Bolivia

 
Geography                 Economy                 Defense Forces
 

People                    Transportation          Government



Communications            History      	          Travel

GEOGRAPHY

Location

Central South America, southwest of Brazil

Area

Total area: 1,098,580 sq km
Land area: 1,084,390 sq km
Comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Montana

Land Boundaries

Total 6,743 km, Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime Claims

None; landlocked

International Disputes

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

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
lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Cerro Illimani 6,882 m

Natural Resources

Tin
Natural gas
Petroleum
Zinc
Tungsten
Antimony
Silver
Iron
Lead
Gold
Timber

Land Use

Arable land: 3%
Permanent crops: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 25%
Forest and woodland: 52%
Other: 20%

Irrigated Land

1,650 sq km (1989 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
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 to April)
International agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection

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

PEOPLE

Population

7,165,257 (July 1996 est.)
7,896,254 (July 1995 est.)

Age Structure

0-14 Years

39% (male 1,422,313; female 1,390,885) (July 1996 est.)
39% (male 1,565,624; female 1,542,931) (July 1995 est.)

15-64 Years

56% (male 1,959,989; female 2,042,135) (July 1996 est.)
57% (male 2,188,100; female 2,276,308) (July 1995 est.)

65 Years and Over

5% (male 153,111; female 196,824) (July 1996 est.)
4% (male 148,872; female 174,419) (July 1995 est.)

Population Growth Rate

1.82% (1996 est.)
2.25% (1995 est.)

Birth Rate

32.37 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
31.61 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death Rate

10.75 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
8.12 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net Migration Rate

-3.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
-1.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.97 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate

67.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
70.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth

Total population: 59.81 years (1996 est.); 63.85 years (1995 est.)
Male: 56.94 years (1996 est.); 61.39 years (1995 est.)
Female: 62.82 years (1996 est.); 66.43 years (1995 est.)

Total Fertility Rate

4.25 children born/woman (1996 est.)
4.1 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality

Noun: Bolivian(s)
Adjective: Bolivian

Ethnic Divisions

Quechua 30%
Aymara 25%
Mestizo (mixed European and Indian ancestry) 25%-30%
European 5%-15%

Religions

Roman Catholic 95%
Protestant (Evangelical Methodist)

Languages

Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official)

Literacy

Age 15 and over that can read and write (1995 est.)

Total population: 83.1%
Male: 90.5%
Female: 76%

Labor Force

3.54 million

By occupation:

Agriculture NA, services and utilities 20%
Manufacturing, mining and construction 7% (1993)

GOVERNMENT

Names

Conventional long form: Republic of Bolivia
Conventional short form: Bolivia
Local long form: Republica de Bolivia
Local short form: Bolivia

Digraph

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

Legal System

Based on Spanish law and Code Napoleon; 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 and head of government: President Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA Bustamente (since 6 August 1993) and Vice President Victor Hugo CARDENAS Conde (since 6 August 1993) were elected for four-year terms by popular vote; election last held 6 June 1993 (next to be held NA May 1997); results - Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA (MNR) 34%, Hugo BANZER Suarez (ADN/MIR alliance) 20%, Carlos PALENQUE Aviles (CONDEPA) 14%, Max FERNANDEZ Rojas (UCS) 13%, Antonio ARANIBAR Quiroga (MBL) 5%; no candidate received a majority of the popular vote; Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA won a congressional runoff election on 4 August 1993 after forming a coalition with Max FERNANDEZ and Antonio ARANIBAR; FERNANDEZ died in a plane crash 26 November 1995
Cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president from panel proposed by the Senate

Legislative Branch

Bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional)

Chamber of Deputies (Camara De Diputados)

Elections last held 6 June 1993 (next to be held May 1997); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (130 total) MNR 52, UCS 20, ADN 17, MIR 17, CONDEPA 13, MBL 7, ARBOL 1, ASD 1, EJE 1, PCD 1

Chamber of Senators (Camara De Senadores)

Elections last held 6 June 1993 (next to be held May 1997); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (27 total) MNR 17, ADN 4, MIR 4, CONDEPA 1, UCS 1

Judicial Branch

Supreme Court (Corte Suprema), judges appointed for a 10-year term by National Congress

Political Parties and Leaders

Left Parties

Free Bolivia Movement (MBL), Antonio ARANIBAR; April 9 Revolutionary Vanguard (VR-9), Carlos SERRATE; Alternative of Democratic Socialism (ASD), Jerjes JUSTINIANO; Revolutionary Front of the Left (FRI), Oscar ZAMORA; Bolivian Socialist Falange (FSB); Socialist Unzaguista Movement (MAS); Socialist Party One (PS-1); Bolivian Communist Party (PCB)

Center-Left Parties

Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR), Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA; Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), Jaime PAZ Zamora, Oscar EID; Christian Democrat (PCD), Jorge AGREDA

Center-Right Party

Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN), Jorge LANDIVAR, Hugo BANZER

Populist parties: Civic Solidarity Union (UCS), Johnny FERNANDEZ; Conscience of the Fatherland (CONDEPA), Carlos PALENQUE Aviles; Popular Patriotic Movement (MPP), Julio MANTILLA; Unity and Progress Movement (MUP), Ivo KULJIS

Evangelical

Bolivian Renovating Alliance (ARBOL), Hugo VILLEGAS

Indigenous: Tupac Katari Revolutionary Liberation Movement (MRTK-L), Victor Hugo CARDENAS Conde; Patriotic Axis of Convergence (EJE-P), Ramiro BARRANCHEA; National Katarista Movement (MKN), Fernando UNTOJA

