Bolivia

The Republic of Bolivia is located in the central South America. The landlocked country is bordered by Brazil on the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina on the south, and Chile and Peru on the west. The constitutional capital Sucre is the seat of the Supreme Court. La Paz (16 30 S, 68 09 W) is the administrative capital. Bolivian defense force is composed of an Army, Navy and Air Force.


HISTORY:- Earlier Bolivia was known as Upper Peru. Viceroy of Lima governed the country. It was once a part of the Incan empire. The Spanish Empire overpowered the Incas in the 16th century. Majority of Indian population was stooped down to slavery. The Spanish authority shrunk. Independence movement started in 1809. After 16 years’ prolonged war, republic was announced on 6th August, 1825. Bolivia was defeated by Paraguay in the Chaco War in 1935. In the post independence period, the country witnessed a huge economic chaos.  The Nationalist Revolutionary Movement was flourished in 1951. President Víctor Paz Estenssoro was overthrown by a military coup. Hugo Banzer Suárez became the President in 1971. Under his presidency, the country regained its economy, though human rights were violated. This led the country to face a political instability. Luis García Meza Tejada became the all in all of the country by fraud in 1981. Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and Hugo Bánzer became Presidents successively. Banzer resigned due to his ill health. In 2002 elections, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada again became the President. Bolivian India-originated activist Evo Morales became the first indigenous president in the 2005 elections.

 

GEOGRAPHY:- Bolivia is situated at 17 00 S, 65 00 W in Central South America. The landlocked country captures total 1,098,580 sq km (land: 1,084,390 sq km, water: 14,190 sq km) area. The lowest point is Rio Paraguay (90 m) and the highest point is Nevado Sajama (6,542 m). Bolivia has rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau, hills, and lowland plains of the Amazon Basin. The high land plateau is called Altiplano.

 

CLIMATE:- The climate of the country varies with altitude. It ranges from humid and tropical climate to cold and semiarid climate.

 

GOVERNMENT:- Bolivia is a republican country. The constitution was adopted on 2nd February 1967 and revised in 1994. The legal system is based on the Spanish law and Napoleonic Code. The government duties are divided into three major departments:

Executive branch comprises President (chief of state, head of government), cabinet. Cabinet is appointed by the President.

Legislative branch comprises the bicameral National Congress, which in turn divided into the Chamber of Senators (27 seats) and Chamber of Deputies (130 seats).

Judicial branch comprises five levels of jurisdiction, led by the Supreme Court with a separate Constitutional Court.

Prominent political parties are Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), Social Democratic Power (PODEMOS), Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR), National Unity (UN).

Suffrage is universal and compulsory for married at 18 and for single at 21.

President  Evo Morales

Vice President  Álvaro García

 

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Bolivia is decomposed into 9 departments.

Beni (capital- Trinidad)

Chuquisaca (capital- Sucre)

Cochabamba (capital- Cochabamba)

La Paz (capital- La Paz)

Oruro (capital- Oruro)

Pando (capital- Cobija)

Potosí (capital- Potosí)

Santa Cruz (capital- Santa Cruz de la Sierra)

Tarija (capital- Tarija)

These departments are again subdivided into 100 provinces.

 

CULTURE:- Bolivian culture is a fusion of the Quechua, the Aymara, the popular cultures of Latin America. Mestizo Baroque is derived from the Spanish culture. It signifies a unique genre of architecture, painting, and sculpture. Guzmán de Rojas, Arturo Borda, María Luisa Pacheco, and Marina Núñez del Prado are the popular Bolivian artists. The country is rich in its folk dance and music. Devil dances at the Carnival of Oruro are popular among the South American nations. Football is the National sport. Table football is also very popular.

 

ECONOMY:- Bolivia is among the least developed and most impoverished countries of Latin America in spite of having rich natural resources. Political and economic tensions in early 1980s, again from 2003 to 2005 are responsible for the poor economy of Bolivia.

GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $23.73 billion; per capita $2,700.

Real growth rate: 3.4%.

Inflation: 4.9%.

Unemployment: 8% in urban areas with widespread underemployment.

Arable land: 3%.

Agriculture: soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber.

Labor force: 4.22 million; agriculture n.a., industry n.a., services n.a.

Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing.

Budget:  

Revenues: $4.1 billion

Expenditures: $5.495 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt: 46.6% of GDP (2007 est.)

Debt - external: $4.492 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Natural resources: tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower.

Exports: $2.371 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin.

Imports: $1.845 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans.

Major trading partners: Brazil, U.S. Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, China, Japan (2004).

Monetary unit: Boliviano

 

LANGUAGE:- Spanish, Quechua, Aymara are the main languages of the country. All of them are official languages.

 

CITIES:- Sucre is the constitutional, judicial capital, while La Paz is the administrative capital. Santa Cruz de la Sierra is the largest city.

Other large and important cities are El Alto, and Cochabamba.

 

POPULATION:- The estimated population of Bolivia is 9,247,816 with the growth rate of 1.3%.

Density per sq mi: 8

Literacy rate: 87% (2003 est.)

RACE:-

Quechua 30%

Mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%

Aymara 25%

White 15%

 

RELIGION:-

Roman Catholic 95%

Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5%

 

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 22.31 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 7.35 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 49.09 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 66.53 years

Total fertility rate: 2.67 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 500 (2003 est.)

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2005): 203

 

UNICEF:- In health sector, UNICEF works on sanitation, nutrition; provides free health testing for 42,000 young children and 10,000 pregnant women, undertakes immunization programmes, campaigns on HIV awareness, trains 400 doctors to treat HIV cases. In education sector, UNICEF undertakes several girl’s education programmes, establishes child friendly schools, tries to eliminate child labour and fights against sexual violence on children.

 

TRANSPORTATION:-

Railways: total: 3,519 km (2004).

Highways: total: 60,282 km; paved: 3,979 km; unpaved: 56,303 km (2002).

Waterways: 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2004).

Ports and harbors: Puerto Aguirre. Maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay.

Airports: 1,065 (2004 est.).

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