Bolivia
_Bolivia.jpg)
See regional map IV
Geography
Total area: 1,098,580 km²; land area:
1,084,390km²
Comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Montana
Land boundaries: 6,743 km total; Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km
Coastline: none—landlocked
Maritime claims: none—landlocked
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: high plateau, hills, lowland plains
Natural resources: tin, natural gas, crude oil, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron ore, lead, gold, timber
Land use: 3% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 25% meadows and pastures; 52% forest and woodland; 20% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: cold, thin air of high plateau is obstacle to efficient fuel combustion; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Note: landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Peru
People
Population: 6,706,854 (July 1990), growth
rate 2.1% (1990)
Birth rate: 35 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 13 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 125 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 52 years male, 56 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 4.7 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Bolivian(s); adjective—Bolivian
Ethnic divisions: 30% Quechua, 25% Aymara, 25-30% mixed, 5-15% European
Religion: 95% Roman Catholic; active Protestant minority, especially Evangelical Methodist
Language: Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara (all official)
Literacy: 63%
Labor force: 1,700,000; 50% agriculture, 26% services and utilities, 10% manufacturing, 4% mining, 10% other (1983)
Organized labor: 150,000-200,000, concentrated in mining, industry, construction, and transportation; mostly organized under Bolivian Workers' Central (COB) labor federation
Government
Long-form name: Republic of Bolivia
Type: republic
Capital: La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital and seat of judiciary)
Administrative divisions: 9 departments (departamentos, singular—departamento); Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, El Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosí, Santa Cruz, Tarija
Independence: 6 August 1825 (from Spain)
Constitution: 2 February 1967
Legal system: based on Spanish law and Code Napoleon; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 6 August (1825)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government—President Jaime PAZ Zamora (since 6 August 1989); Vice President Luis OSSIO Sanjines (since 6 August 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), Jaime Paz Zamora; Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN), Hugo Banzer Suárez; Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR), Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada; United Left (IU), coalition of leftist parties which includes Free Bolivia Movement (MBL), led by Antonio Aranibar, Patriotic National Convergency Axis (EJE-P) led by Walter Delgadillo, and Bolivian Communist Party (PCB) led by Humberto Ramirez; Conscience of the Fatherland (CONDEPA), Carlos Palenque Avilés; Revolutionary Vanguard-9th of April (VR-9), Carlos Serrate Reich
Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18 (married) or 21 (single)
Elections: President—last held 7 May 1989 (next to be held May 1993); results—Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (MNR) 23%, Hugo Banzer Suárez (ADN) 22%, Jaime Paz Zamora (MIR) 19%; no candidate received a majority of the popular vote; Jaime Paz Zamora (MIR) formed a coalition with Hugo Banzer (ADN); with ADN support Paz Zamora won the congressional runoff election on 4 August and was inaugurated on 6 August;
Senate—last held 7 May 1989 (next to be held May 1993); results—percent of vote NA; seats (27 total) MNR 9, ADN 8, MIR 8, CONDEPA 2;
Chamber of Deputies—last held 7 May 1989 (next to be held May 1993); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(130 total) MNR 40, ADN 38, MIR 30, IU 10, CONDEPA 9, VR-9 3
Member of: FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IATP, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, LAIA, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jorge CRESPO; Chancery at 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 483-4410 through 4412; there are Bolivian Consulates General in Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco; US—Ambassador Robert GELBARD; Embassy at Banco Popular del Peru Building, corner of Calles Mercado y Colon, La Paz (mailing address is P. O. Box 425, La Paz, or APO Miami 34032); telephone [591](2) 350251 or 350120
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: The Bolivian economy steadily
deteriorated between 1980 and 1985 as La
Paz financed growing budget deficits by
expanding the money supply and inflation
spiraled—peaking at 11,700%. An austere
orthodox economic program adopted by
newly elected President Paz Estenssoro in
1985, however, succeeded in reducing
inflation to between 10% and 20% annually
during 1987 and 1989, eventually restarting
economic growth. President Paz
Zamora has pledged to retain the economic
policies of the previous government in
order to keep inflation down and continue
the growth begun under his predecessor.
Nevertheless, Bolivia continues to be one
of the poorest countries in Latin America,
and it remains vulnerable to price fluctuations
for its limited exports mainly
minerals and natural gas. Moreover, for many
farmers, who constitute half of the
country's work force, the main cash crop
is coca, which is sold for cocaine
processing.
GNP: $4.6 billion, per capita $660; real growth rate 2.8% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 15.5% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 20.7% (1988)
Budget: revenues $2,867 million; expenditures $2,867 million, including capital expenditures of $663 million (1987)
Exports: $634 million (f.o.b., 1989); commodities—metals 45%, natural gas 32%, coffee, soybeans, sugar, cotton, timber, and illicit drugs; partners—US 23%, Argentina
Imports: $786 million (c.i.f., 1989); commodities—food, petroleum, consumer goods, capital goods; partners—US 15% External debt: $5.7 billion (December 1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 8.1% (1987)
Electricity: 817,000 kW capacity; 1,728 million kWh produced, 260 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverage, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing; illicit drug industry reportedly produces the largest revenues
Agriculture: accounts for 20% 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 54,000 hectares under cultivation; government considers all but 12,000 hectares illicit and subject to eradication; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported to or through Colombia and Brazil to the US and other international drug markets
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $909 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.4 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $340 million
Currency: boliviano (plural—bolivianos); 1 boliviano ($B) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: bolivianos ($B) per US$1—2.6917 (1989), 2.3502 (1988), 2.0549 (1987), 1.9220 (1986), 0.4400 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Railroads: 3,675 km total; 3,643 km
1.000-meter gauge and 32 km
0.760-meter gauge, all government owned,
single track
Highways: 38,836 km total; 1,300 km paved, 6,700 km gravel, 30,836 km improved and unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 10,000 km of commercially navigable waterways
Pipelines: crude oil 1,800 km; refined products 580 km; natural gas 1,495 km
Ports: none; maritime outlets are Arica and Antofagasta in Chile and Matarani in Peru
Merchant marine: 2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 14,051 GRT/22,155 DWT; note—1 is owned by the Bolivian Navy
Civil air: 56 major transport aircraft
Airports: 636 total, 551 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 8 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 110 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: radio relay system being expanded; improved international services; 144,300 telephones; stations—129 AM, no FM, 43 TV, 68 shortwave; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
Defense Forces
Branches: Bolivian Army, Bolivian Navy,
Bolivian Air Force (literally, the Army of
the Nation, the Navy of the Nation, the
Air Force of the Nation)
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,629,154; 1,060,187 fit for military service; 70,528 reach military age (19) annually
Defense expenditures: 3% of GNP (1987)