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 1982 but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty social unrest and illegal drug production. Current goals include attracting foreign investment strengthening the educational system resolving disputes with coca growers over Bolivia's counterdrug efforts and waging an anticorruption campaign.

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: 2.67%
Permanent crops: 0.19%
Other: 97.14% (2001)

Irrigated land: 1280 km² (1998 est.)

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

Population: 8,857,870 (July 2005 est.)
Growth rate: 1.49% (2005 est.)
Below poverty line: 64% (2004 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Bolivian
Adjective: Bolivian

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

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

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

Age structure
0-14 years: 35.7% (male 1,613,049/female 1,551,023)
15-64 years: 59.8% (male 2,591,328/female 2,701,892)
65 years and over: 4.5% (male 178,486/female 222,092) (2005 est.)

Median age
Total: 21.47 years
Male: 20.79 years
Female: 22.17 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.49% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 23.76 births/1000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 7.64 deaths/1000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.27 migrant(s)/1000 population (2005 est.)

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, Ozone Layer Protection

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: 0.8 male/female
Total population: 0.98 male/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 53.11 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 56.7 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 49.33 deaths/1000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 65.5 years
Male: 62.89 years
Female: 68.25 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.94 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 4,900 (2003 est.)
Deaths: less than 500 (2003 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 87.2%
Male: 93.1%
Female: 81.6% (2003 est.)

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

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

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

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Eduardo RODRIGUEZ Veltze (since 9 June 2005); Vice President (vacant); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Eduardo RODRIGUEZ Veltze (since 9 June 2005); Vice President (vacant); note - the president is both 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 30 June 2002 (next to be held June 2007)
Election results: as a result of no candidate winning a majority in the 30 June 2002 election, Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA Bustamante was chosen president by Congress; congressional votes - Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA Bustamante 84, Evo MORALES 43; note - following the resignation of the elected president on 17 October 2003 and Vice President Carlos Diego MESA Gisbert on 9 June 2005, Eduardo RODRIGUEZ Veltze, President of the Supreme Court and constitutional successor, became president.

Legislative branch
Elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 30 June 2002 (next to be held June 2007)
Election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MNR 11, MAS 8, MIR 5, NFR 2, other 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MNR 36, MAS 27, MIR 26, NFR 25, others 16

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: Bolivian Socialist Falange or FSB [Romel PANTOJA]; Civic Solidarity Union or UCS [Johnny FERNANDEZ]; Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Franz BARRIOS]; Marshal of Ayacucho Institutional Vanguard or VIMA [Freddy ZABALA]; Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR [Jaime PAZ Zamora]; Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Evo MORALES]; Movement Without Fear or MSM [Juan DEL GRANADO]; Nationalist Democratic Action or ADN [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]; Nationalist Revolutionary Movement or MNR [leader NA]; New Republican Force or NFR [Manfred REYES-VILLA]; Pachakuti Indigenous Movement or MIP [Felipe QUISPE]; Socialist Party or PS [Jeres JUSTINIANO]

International organization participation: CAN CSN FAO G-77 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICCt ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM ISO (correspondent) ITU LAES LAIA Mercosur (associate) MIGA MINUSTAH MONUC NAM OAS ONUB OPANAL OPCW PCA RG UN UNAMSIL UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNMIK UNMIL UNMISET UNOCI UPU WCL WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Jaime APARICIO Otero
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: Miami, New York, and San Francisco
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador David N. GREENLEE
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) 2,430,120, 2,430,251
From the us fax: [591] (2) 2,433,900