Member of

AG, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National Anthem

National anthem

Flag

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

With its long history of semifeudal social controls, dependence on volatile prices for its mineral exports, and bouts of hyperinflation, Bolivia has remained one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries. However, Bolivia has experienced generally improving economic conditions since the PAZ Estenssoro administration (1985-89) introduced market-oriented policies which reduced inflation from 11,700% in 1985 to about 20% in 1988. PAZ Estenssoro was followed as president by Jaime PAZ Zamora (1989-93) who continued the free-market policies of his predecessor, despite opposition from his own party and from Bolivia's once powerful labor movement. By maintaining fiscal discipline, PAZ Zamora helped reduce inflation to 9.3% in 1993, while GDP grew by an annual average of 3.25% during his tenure. Inaugurated in August 1993, President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA has vowed to advance the market-oriented economic reforms he helped launch as PAZ Estenssoro's planning minister. His successes so far have included the signing of a free trade agreement with Mexico and progress on his unique privatization plan. The main privatization bill was passed by the Bolivian legislature in late March 1994. Since that time, the administration has privatized the electric power generation sector, the state airline, the state telephone company, and the national railroad. The state mining and petroleum companies are expected to be privatized in 1996.

National Product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $20 billion (1995 est.); $18.3 billion (1994 est.)

National Product Real Growth Rate

3.7% (1995 est.)
4.2% (1994 est.)

National Product Per Capita

$2,530 (1995 est.)
$2,370 (1994 est.)

Inflation Rate (consumer Prices)

12% (1995 est.)
8.5% (1994 est.)

Unemployment Rate

6.2% (1994 est.)

Budget

Revenues: $3.75 billion
Expenditures: $3.75 billion, including capital expenditures of $556.2 million (1995 est.)

Exports

$1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)

Commodities:

Metals 39%
Natural gas 9%
Soybeans 11%
Jewelry 11%
Wood 8%

Partners:

U.S. 26%
Argentina 15% (1993 est.)

Imports

$1.21 billion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)

Commodities:

Capital goods 48%
Chemicals 11%
Petroleum 5%
Food 5% (1993 est.)

Partners:

U.S. 24%
Argentina 13%
Brazil 11%
Japan 11% (1993 est.)

External Debt

$4.4 billion (November 1995)
$4.2 billion (January 1995)

Industrial Production

Growth rate 5% (1994 est.)

Electricity

Capacity: 756,200 kW
Production: 2.116 billion kWh
Consumption per capita: 367 kWh (1994)

Industries

Mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverage, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing
Illicit drug industry reportedly produces 15% of its revenues

Agriculture

Accounts for about 21% of GDP (including forestry and fisheries); principal commodities - coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes, timber; self-sufficient in food

Illicit Drugs

World's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Peru and Colombia) with an estimated 48,600 hectares under cultivation in 1995, a one percent increase in overall cultivation of coca over 1994 levels; Bolivia, however, is the second-largest producer of harvested coca leaf; even so, voluntary and forced eradication programs resulted in leaf production dropping from 89,800 metric tons in 1994 to 85,000 tons in 1995; government considers all but 12,000 hectares illicit; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported to or through Colombia and Brazil to the US and other international drug markets; alternative crop program aims to reduce illicit coca cultivation

Economic Aid

Recipient: ODA, $362 million (1993); U.S. commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $990 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $2.025 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $340 million

Currency

1 boliviano ($B) = 100 centavos

Exchange Rates

Bolivianos ($B) per US$1 - 4.9137 (December 1995), 4.8003 (1995), 4.6205 (1994), 4.2651 (1993), 3.9005 (1992), 3.5806 (1991), 3.1727 (1990)

Fiscal Year

Calendar year

TRANSPORTATION

Railroads

Total: 3,961 km (single track)
Narrow gauge: 3,652 km 1.000-m gauge; 39 km 0.760-m gauge (13 km electrified) (1995)

Highways

Total: 46,311 km
Paved: 1,940 km (including 27 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 44,371 km (1991 est.)

Inland Waterways

10,000 km of commercially navigable waterways

Pipelines

Crude oil 1,800 km; petroleum products 580 km; natural gas 1,495 km

Ports

None; however, Bolivia has free port privileges in the maritime ports of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay

Merchant Marine

Total: 1 cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,214 GRT/6,390 DWT (1995 est.)

Airports

Total: 1,017
With paved runways over 3,047 m: 3
With paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
With paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
With paved runways under 914 m: 750
With unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 69
With unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 186 (1995 est.)

COMMUNICATIONS

Telephone System

144,300 telephones (1987 est.); new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones in La Paz and other cities; microwave radio relay system being expanded; improved international services

Local: NA
Intercity: microwave radio relay system
International: 1 INTELSAT (Atlantic Ocean) earth station

Radio

Broadcast stations: AM 129, FM 0, shortwave 68
Radios: NA

Television

Broadcast stations: 43
Televisions: 500,000 (1993 est.)

DEFENSE FORCES

Branches

Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Navy (Fuerza Naval Boliviana, includes Marines), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana), National Police Force (Policia Nacional de Bolivia)

Manpower Availability

Males age 15-49 1,685,572; males fit for military service 1,098,948; males reach military age (19) annually 76,035 (1995 est.)

Defense Expenditures

Exchange rate conversion - $145 million; 1.9% of GDP (1996); $134 million; 1.9% of GDP (1994)

History
World Atlas

Last midofoed: 23 december 1997

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