from
CIA World Factbook 2006
Bolivia
Introduction
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.
Geography
Location: Central South America, southwest of Brazil
Geographic 17 00 S, 65 00 W
coordinates:
Map South America
references:
Area: total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km
water: 14,190 sq km
Area - slightly less than three times the size of Montana
comparative:
Land total: 6,743 km
boundaries: border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km,
Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime none (landlocked)
claims:
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 lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
extremes: highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m
Natural tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony,
resources: silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.19%
other: 97.03% (2005)
Irrigated 1,320 sq km (2003)
land:
Natural flooding in the northeast (March-April)
hazards:
Environment - the clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the
current international demand for tropical timber are
issues: 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 - party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
international Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
agreements: 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
Geography - landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's
note: highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru
People
Population: 8,989,046 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 35% (male 1,603,982/female 1,542,319)
15-64 years: 60.4% (male 2,660,806/female 2,771,807)
65 years and over: 4.6% (male 182,412/female 227,720)
(2006 est.)
Median age: total: 21.8 years
male: 21.2 years
female: 22.5 years (2006 est.)
Population 1.45% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 23.3 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 7.53 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration -1.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant total: 51.77 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 55.31 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 48.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 65.84 years
expectancy at male: 63.21 years
birth: female: 68.61 years (2006 est.)
Total 2.85 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 0.1% (2003 est.)
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 4,900 (2003 est.)
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - less than 500 (2003 est.)
deaths:
Nationality: noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian
Ethnic groups: Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian
ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15%
Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist)
5%
Languages: Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara
(official)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 87.2%
male: 93.1%
female: 81.6% (2003 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Bolivia
conventional short form: Bolivia
local long form: Republica de Bolivia
local short form: Bolivia
Government republic
type:
Capital: name: La Paz (adminstrative capital)
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 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento);
divisions: Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando,
Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija
Independence: 6 August 1825 (from Spain)
National Independence Day, 6 August (1825)
holiday:
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 chief of state: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since
branch: 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 bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional
branch: 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 Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges appointed for
branch: 10-year terms by National Congress); District Courts
(one in each department); provincial and local courts
(to try minor cases)
Political Bolivian Socialist Falange or FSB [Romel PANTOJA];
parties and Civic Solidarity Union or UCS [Johnny FERNANDEZ]; Free
leaders: 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]
Political Cocalero groups; indigenous organizations; labor
pressure unions; Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of
groups and Bolivia or CSUTCB [Roman LOAYZA]
leaders:
International CAN, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt,
organization ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol,
participation: 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
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Gustavo GUZMAN Saldana
representation chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC
in the US: 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410
FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712
consulate(s) general: Houston, Miami, New York,
Oklahoma City, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, DC
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Philip S. GOLDBERG
representation embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, La Paz
from the US: mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032
telephone: [591] (2) 216-8000
FAX: [591] (2) 216-8111
Flag three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and
description: 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
Economy - Bolivia, long one of the poorest and least developed
overview: 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.
GDP $25.82 billion (2005 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $9.657 billion (2005 est.)
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 4.1% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $2,900 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 12.8%
composition by industry: 35.2%
sector: services: 52% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 4.22 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - agriculture: NA%
by occupation: industry: NA%
services: NA%
Unemployment 8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2005
rate: est.)
Population 64% (2004 est.)
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: 1.3%
income or highest 10%: 32% (1999)
consumption by
percentage
share:
Distribution 60.6 (2002)
of family
income - Gini
index:
Inflation rate 5.4% (2005 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Investment 12.5% of GDP (2005 est.)
(gross fixed):
Budget: revenues: $2.848 billion
expenditures: $3.189 billion; including capital
expenditures of $741 million (2005 est.)
Agriculture - soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice,
products: potatoes; timber
Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages,
tobacco, handicrafts, clothing
Industrial 5.7% (2004 est.)
