605/female 2,992,043)
65 years and over: 4.5% (male 193,196/female 243,348) (2009 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 21.9 years
Male: 21.3 years
Female: 22.6 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.772% (2009 est.)
Rank: 74

Birth rate: 25.82 births/1000 population (2009 est.)
Rank: 66

Death rate: 7.05 deaths/1000 population (July 2009 est.)
Rank: 130

Net migration rate: -1.05 migrant(s)/1000 population (2009 est.)
Rank: 123

Population distribution

Urbanization
Urban population: 66% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 2.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

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 Marine Dumping Ozone Layer Protection Ship Pollution Tropical Timber 83 Tropical Timber 94 Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Environmental Modification Marine Life Conservation

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 44.66 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 58
Male: 48.56 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 40.57 deaths/1000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 66.89 years
Rank: 156
Male: 64.2 years
Female: 69.72 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.17 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Rank: 66

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2007 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 108
People living with hivaids: 8,100 (2007 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 112
Deaths: fewer than 500 (2007 est.)
Deaths rank: 99

Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: high
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea hepatitis A and typhoid fever
Vectorborne diseases: dengue fever malaria and yellow fever
Water contact disease: leptospirosis (2009)

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures: 6.4% of GDP (2003)
Rank: 32

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 86.7%
Male: 93.1%
Female: 80.7% (2001 census)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Plurinational State of Bolivia
Conventional short form: Bolivia
Local long form: Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia
Local short form: Bolivia

Government type: republic; note - the new constitution defines Bolivia as a 'Social Unitarian State'

Capital
Name: La Paz
Geographic coordinates: 16 30 S 68 09 W
Time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time)
Note: Sucre (constitutional capital)

Administrative divisions: 9 departments (departamentos singular - departamento); Beni Chuquisaca Cochabamba 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; voters approved a new constitution on 25 January 2009

Legal system: based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; the 2009 Constitution incorporates indigenous community justice into Bolivia's judicial system

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 Juan Evo MORALES Ayma ; Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
Elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in December 2009)
Election results: Juan Evo MORALES Ayma elected president; percent of vote - Juan Evo MORALES Ayma 53.7%; Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez 28.6%; Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana 7.8%; Michiaki NAGATANI Morishit 6.5%; Felipe QUISPE Huanca 2.2%; Guildo ANGULA Cabrera 0.7%

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; 70 members are directly elected from their districts and 60 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms); note - under representational rules established by the 2009 Constitution the National Congress will become the Plurinational Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional; the number of Deputies will remain at 130 but the number of Senators will rise to 36
Elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in December 2009)
Election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PODEMOS 13 MAS 12 UN 1 MNR 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 73 PODEMOS 43 UN 8 MNR 6

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); Constitutional Tribunal (five primary or titulares and five alternate or suplente magistrates appointed by Congress; to rule on constitutional issues); National Electoral Court (six members elected by Congress Supreme Court the president and the political party with the highest vote in the last election for four-year terms); note - under the 2009 Constitution all Constitutional and Supreme Court judges will be elected by popular vote

Political parties and leaders: Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Franz BARRIOS]; Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Juan Evo MORALES Ayma]; Movement Without Fear or MSM [Juan DEL GRANADO]; National Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Mirta QUEVEDO]; National Unity [Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana]; Poder Democratico Nacional or PODEMOS [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]; Social Alliance [Rene JOAQUINO]

International organization participation: CAN FAO G-77 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICCt ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO (correspondent) ITSO ITU LAES LAIA Mercosur (associate) MIGA MINURCAT MINUSTAH MONUC NAM OAS OPANAL OPCW PCA RG UN UNASUR UNCTAD UNESCO UNFICYP UNIDO Union Latina UNMIL UNMIS UNOCI UNWTO UPU WCL WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador ; Charge d'Affaires Erika Angela DUENAS Loayza
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 consulate general: Los Angeles Miami New York San Francisco
In the us note: as of September 2008 the US has expelled the Bolivian ambassador to the US
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador ; Charge d'Affaires Krishna URS
From the us embassy: Avenida Arce 2,780 Casilla 425 La Paz
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 425 La Paz; APO AA 34,032
From the us telephone: [591] (2) 216-8,000
From the us fax: [591] (2) 216-8,111
From the us note: as of September 2008 the Bolivian Government has expelled the US Ambassador to Bolivia

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top) yellow and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band
Note: similar to the flag of Ghana which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; in 2009 a presidential decree made it mandatory for a so-called wiphala - a square multi-colored flag representing the country's indigenous peoples - to be used alongside the traditional flag

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. Following a disastrous economic crisis during the early 1980s reforms spurred private investment stimulated economic growth and cut poverty rates in the 1990s. The period 2003-05 was characterized by political instability racial tensions and violent protests against plans - subsequently abandoned - to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005 the government passed a controversial hydrocarbons law that imposed significantly higher royalties and required foreign firms then operating under risk-sharing contracts to surrender all production to the state energy company. In early 2008 higher earnings for mining and hydrocarbons exports pushed the current account surplus to 9.4% of GDP and the government's higher tax take produced a fiscal surplus after years of large deficits. Private investment as a share of GDP however remains among the lowest in Latin America and inflation remained at double-digit levels in 2008. The decline in commodity prices in late 2008 the lack of foreign investment in the mining and hydrocarbon sectors and the suspension of trade benefits with the United States will pose challenges for the Bolivian economy in 2009.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 92
Note: data are in 2008 US dollars

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 57

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 147
Note: data are in 2008 US dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 11.3%
Industry: 36.9%
Services: 51.8% (2008 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: 10.6% (2008 est.)
Rank: 10

Labor force: 4.454 million (2008 est.)
Rank: 80
By occupation agriculture: 40%
By occupation industry: 17%
By occupation services: 43% (2006 est.)

