Bolivia is a country of South America. Located in the interior of the continent and crossed by the Andes mountain range, it has an area of 1,098,580 km 2 . It borders Brazil, to the north and east; Paraguay, to the southeast; Argentina, to the south; and Chile and Peru, to the west. The main cities in Bolivia are La Paz, the capital, with 850 000 residents (2004), Santa Cruz (1 196 100 residents) (2004), Cochabamba (834 900 residents) (2004), El Alto (745 600 residents) .), Oruro (216 600 residents) And Sucre (209 000 residents) (2004).
La Paz is located on the plateau, southeast of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake on the globe, shared with Peru. The lowlands and 70% of the Bolivian territory are scattered to the east. In addition to the foothills of the Andes, the northern tropical forests provide wood such as cedar, mahogany, chestnut and Brazil nuts. Only 3% of the land is arable. The remaining lowlands are made up of savannas and vast natural pastures, covered by large herds of cattle, much of which remains wild. Between the plateau and the plains there are fertile valleys, the Yungas, with a subtropical climate, where farmers produce different crops.
Climate
In the lower and eastern part of the country, the climate is humid tropical. In the mountainous area of the Andes, the altitude eases the temperature and causes greater differences in precipitation values.
Economy
Bolivia’s economy is largely based on the exploitation of mining and energy resources. Among these resources, the most important are natural gas, tin, antimony, tungsten and silver.
Agriculture is practiced by the majority of the rural population and its main productions are sugar cane, corn and potatoes. Political instability, combined with falling prices for some ores, contributes to the country’s economic difficulties. Bolivia’s main trading partners are the USA, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Peru.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide emissions, per capita (metric tons, 1999), is 1.4.
Population
Bolivia has a population of 8,989,046 residents (est. 2006), which corresponds to a density of 8 residents/km2. The birth and death rates are, respectively, 23.3% and 7.53%. Average life expectancy is 65.84 years. The value of the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.672 and the value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) is 0.663 (2001). It is estimated that in 2025 the population will be 11 370 000 residents. In terms of ethnic composition, Indians represent 55% of the total population, followed by mestizos (30%) and whites (15%). The Catholic religion is practiced by about 90% of Bolivians. The official languages are Castilian and the Aymara and Quechua Indian languages.
Art and Culture
Bolivian culture results from the mixture of Indian and Spanish cultures. They appear in the rites of the feast days, in the women’s long dresses and colorful shawls and in the palla-palla dances, imitations of the European invasion.
History
Bolivia was part of the Inca Empire until Spanish colonization in the 16th century. The Spaniards occupied the territory, seized the lands of the Indians by force and forced them to work as slaves in the silver mines. After independence in 1825, Bolivia’s history would almost always be marked by insurrections and instability. Bolivians have lost more than half of their territory to the most powerful neighboring countries. It became a continental country after losing the Pacific coast in the War of the Pacific (1879-84), and only through an agreement with Peru in 1993 did it guarantee access to the Pacific Ocean. It ran out of valuable nitrate deposits and the port of Antofagasta in the Pacific, and also lost the eastern Chaco plains, which was annexed by Paraguay in the Chaco War (1932-35). For Bolivia democracy and rights, please check localbusinessexplorer.
In 1952, when the National Revolution took place, universal suffrage was introduced for the first time in the history of Bolivia. The Indians benefited from the nationalization of the tin industry, until then in the hands of three large companies, two of them foreign, and from the agrarian reform that gave them some emancipation. Even so, it did not arrive to change the impoverished face of the country. There is a lack of foreign investment in the country, in addition to corruption and political instability with successive coups d’état.
Countryaah.com: Offers a full list of airports in the country of Bolivia, sorted by city location and acronyms.
Abbreviationfinder.org: Provides most commonly used abbreviations and initials containing the country name of Bolivia. Listed by popularity.
1UpTravel.com – Maps of Bolivia
Browse a collection of political and shaded relief maps of Bolivia, a central South American country, southwest of Brazil. Check out the La Paz city map.
