Home>South America>Bolivia

Background: Bolivia broke away from Spanish rule in 1825. Its subsequent history has been marked by a seemingly endless series of coups, counter-coups, and abrupt changes in leaders and policies. Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in the 1980s, but the leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, strikes, and drug dealing. Current issues include encouraging and negotiating the terms for foreign investment; strengthening the educational system; continuing the privatization program; pursuing judicial reform and an anti-corruption campaign.

Location: Central South America, southwest of Brazil

Geographic coordinates: 17 00 S, 65 00 W

Map references: South America

Area:
total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km
water: 14,190 sq km

Area—comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Montana

Land boundaries:
total: 6,743 km
border countries: 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
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m

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

Land use:
arable land: 2%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 24%
forests and woodland: 53%
other: 21% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 1,750 sq km (1993 est.)

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-April)

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

Environment—international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection

Geography—note: landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru

Population: 7,982,850 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 39% (male 1,573,391; female 1,540,123)
15-64 years: 56% (male 2,199,077; female 2,307,490)
65 years and over: 5% (male 164,213; female 198,556) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.96% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 30.72 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 9.61 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 62.02 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 61.43 years
male: 58.51 years
female: 64.51 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.93 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian

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

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

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

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83.1%
male: 90.5%
female: 76% (1995 est.)

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Bolivia
conventional short form: Bolivia
local long form: Republica de Bolivia
local short form: Bolivia

Data code: BL

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 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 from a panel of candidates proposed by the Senate
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 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: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies—last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held 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 (Corte Suprema), judges appointed for a 10-year term by National Congress

Political parties and leaders:
Left Parties: Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Antonio ARANIBAR]; Patriotic Axis of Convergence or EJE-P [Ramiro BARRANECHEA]; April 9 Revolutionary Vanguard or VR-9 [Carlos SERRATE]; Alternative of Democratic Socialism or ASD [Jerjes JUSTINIANO]; Revolutionary Front of the Left or FRI [Oscar ZAMORA]; Bolivian Communist Party or PCB [Marcos DOMIC]; United Left or IU [Marcos DOMIC]; Front of National Salvation or FSN [Manual MORALES Davila]; Socialist Party One or PS-1 [leader NA]; Bolivian Socialist Falange or FSB [leader NA]; Socialist Unzaguista Movement or MAS [leader NA]
Center-Left Parties: Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR [Oscar EID]; Christian Democrat or PDC [Benjamin MIGUEL]; New Youth Force [Alfonso SAAVEDRA Bruno]
Center Party: Nationalist Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA]
Center-Right Parties: Nationalist Democratic Action or ADN [Enrique TORO]; New Republican Force or NFR [Manfred REYES VILLA]
Populist Parties: Civic Solidarity Union or UCS [Johnny FERNANDEZ]; Conscience of the Fatherland or CONDEPA [Remedios LOZA Alvarado]; Solidarity and Democracy or SYD [leader NA]; Unity and Progress Movement or MUP [Ivo KULJIS]; Popular Patriotic Movement or MPP [Julio MANTILLA]
Evangelical Party: Bolivian Renovating Alliance or ARBOL [Marcelo FERNANDEZ, Hugo VILLEGAS]
Indigenous Parties: Tupac Katari Revolutionary Liberation Movement or MRTK-L [Victor Hugo CARDENAS Conde]; Nationalist Katarista Movement or MKN [Fernando UNTOJA]; Front of Katarista Unity or FULKA [Genaro FLORES]; Katarismo National Unity or KND [Filepe KITTELSON]

International organization participation: CAN, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Marcelo PEREZ Monasterios
chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410
FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712
consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Donna Jean HRINAK
embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, San Jorge, La Paz
mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032
telephone: [591] (2) 430251
FAX: [591] (2) 433900

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: With its long history of semifeudal social controls, dependence on 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. President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA (1993-1997) vowed to advance the market-oriented economic reforms he helped launch as PAZ Estenssoro's planning minister. His successes included the signing of a free trade agreement with Mexico and the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur) as well as the privatization of the state airline, telephone company, railroad, electric power company, and oil company. Hugo BANZER Suarez has tried to further improve the country's investment climate with an anticorruption campaign. With the scheduled completion of a $2 billion natural gas pipeline to Brazil in 1999, Bolivia hopes to become an energy hub in the region.

