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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 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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Common Name: Bolivia
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Local Official Name: Bolivia
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Abbreviated Name: Republic of Bolivia
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Official Name: Republica de Bolivia
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Official Script Name: Bolivia
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Local Common Name: Bolivia
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Former Name: Bolivia
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Territory of: NA
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Head of State: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma
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Government Type: republic
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Independence: 1825 August 6 (from Spain)
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Constitution: 1967 February 2; revised in 1994 August
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National Holiday: Independence Day, 6 August
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International Organization Participation: CAN, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMISET, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
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Administrative Divisions: 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija
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Dependent Areas: NA
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Legal System: based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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Suffrage: 18 years
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Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches: Executive Branch:
chief of state: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); 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); 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 a single five-year term; election last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010)
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; 69 are directly elected from their districts and 61 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010)
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)
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Party 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 [Juan Evo MORALES Ayma]; Movement Without Fear or MSM [Juan DEL GRANADO]; National Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA]; New Republican Force or NFR [Manfred REYES-VILLA]; Pachakuti Indigenous Movement or MIP [Felipe QUISPE Huanca]; Poder Democratico Nacional or PODEMOS [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]; Socialist Party or PS [Jeres JUSTINIANO]
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International Disputes: 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
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Illicit Drugs: world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 26,500 hectares under cultivation in August 2005, an 8% increase from 2004; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported mostly to or through Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to European drug markets; cultivation steadily increasing despite eradication and alternative crop programs; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay
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Location of Bolivia: Central South America, southwest of Brazil
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Continent: South America
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Land Area Total: 1,098,580 sq km
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Region: Southern American |
Land Area Land: 1,084,390 sq km
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Capitol City: La Paz; Sucre
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Land Area Water: 14,190 sq km
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Current: -4
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Latitude: 017 00 S
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Border Boundary Land: 6,743 km
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Longitude: 065 00 W
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Border Boundary Coastline: 0 km
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Arable Land: 2.78 %
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Pastures: 0.00 %
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Crops: 0.19 %
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Woodlands and Forests: 0.00
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Highest Elevation: 6,542 m
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Location: Nevado Sajama
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Lowest Elevation: 90 m
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Location: Rio Paraguay
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Largest City in Bolivia: La Paz
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La Paz Largest City Population: 1,439,000
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Threatened Species: 127
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Environmental 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
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Environmental 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
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection
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Irrigated Land: 1,320
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Bordering Countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km
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Natural Resources: tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower
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Geographical Terrain: rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin
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Comparative Area of Bolivia: slightly less than three times the size of Montana
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Bolivia's Geography: landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru
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Click Here for detailed information about the weather conditions in Bolivia.
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General Climate: varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid
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Natural Hazards: flooding in the northeast (March-April)
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Economic 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% 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. In 2005, the government passed a controversial natural gas law that imposes on the oil and gas firms significantly higher taxes as well as new contracts that give the state control of their operations. Bolivian officials are in the process of implementing the law; meanwhile, foreign investors have stopped investing and have taken the first legal steps to secure their investments. Real GDP growth in 2003-05 - helped by increased demand for natural gas in neighboring Brazil - was positive, but still below the levels seen during the 1990s. Bolivia's fiscal position has improved in recent years, but the country remains dependent on foreign aid from multilateral lenders and foreign governments to meet budget shortfalls. In 2005, the G8 announced a $2 billion debt-forgiveness plan over the next few decades that should help reduce some fiscal pressures on the government in the near term.
