BOLIVIA
Geography People Government Economy Transportation Communications Defense Forces
BOLIVIA
@Bolivia:Geography
Location: Central South America, southwest of Brazil
Map references: South America
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BOLIVIA - MAJOR CITIES
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Latitude, Internat'l Time
Population Longitude Phone Code Zone
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LA PAZ 1,057,000 16.30S, 68.10W 591-2 GMT-4
Santa Cruz 628,000 17.45S, 63.14W 591-33 GMT-4
Cochabamba 381,000 17.26S, 66.10W 591-42 GMT-4
Oruro 196,000 17.59S, 67.08W 591-52 GMT-4
Potosi 114,000 19.34S, 65.45W 591-62 GMT-4
Sucre 96,000 19.05S, 65.15W 591-64 GMT-4
Tarija 66,000 21.33S, 64.45W 591-66 GMT-4
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Area:
total area: 1,098,580 sq km
land area: 1,084,390 sq km
comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Montana
Land boundaries: total 6,743 km, Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km,
Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none; landlocked
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
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 25%
forest and woodland: 52%
other: 20%
Irrigated land: 1,650 sq km (1989 est.)
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
@Bolivia:People
Population: 7,896,254 (July 1995 est.)
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.)
Population growth rate: 2.25% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 31.61 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 8.12 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 70.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 63.85 years
male: 61.39 years
female: 66.43 years (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)
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1992)
total population: 80%
male: 88%
female: 72%
Labor force: 3.54 million
by occupation: agriculture NA, services and utilities 20%,
manufacturing, mining and construction 7% (1993)
@Bolivia:Government
Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Bolivia
conventional short form: Bolivia
local long form: Republica de Bolivia
local short form: Bolivia
Digraph: BL
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
Legal system: based on Spanish law and Code Napoleon; 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 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)
Political parties and leaders:
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
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.)
National product real growth rate: 4.2% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $2,370 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.5% (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate: 6.2% (1994 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $3.75 billion
expenditures: $3.75 billion, including capital expenditures of $556.2
million (1995 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)
Industrial production: growth rate 5% (1994 est.)
Electricity:
capacity: 756,200 kW
production: 2.116 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 367 kWh (1994)
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
@Bolivia:Transportation
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
Airports:
total: 1,382
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 3
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
with paved runways under 914 m: 1,016
with unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 77
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 275
@Bolivia:Communications
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
@Bolivia:Defense Forces
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)
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