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

Economy overview: Bolivia long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries reformed its economy after suffering a disastrous economic crisis in the early 1980s. The reforms spurred real GDP growth which averaged 4 percent in the 1990s and poverty rates fell. Economic growth however lagged again beginning in 1999 because of a global slowdown and homegrown factors such as political turmoil civil unrest and soaring fiscal deficits all of which hurt investor confidence. In 2003 violent protests against the pro-foreign investment economic policies of President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA led to his resignation and the cancellation of plans to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. Foreign investment dried up as companies adopted a wait-and-see attitude regarding new President Carlos MESA's willingness to protect investor rights in the face of increased demands by radical groups that the government expropriate foreign-owned assets. Real GDP growth in 2003 and 2004 - helped by increased demand for natural gas in neighboring Brazil - was positive but still below the levels seen during the 1990s. Bolivia remains dependent on foreign aid from multilateral lenders and foreign governments.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $22.33 billion (2004 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 3.7% (2004 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2004 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 13%
Industry: 28%
Services: 59% (2004 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: 5.7% (2004 est.)

Labor force: 3.8 million (2004 est.)
By occupation agriculture: NA%
By occupation industry: NA%
By occupation services: NA%

Unemployment rate
Note: widespread underemployment (2003 est.)

Population below poverty line: 64% (2004 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1.3%
Highest 10: 32% (1999)

Distribution of family income gini index: 44.7 (1999)

Budget
Revenues: $2.264 billion
Expenditures: $2.769 billion, including capital expenditures of $741 million (2004 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 4.9% (2004 est.)

Current account balance: $273 million (2004 est.)

Exports: $1.986 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Commodities: natural gas soybeans and soy products crude petroleum zinc ore tin
Partners: Brazil 40% US 13.9% Colombia 8.7% Peru 6.3% Japan 4.5% (2004)

Imports: $1.595 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Commodities: petroleum products plastics paper aircraft and aircraft parts prepared foods automobiles insecticides soybeans
Partners: Brazil 29.7% Argentina 17.6% US 10.8% Chile 7.7% Peru 7.3% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.214 billion (2004 est.)

Debt external: $5.439 billion (June 2004 est.)

Exchange rates: bolivianos per US dollar - 7.9363 (2004) 7.6592 (2003) 7.17 (2002) 6.6069 (2001) 6.1835 (2000)

Electricity
Production: 4.132 billion kWh (2002)
Consumption: 3.848 billion kWh (2002)
Exports: 3 million kWh (2002)
Imports: 9 million kWh (2002)

Natural gas
Production: 8.44 billion m³ (2004 est.)
Consumption: 1.15 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Exports: 2.9 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Imports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Proven reserves: 727.2 billion m³ (1 January 2002)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 600,100 (2003)
Mobile cellular: 1,401,500 (2003)

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: country code - 591; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Internet
Country code: .bo
Hosts: 7,080 (2003)
Users: 270,000 (2002)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $132.2 million (2004)
Percent of gdp: 1.6% (2004)

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; when annual number of volunteers falls short of goal compulsory recruitment is effected including conscription of boys as young as 14; one estimate holds that 40% of the armed forces are under the age of 18 with 50% of those under the age of 16; conscript tour of duty - 12 months (2002)

Airports: 1065 (2004 est.)
With paved runways total: 16
With paved runways over 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 5
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3 (2004 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 1,049
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 60
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 207
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 778 (2004 est.)

Pipelines: gas 4,860 km; liquid petroleum gas 47 km; oil 2,457 km; refined products 1589 km; unknown (oil/water) 247 km (2004)

Railways
Total: 3,519 km
Narrow gauge: 3,519 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)

Waterways: 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2004)

Merchant marine
Total: 32 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 413,407 GRT/699,901 DWT
By type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 16, chemical tanker 1, container 1, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 9, refrigerated cargo 1
Foreign owned: 11 (Argentina 1, Egypt 2, Eritrea 1, Germany 1, Iran 1, Singapore 2, United Kingdom 1, United States 2) (2005)

Disputes international: Chile rebuffs Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor ceded to Chile in 1884 offering instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian natural gas and other commodities

Illicit drugs: world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 28,450 hectares under cultivation in June 2003 a 23% increase from June 2002; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported mostly to or through Brazil Argentina and Chile to European and US drug markets; eradication and alternative crop programs under the MESA administration have been unable to keep pace with farmers' attempts to increase cultivation; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay