Bolivia

total:

1.44 cu km/yr (13%/7%/81%)

per capita:

157 cu m/yr (2000)

• 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

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

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:

0.79 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever, malaria, and yellow fever

water contact disease:

leptospirosis (2009)

noun:

Bolivian(s)

adjective:

Bolivian

conventional long form:

Plurinational State of Bolivia

conventional short form:

Bolivia

local long form:

Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia

local short form:

Bolivia

name:

La Paz (administrative 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)

• 2 February 1967;
• revised in August 1994;
• voters approved a new constitution on 25 January 2009

• based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code;
• has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction;
• the 2009 Constitution incorporates indigenous community justice into Bolivia's judicial system

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)

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 December 2009)

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%

• 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; 70 members are directly elected from their districts and 60 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms);
• note - under representational rules established by the 2009 Constitution, the National Congress will become the Plurinational Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional;
• the number of Deputies will remain at 130, but the number of Senators will rise to 36

elections:

Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in December 2009)

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

• 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);
• Constitutional Tribunal (five primary or titulares and five alternate or suplente magistrates appointed by Congress; to rule on constitutional issues);
• National Electoral Court (six members elected by Congress, Supreme Court, the president, and the political party with the highest vote in the last election for four-year terms);
• note - under the 2009 Constitution, all Constitutional and Supreme Court judges will be elected by popular vote

• Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Franz BARRIOS];
• Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Juan Evo MORALES Ayma];
• Movement Without Fear or MSM [Juan DEL GRANADO];
• National Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Mirta QUEVEDO];
• National Unity [Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana];
• Poder Democratico Nacional or PODEMOS [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez];
• Social Alliance [Rene JOAQUINO]

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Erika Angela DUENAS Loayza

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, San Francisco

note: as of September 2008, the US has expelled the Bolivian ambassador to the US

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Krishna URS

embassy:

Avenida Arce 2780, Casilla 425, La Paz

mailing address:

P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032

telephone:

[591] (2) 216-8000

FAX:

[591] (2) 216-8111

note: as of September 2008, the Bolivian Government has expelled the US Ambassador to Bolivia

agriculture:

40%

industry:

17%

services:

43% (2006 est.)

lowest 10%:

0.5%

highest 10%:

44.1% (2005)

general assessment:

• privatization begun in 1995;
• reliability has steadily improved;
• new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties;
• most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities;
• mobile-cellular telephone use expanding rapidly;
• fixed-line teledensity of 7 per 100 persons;
• mobile-cellular telephone density slighly exceeds 50 per 100 persons

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) (2008)

• gas 4,883 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 47 km;
• oil 2,475 km;
• refined products 1,589 km (2008)

total:

3,504 km

country comparison to the world: 50

narrow gauge:

3,504 km 1.000-m gauge (2008)

total:

62,479 km

country comparison to the world: 71

paved:

3,749 km

unpaved:

58,730 km (2004)

• Puerto Aguirre (inland port on the Paraguay/Parana waterway at the Bolivia/Brazil border);
• Bolivia has free port privileges in maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay

• 18-49 years of age for 12-month compulsory military service;
• when annual number of volunteers falls short of goal, compulsory recruitment is effected, including conscription of boys as young as 14;
• 15-19 years of age for voluntary premilitary service, provides exemption from further military service (2009)

males age 16-49:

2,295,746

females age 16-49:

2,366,828 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,666,697

females age 16-49:

1,906,396 (2009 est.)

male:

108,304

female:

104,882 (2009 est.)

• Chile and Peru rebuff Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, but Chile offers instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian natural gas and other commodities;
• an accord placed the long-disputed Isla Suarez/Ilha de Guajara-Mirim, a fluvial island on the Rio Mamore, under Bolivian administration in 1958, but sovereignty remains in dispute

• world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 29,500 hectares under cultivation in 2007, increased slightly when compared to 2006;
• third largest producer of cocaine, estimated at 120 metric tons potential pure cocaine in 2007;
• transit country for Peruvian and Colombian cocaine destined for Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Europe;
• cultivation generally increasing since 2000, despite eradication and alternative crop programs;
• weak border controls;
• some money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade;
• major cocaine consumption (2008)