| Bolivia |
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| 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 and Environmental |
Capital: 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) |
| Area Total: 1,098,580 sq km |
| Area Land: 1,084,390 sq km |
| Area Water: 14,190 sq km |
| Area Comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Montana |
| Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) |
| 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 Extremes Lowest Point: Rio Paraguay 90 m |
| Elevation Extremes Highest Point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
| Natural Resources: tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower |
| Land Use Arable Land: 2.78% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 0.19% |
| Land Use Other: 97.03% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 1,320 sq km (2003) |
| Natural Hazards: flooding in the northeast (March-April) |
| 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 |
| Geography Note: landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru |
| Population |
| Population: 9,119,152 (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 34.3% (male 1,593,509/female 1,532,155) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 61.1% (male 2,730,359/female 2,841,872) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 4.6% (male 187,123/female 234,134) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 22.2 years |
| Median Age Male: 21.5 years |
| Median Age Female: 22.9 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: 1.42% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 22.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 7.44 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.05 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.04 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 0.961 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 0.799 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 0.979 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 50.43 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 53.93 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 46.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 66.19 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 63.53 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 68.97 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 2.76 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: 0.1% (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS People Living With HIV AIDS: 4,900 (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Deaths: less than 500 (2003 est.) |
| 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 |
| Literacy Total Population: 87.2% |
| Literacy Male: 93.1% |
| Literacy Female: 81.6% (2003 est.) |
| Administrative Divisions: 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija |
| Legal System: based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| 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 ex-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 imposed significantly higher taxes on the oil and gas firms and required production firms to sign new operating contracts, which were completed in October 2006. Bolivian officials are in the process of revamping the defunct state-owned oil company and acquiring majority ownership of five gas production, transportation, refining, and storage companies. The MORALES administration plans to increase state control over other sectors as well, including mining, electricity, telecommunications, transportation, and forestry. Real GDP growth in 2003-06 - 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, and the country had a record 6% fiscal surplus for 2006. In 2005, the G8 announced a $2 billion debt-forgiveness plan over the next few decades. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank forgave a total of approximately $1.8 billion of Bolivian debt in 2006 that has helped reduce fiscal pressures on the government. |
| GDP Purchasing Power Parity: $27.21 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 3.3% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 12.8% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 36.1% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 51.2% (2006 est.) |
| Labor Force: 4.3 million (2006 est.) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA% |
| Unemployment Rate: 7.8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2006 est.) |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: 1.3%
highest 10%: 32% (1999) |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: 4.3% (2006 est.) |
| Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: 5.7% (2004 est.) |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 4.472 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 44.4% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 54% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 1.5% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 4.168 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Exports: 0 kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Imports: 9 million kWh (2004) |
| Oil Production: 42,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
| Oil Consumption: 47,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Proved Reserves: 458.8 million bbl (1 January 2002) |
| Natural Gas Production: 10.05 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 2.14 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Exports: 7.91 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Proved Reserves: 679.6 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) |
| Exports: $3.668 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin |
| Exports Partners: Brazil 44.2%, US 12.5%, Argentina 10.9%, Colombia 7.8%, Peru 4.8% (2005) |
| Imports: $2.934 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Imports Commodities: petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans |
| Imports Partners: Brazil 21.9%, Argentina 16.7%, US 13.8%, Chile 6.9%, Peru 6.5%, Japan 6.1%, China 5.8% (2005) |
| Debt External: $5.916 billion (2006 est.) |
| Economic Aid Recipient: $221 million (2005 est.) |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 646,300 (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 2.421 million (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile cellular telephone use expanding rapidly |
| Telephone System 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 |
| Telephone System International: country code - 591; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
| Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) |
| Radios: 5.25 million (1997) |
| Television Broadcast Stations: 48 (1997) |
| Televisions: 900,000 (1997) |
| Internet Service Providers-ISPs: 9 (2000) |
| Internet Users: 480,000 (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Railways Total: 3,519 km |
| Railways Narrow Gauge: 3,519 km 1.000-m gauge (2005) |
| Waterways: 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2005) |
| Airports: 1,084 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 1.9% (2006) |
| Disputes 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 |
| IllicitDrugs: 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; transit country for Peruvian and Colombian cocaine destined for Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Europe; cultivation steadily increasing despite eradication and alternative crop programs; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay; major cocaine consumption |