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 4.25 billion kWh (2003)
production:
Electricity - fossil fuel: 44.4%
production by hydro: 54%
source: nuclear: 0%
other: 1.5% (2001)
Electricity - 3.963 billion kWh (2003)
consumption:
Electricity - 0 kWh (2003)
exports:
Electricity - 10 million kWh (2003)
imports:
Oil - 42,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
production:
Oil - 48,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
consumption:
Oil - exports: NA bbl/day
Oil - imports: NA bbl/day
Oil - proved 458.8 million bbl (1 January 2002)
reserves:
Natural gas - 6.72 billion cu m (2003 est.)
production:
Natural gas - 1.74 billion cu m (2003 est.)
consumption:
Natural gas - 2.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)
exports:
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2001 est.)
imports:
Natural gas - 679.6 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
proved
reserves:
Current $462 million (2005 est.)
account
balance:
Exports: $2.371 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude
commodities: petroleum, zinc ore, tin
Exports - Brazil 41.2%, US 14.1%, Colombia 8.8%, Argentina 7.6%,
partners: Peru 5.5% (2005)
Imports: $1.845 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and
commodities: aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles,
insecticides, soybeans
Imports - Brazil 21.9%, Argentina 16.7%, US 13.8%, Chile 6.9%,
partners: Peru 6.5%, Japan 6.1%, China 5.8% (2005)
Reserves of $1.798 billion (2005 est.)
foreign
exchange and
gold:
Debt - $6.309 billion (2005 est.)
external:
Economic aid - $221 million (2005 est.)
recipient:
Currency boliviano (BOB)
(code):
Currency code: BOB
Exchange bolivianos per US dollar - 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363
rates: (2004), 7.6592 (2003), 7.17 (2002), 6.6069 (2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - 646,300 (2005)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 2.421 million (2005)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: new subscribers face bureaucratic
system: 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)
Radio AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999)
broadcast
stations:
Radios: 5.25 million (1997)
Television 48 (1997)
broadcast
stations:
Televisions: 900,000 (1997)
Internet .bo
country code:
Internet 20,085 (2006)
hosts:
Internet 9 (2000)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 480,000 (2005)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 1,084 (2006)
Airports - total: 16
with paved over 3,047 m: 4
runways: 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2006)
Airports - total: 1,068
with unpaved over 3,047 m: 1
runways: 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 60
914 to 1,523 m: 207
under 914 m: 797 (2006)
Pipelines: gas 4,860 km; liquid petroleum gas 47 km; oil 2,475 km;
refined products 1,589 km; unknown (oil/water) 247 km
(2006)
Railways: total: 3,519 km
narrow gauge: 3,519 km 1.000-m gauge (2005)
Roadways: total: 60,762 km
paved: 4,314 km (including 11 km of expressways)
unpaved: 56,448 km (2003)
Waterways: 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2005)
Merchant total: 24 ships (1000 GRT or over) 127,297 GRT/198,525
marine: 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) (2006)
Ports and Puerto Aguirre (on the Paraguay/Parana waterway, at the
terminals: Bolivia/Brazil border); also, Bolivia has free port
privileges in maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil,
Chile, and Paraguay
Military
Military Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito
branches: Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes
marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana,
FAB) (2006)
Military 18 years of age for voluntary military service; when
service age annual number of volunteers falls short of goal,
and compulsory recruitment is effected, including
obligation: 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)
Manpower males age 18-49: 1,923,234
available for females age 18-49: 2,007,315 (2005 est.)
military
service:
Manpower fit males age 18-49: 1,311,414
for military females age 18-49: 1,502,177 (2005 est.)
service:
Manpower males age 18-49: 101,101
reaching females age 18-49: 98,671 (2005 est.)
military
service age
annually:
Military $130 million (2005 est.)
expenditures -
dollar figure:
Military 1.4% (2005 est.)
expenditures -
percent of
GDP:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - Chile rebuffs Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore
international: 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
Trafficking in current situation: Bolivia is a source and transit
persons: country for men, women, and children trafficked for the
purposes of labor and sexual exploitation to Argentina,
Brazil, and Chile and to Spain; children are trafficked
internally for sexual exploitation, forced mining, and
agricultural labor; illegal migrants from Asia
transiting Bolivia are vulnerable as trafficking
victims
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Bolivia has failed to
show evidence of increasing efforts to combat
trafficking in the areas of prosecutions and victim
protection
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