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GDP: $25,820,000,000 USD
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Currency: boliviano
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GDP per Capita: $2,900 USD
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Currency Code: BOB
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GDP Growth Rate: 4.10 %
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One $USD Equals: %fincurrencyequals% BOB
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Currency Exchange Rate History: bolivianos per US dollar - 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003), 7.17 (2002), 6.6069 (2001)
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GDP of Agriculture: 12.80 %
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GDP of Industry: 35.20 %
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GDP of Services: 52.00 % |
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Inflation Rate: 5.40 % |
Population in Poverty: 64.00 %
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Unemployment Rate: 8.00 %
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Tourism: 342,000.00 visitors each year
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Consumption by lowest 10%: 1.30 %
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Budget Revenue in USD: $2,848,000,000 USD
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Consumption by upper 10%: 32.00 %
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Budget Expenditures in USD: $3,189,000,000 USD
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Electricity Production: 4,250,000,000 kWh
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Electricity Exports: 0 kWh
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Electricity Consumption: 3,963,000,000 kWh
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Electricity Imports: 10,000,000 kWh
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Electricity Production by Source:
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Fossil Fuel Electricity Production: 48.37%
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Nuclear Electricity Production: 0.00%
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Hydro Electricity Production: 50.13%
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Other Electricity Production: 1.50%
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Oil Production: 42,000 barrels per day
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Natural Gas Production: 6,720,000,000 cu m
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Oil Consumption: 48,000 barrels per day
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Natural Gas Consumption: 1,740,000,000 cu m
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Oil Exports: 0 barrels per day
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Natural Gas Exports: 2,900,000,000 cu m
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Oil Imports: 0 barrels per day
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Natural Gas Imports: 0 cu m
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Proven Oil Reserves: 458,800,000 barrels
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Proven Natural Gas Reserves: 679,600,000,000 cu m
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External Debt: $6,309,000,000 USD |
Received in economic aid: $221,000,000 USD
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Donated in economic aid: $0 USD
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Agricultural Products: soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber
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Primary Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing
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Industrial Growth Rate: 5.70 %
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Import Amount in USD: $1,845,000,000 USD - petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans
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Import Partners: Brazil 21.9%, Argentina 16.7%, US 13.8%, Chile 6.9%, Peru 6.5%, Japan 6.1%, China 5.8%
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Export Amount in USD: $2,371,000,000 USD - natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin
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Export Partners: Brazil 41.2%, US 14.1%, Colombia 8.8%, Argentina 7.6%, Peru 5.5%
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GINI Index: 60.60%
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Labor Force Number of People: 4,220,000
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Labor Force by Occupations: agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
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Radio Broadcast Stations: 321 |
Number of People with Radios: 5,250,000 |
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Television Broadcast Stations: 48 |
Number of People with Televisions: 900,000 |
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Number of People with Mainline Telephones: 646,300 |
Number of People with Mobile Phones: 2,421,000 |
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Internet Service Providers: 20,085 |
Internet Users: 480,000 |
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Internet Country Code: .bo |
Newspapers: 55 |
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Two Letter Country Code: BL |
Weights and Measures: |
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Phone Country Code: 591 |
Electricity Voltage: 220/230 Volts |
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Telephone Systems: 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)
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Highways: 4,314 km |
Railways: 3,519 km
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Gas And Oil Pipelines: 9,218 km |
Waterways: 10,000 km
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Airports: 16 |
Heliports: 0
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Motor Vehicles: 54 per 1,000 people |
CO2 Emissions: 10,816,000 Metric Tons of CO2 per year |
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Per capita CO2 emissions: 1.40 Metric Tons of CO2 per year |
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Merchant Marines: total: 24 ships (1000 GRT or over) 127,297 GRT/198,525 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 8, chemical tanker 1, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 10
foreign-owned: 10 (Argentina 1, China 1, Egypt 2, Iran 1, Singapore 3, Taiwan 1, Yemen 1)
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Ports and Harbors: Puerto Aguirre (on the Paraguay/Parana waterway, at the Bolivia/Brazil border); also, Bolivia has free port privileges in maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay
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Population: 8,989,046 people type - nationality |
Birth Rate: 23.30 births per 1,000 people |
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Population Density: 8.00 people per sq km |
Death Rate: 7.53 deaths per 1,000 people |
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Population Growth: 1.45% per year |
Fertility Rate per Women: 2.85 babies born per woman |
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Population Male 0-14: 1,603,982 |
Population Female 0-14: 1,542,319 |
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Population Male 15-64: 2,660,806 |
Population Female 15-64: 2,771,807 |
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Population Male 65+: 182,412 |
Population Female 65+: 227,720 |
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Population 0-14: 35.00% |
Literacy Rate: 87.20% |
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Population 15-64: 60.40% |
Literacy rate of Males: 93.10% |
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Population 65+: 4.60% |
Literacy rate of Females: 81.60% |
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Population that is Male: 52.50
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Population that is Female: 47.50% |
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Life expectancy at birth in years: 65.84 years |
Infant mortality rate - baby deaths per 1000 births: 51.77 Babies die per 1,000 births |
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Life expectancy at birth for Males: 63.21 years |
Life expectancy at birth for Females: 68.61 years |
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Rate of AIDS/HIV infection: 0.10%
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Number of people living with AIDS or HIV: 4,900
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Number of people who died of AIDS: 0 |
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Disease Risk:
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Diseases:
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Net Migration Rate per 1,000 people: -1.22
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Nationality: BOLIVIAN
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Ethnic Groups: Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15%
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Primary Language: Spanish
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Other Languages: Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official)
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Primary Religion: Roman Catholic
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Other Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5%
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Branches: Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB)
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Manpower Fit to Serve: 18 years
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Manpower Available: 3,930,549 People
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Manpower Fit to Serve: 2,813,591 People
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Amount of Manpower Available each Year: 199,772 People per year
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Expenditures: $0 USD per year
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Expenditures as a Percentage of GDP: 1.40
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Note: Phrasebase uses a variety of sources when compiling the facts and information presented above. This information is continually updated throughout the year.
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