Bolivia

Republic of BoliviaRepublica de Bolivia

republicIndependence 6 August 1825 (from Spain)

Bolivia as the 1995 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 86 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalLa Paz (seat of government)
Area1,098,580 sq km
LocationCentral South America, southwest of Brazil
1995

Every edition of Bolivia

Populationas each edition published it
7.9 million July 1995 est. · 6.71m in 1990
Population growth% a year
2.25% 1995 est. · 2.31% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 20.8 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
63.85 years 1995 est. · 62.77 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
4.1 children per woman 1995 est. · 4.7 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
70.6 deaths per 1,000 live births 1995 est. · 125 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$2,370 1994 est. · $670 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
4.2% 1994 est. · 3.8% in 1993

Geography

Central South America, southwest of Brazil

14 fields

Land useshare of 1,098,580 sq km

arable land 3%permanent crops 0%meadows and pastures 25%forest and woodland 52%other 20%irrigated 1,650 sq km (1989 est.)
Area
1,098,580sq km
land area: 1,084,390 sq kmcomparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Montana
Coastline
0km
(landlocked)Maritime claims: none; landlocked
Land boundaries
6,743km
total · Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km

Location

Central South America, southwest of Brazil

Map references

South America

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

Natural resources

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

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, Nuclear Test Ban, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands;
  • signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, 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

15 fields
Population
7,896,254
(July 1995 est.)growth rate: 2.25% (1995 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1995 est.)

Birth
31.61Death
8.12Net migration
-1.01

Male · female(1995 est.)

TotalMale · femaleLife expectancy years63.85
61.39 · 66.43
TotalMale · femaleLiteracy80%
88% · 72%
MaleFemaleLiteracy age 15 and over can read and write (1992)
Labor force
3.54million
by occupation: agriculture NA, services and utilities 20%, manufacturing, mining and construction 7% (1993)

Age structure

0-14 years:
39% (female 1,542,931; male 1,565,624)
15-64 years:
57% (female 2,276,308; male 2,188,100)
65 years and over:
4% (female 174,419; male 148,872) (July 1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate

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

Total fertility rate

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)

Government

Republic

25 fields

Legislature, 130 seatsone dot, one seat

MNR 52UCS 20ADN 17MIR 17CONDEPA 13MBL 7ARBOL 1ASD 1EJE 1PCD 1

Legislature, 27 seatsone dot, one seat

MNR 17ADN 4MIR 4CONDEPA 1UCS 1

Names

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

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

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);
  • Vice President Victor Hugo CARDENAS Conde (since 6 August 1993);
  • election last held 6 June 1993 (next to be held 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 left the coalition in 1994
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)

Left parties

  • Free Bolivia Movement (MBL), Antonio ARANIBAR;
  • April 9 Revolutionary Vanguard (VR-9), Carlos SERRATE;
  • Alternative of Democratic Socialism (ASD), Jerjes JUSTIANO;
  • 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), Max FERNANDEZ Rojas;
  • 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

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission:
Ambassador Andres PETRICEVIC Raznatovic
chancery:
3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
[1] (202) 483-4410 through 4412

FAX

[1] (202) 328-3712; consulate(s) general: Miami, New York, and San Francisco

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission:
Ambassador Curt Warren KAMMAN
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) 4339000

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

19 fields
GDP per capita, PPP
$2,370
(1994 est.)
Real growth rate
4.2%
(1994 est.)industrial production growth: growth rate 5% (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate
6.2%
(1994 est.)

Budget

Revenues
$3.75 billionExpenditures
$3.75 billion (1995 est.)
expenditures including capital expenditures of $556.2 million

Installed generating capacity, 756,200 kW

Electricity production
2.116 billionElectricity consumption per capita
367 (1994)

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 an inflation rate that continues to decrease - the 1994 rate of 8.5% was the lowest in ten years - 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. Related laws - one that establishes SIRESE, the regulatory agency that will oversee the privatizations, and another that outlines the rules for privatization in the electricity sector - were approved later in the year.

National product

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

Exports

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

commodities:
metals 39%, natural gas 9%, soybeans 11%, jewelry 11%, wood 8%
partners:
US 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:
US 24%, Argentina 13%, Brazil 11%, Japan 11% (1993 est.)

External debt

$4.2 billion (January 1995)

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 second-largest producer of coca (after Peru) with an estimated 48,100 hectares under cultivation in 1994;
  • voluntary and forced eradication programs unable to prevent production from rising to 89,800 metric tons in 1994 from 84,400 tons in 1993;
  • 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:
  • US 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 - 4.72 (January 1995), 4.6205 (1994), 4.2651 (1993), 3.9005 (1992), 3.5806 (1991), 3.1727 (1990)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Transportation

7 fields

Airports by runway lengthpaved left, unpaved right · 1,382 in all

3
over 3,047 m
3
2,438 to 3,047 m
5
3
1,524 to 2,437 m
1,016
under 914 m
1,524 to 2,438 m
77
914 to 1,523 m
275
PavedUnpaved

Networkskm

Highways
42,815Railroads
3,684
Highways: paved: 1,865 km · unpaved: gravel 12,000 km; improved/unimproved earth 28,950 km · Railroads: (single track) · narrow gauge: 3,652 km 1.000-m gauge; 32 km 0.760-m gauge

Railroads

total:
3,684 km (single track)
narrow gauge:
3,652 km 1.000-m gauge; 32 km 0.760-m gauge

Highways

total:
42,815 km
paved:
1,865 km
unpaved:
gravel 12,000 km; improved/unimproved earth 28,950 km

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

Communications

3 fields

Telephone system

  • about 150,000 telephones;
  • about 2.0 telephones/100 persons;
  • 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:
NA

Defense Forces

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

3 fields

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 1,885,485;
  • males fit for military service 1,226,218;
  • males reach military age (19) annually 81,065 (1995 est.)

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $134 million; 1.9% of GDP (1994) BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Note--Bosnia and Herzegovina is set to enter its third year of interethnic civil strife which began in the spring of 1992 after the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina held a referendum on independence.

Bosnia's Serbs - supported by neighboring Serbia - responded with armed resistance aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining Serb-held areas to 'greater Serbia'. In March 1994, Bosnia's Muslims and Croats reduced the number of warring factions from three to two by signing an agreement in Washington, DC, creating the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A group of rebel Muslims, however, continues to battle government forces in the northwest enclave of Bihac. A Contact Group of countries, the US, UK, France, Germany, and Russia, continues to seek a resolution between the Federation and the Bosnian Serbs. In July of 1994 the Contact Group presented a plan to the warring parties that roughly equally divides the country between the two, while maintaining Bosnia in its current internationally recognized borders. The Federation agreed to the plan almost immediately, while the Bosnian Serbs rejected it.

Central Intelligence Agency. “Bolivia.” The World Factbook 1995. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/bolivia/1995.

How to cite ← 1994 edition 1996 edition →