Bolivia
Republic of BoliviaRepublica de Bolivia
republicIndependence 6 August 1825 (from Spain)
Bolivia as the 2006 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 127 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
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
Central South America, southwest of Brazil
18 fieldsLand useshare of 1,098,580 sq km
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, hydropower
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, 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
Geography - note
landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru
People
19 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2006 est.)
Per 1,000 population(2006 est.)
Male · female
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.)
Government
Republic; President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006)
18 fieldsPresidential electionpercent of vote
Chamber of Senators, 130 seatsone dot, one seat
Country name
- conventional long form:
- Republic of Bolivia
- conventional short form:
- Bolivia
- local long form:
- Republica de Bolivia
- local short form:
- Bolivia
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 divisions
9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija
Suffrage
18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single)
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)
Political parties and 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]
Political pressure groups and leaders
- Cocalero groups;
- indigenous organizations;
- labor unions;
- Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB [Roman LOAYZA]
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
Diplomatic representation in the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Gustavo GUZMAN Saldana
- chancery:
- 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 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 representation from the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Philip S. GOLDBERG
- embassy:
- Avenida Arce 2780, La Paz
- mailing address:
- P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032
- telephone:
- [591] (2) 216-8000
- FAX:
- [591] (2) 216-8111
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
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.
45 fieldsGDP - composition by sector(2005 est.)
Trading partnersexports left, imports right
Electricity
Economy - 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.
Imports - commodities
petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans
Exchange rates
bolivianos per US dollar - 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003), 7.17 (2002), 6.6069 (2001)
Communications
8 fieldsTelephone system
- 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)
Transportation
9 fieldsAirports by runway lengthpaved left, unpaved right
Networkskm
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)
Merchant marine
- 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) (2006)
Ports and terminals
- 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
Military
Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2006)
6 fieldsMilitary branches
Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2006)
Military service age and obligation
- 18 years of age for voluntary military service;
- when annual number of volunteers falls short of goal, compulsory recruitment is effected, including 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 available for military service
- males age 18-49:
- 1,923,234
- females age 18-49:
- 2,007,315 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually
- males age 18-49:
- 101,101
- females age 18-49:
- 98,671 (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues
3 fieldsDisputes - international
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
Trafficking in persons
- current situation:
- Bolivia is a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of labor and sexual exploitation to Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, as well as 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
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Bolivia.” The World Factbook 2006. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/bolivia/2006.