GDP: purchasing power parity—$23.4 billion (1998 est.)

GDP—real growth rate: 4.7% (1998 est.)

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$3,000 (1998 est.)

GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 17%
industry: 26%
services: 57% (1995 est.)

Population below poverty line: 66%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 31.7% (1990)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.4% (1998 est.)

Labor force: 2.5 million

Labor force—by occupation: agriculture NA%, services and utilities NA%, manufacturing, mining and construction NA%

Unemployment rate: 11.4% (1997) with widespread underemployment

Budget:
revenues: $2.7 billion
expenditures: $2.7 billion (1998)

Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing

Industrial production growth rate: 4% (1995 est.)

Electricity—production: 2.95 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—production by source:
fossil fuel: 40.68%
hydro: 59.32%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity—consumption: 2.948 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—exports: 2 million kWh (1996)

Electricity—imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Agriculture—products: soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber

Exports: $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

Exports—commodities: metals 34%, natural gas 9.4%, soybeans 8.4%, jewelry 11%, wood 6.9%

Exports—partners: US 22%, UK 9.3%, Colombia 8.7%, Peru 7.4%, Argentina 7.2%

Imports: $1.7 billion (c.i.f. 1998)

Imports—commodities: capital goods 48%, chemicals 11%, petroleum 5%, food 5% (1993 est.)

Imports—partners: US 20%, Japan 13%, Brazil 12, Chile 7.5% (1996)

Debt—external: $4.1 billion (1998)

Economic aid—recipient: $588 million (1997)

Currency: 1 boliviano ($B) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates: bolivianos ($B) per US$1—5.6491 (January 1999), 5.5101 (1998), 5.2543 (1997), 5.0746 (1996), 4.8003 (1995), 4.6205 (1994)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Telephones: 144,300 (1987 est.)

Telephone system: new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities
domestic: microwave radio relay system being expanded
international: satellite earth station—1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 177, FM 68, shortwave 112 (1998)

Radios: NA

Television broadcast stations: 48 (1997)

Televisions: 500,000 (1993 est.)

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)

Highways:
total: 52,216 km
paved: 2,872 km (including 27 km of expressways)
unpaved: 49,344 km (1995 est.)

Waterways: 10,000 km of commercially navigable waterways

Pipelines: crude oil 1,800 km; petroleum products 580 km; natural gas 1,495 km

Ports and harbors: none; however, Bolivia has free port privileges in the maritime ports of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay

Merchant marine:
total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 34,948 GRT/58,472 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 5 (1998 est.)

Airports: 1,130 (1998 est.)

Airports—with paved runways:
total: 12
over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (1998 est.)

Airports—with unpaved runways:
total: 1,118
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 70
914 to 1,523 m: 224
under 914 m: 821 (1998 est.)

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

Military manpower—military age: 19 years of age

Military manpower—availability:
males age 15-49: 1,908,454 (1999 est.)

Military manpower—fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 1,241,311 (1999 est.)

Military manpower—reaching military age annually:
males: 84,481 (1999 est.)

Military expenditures—dollar figure: $154 million (1998)

Military expenditures—percent of GDP: 1.8% (1998)

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

Illicit drugs: world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Peru and Colombia) with an estimated 46,900 hectares under cultivation in 1997, a 2.5% decrease in overall cultivation of coca from 1996 levels; Bolivia, however, is the second-largest producer of coca leaf; even so, farmer abandonment and voluntary and forced eradication programs resulted in leaf production dropping from 75,100 metric tons in 1996 to 73,000 tons in 1997, a 3% decrease from 1996; government considers all but 12,000 hectares illicit; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported to or through Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to the US and other international drug markets; alternative crop program aims to reduce illicit coca cultivation

Source: 1999 CIA World Factbook