Unemployment rate: 7.5% (2007 est.)
Rank: 98
Note: data are for urban areas; widespread underemployment

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 60% (2006 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 0.5%
Highest 10: 44.1% (2005)

Distribution of family income gini index: 44.7 (1999)
Rank: 7

Budget
Revenues: $8.039 billion
Expenditures: $7.5 billion (2008 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt: 46.3% of GDP (2007 est.)
Rank: 43

Revenue

Fiscal year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 8.7% (2007 est.)
Rank: 184

Central bank discount rate: 6.5% (31 December 2007)
Rank: 59

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 12.86% (31 December 2007)
Rank: 62

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit: $4.759 billion (31 December 2007)
Rank: 81

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 97

Current account balance: $1.984 billion (2007 est.)
Rank: 42

Exports: $4.49 billion (2007 est.)
Rank: 101
Commodities: natural gas soybeans and soy products crude petroleum zinc ore tin
Partners: Brazil 60.1% US 8.3% Japan 4.1% (2008)

Imports: $3.24 billion (2007 est.)
Rank: 120
Commodities: petroleum products plastics paper aircraft and aircraft parts prepared foods automobiles insecticides soybeans
Partners: Brazil 26.7% Argentina 16.3% US 10.5% Chile 9.5% Peru 7.1% China 4.8% (2008)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $5.318 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Rank: 74

Debt external: $5.385 billion (31 December 2007)
Rank: 102

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $5.998 billion (31 December 2008)
Rank: 87

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $NA

Exchange rates: bolivianos (BOB) per US dollar - 7.253 (2008 est.) 7.8616 (2007) 8.0159 (2006) 8.0661 (2005) 7.9363 (2004)


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Electricity
Production: 5.495 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Production rank: 111
Consumption: 4.665 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Consumption rank: 111
Exports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)
Imports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 14.2 billion m³ (2008 est.)
Production rank: 35
Consumption: 2.41 billion m³ (2008 est.)
Consumption rank: 78
Exports: 11.79 billion m³ (2008)
Exports rank: 17
Imports: 0 m³ (2008 est.)
Imports rank: 76
Proven reserves: 750.4 billion m³ (1 January 2009 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 30

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 690,000 (2008)
Main lines in use rank: 90
Mobile cellular: 4.83 million (2008)
Mobile cellular rank: 89

Telephone system
General assessment: privatization begun in 1995; reliability has steadily improved; new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile-cellular telephone use expanding rapidly; fixed-line teledensity of 7 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density slighly exceeds 50 per 100 persons
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: country code - 591; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2008)

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .bo
Hosts: 105,031 (2009)
Hosts rank: 71
Users: 1 million (2008)
Users rank: 87

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures: 1.9% of GDP (2006)
Rank: 88

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation: 18-49 years of age for 12-month compulsory military service; when annual number of volunteers falls short of goal compulsory recruitment is effected including conscription of boys as young as 14; 15-19 years of age for voluntary premilitary service provides exemption from further military service (2009)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 952 (2009)
Rank: 8
With paved runways total: 16
With paved runways over 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 4
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5 (2009)
With unpaved runways total: 936
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 4
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 58
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 186
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 687 (2009)

Heliports

Pipelines: gas 4,883 km; liquid petroleum gas 47 km; oil 2,475 km; refined products 1589 km (2008)

Railways
Total: 3,504 km
Rank: 50
Narrow gauge: 3,504 km 1.000-m gauge (2008)

Roadways
Total: 62,479 km
Rank: 71
Paved: 3,749 km
Unpaved: 58,730 km (2004)

Waterways: 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2007)
Rank: 13

Merchant marine
Total: 23
Rank: 93
By type: bulk carrier 1 cargo 11 carrier 1 passenger/cargo 1 petroleum tanker 7 refrigerated cargo 1 specialized tanker 1
Foreign owned: 7 (Bahamas 1 China 1 Iran 1 Singapore 1 Syria 2 Taiwan 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals: Puerto Aguirre (inland port on the Paraguay/Parana waterway at the Bolivia/Brazil border); Bolivia has free port privileges in maritime ports in Argentina Brazil Chile and Paraguay


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Disputes international: Chile and Peru rebuff Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor ceded to Chile in 1884 but Chile offers instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian natural gas and other commodities; an accord placed the long-disputed Isla Suarez/Ilha de Guajara-Mirim a fluvial island on the Rio Mamore under Bolivian administration in 1958 but sovereignty remains in dispute

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 29,500 hectares under cultivation in 2007 increased slightly when compared to 2006; third largest producer of cocaine estimated at 120 metric tons potential pure cocaine in 2007; transit country for Peruvian and Colombian cocaine destined for Brazil Argentina Chile Paraguay and Europe; cultivation generally increasing since 2000 despite eradication and alternative crop programs; weak border controls; some money-laundering activity related