BOLIVIA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 1,098,580 km2; land area: 1,084,390 km2
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: arable land 3%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 25%; forest and woodland 52%; other 20%; includes irrigated
NEGL%
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: 7,156,591 (July 1991), growth rate 2.4% (1991)
Birth rate: 34 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 1 migrant/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 83 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 59 years male, 64 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 4.6 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Bolivian(s); adjective Bolivian
Ethnic divisions: Quechua 30%, Aymara 25%, mixed 25-30%,
European 5-15%
Religion: Roman Catholic 95%; active Protestant minority,
especially Evangelical Methodist
Language: Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara (all official)
Literacy: 78% (male 85%, female 71%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 1,700,000; agriculture 50%, services and utilities
26%, manufacturing 10%, mining 4%, other 10% (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, Potosi, 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 Chamber of Senators (Camara de
Senadores) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara 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 Suarez;
Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR), Gonzalo SANCHEZ de Lozada;
Christian Democratic Party (PDC), Jorge AGREDO;
Free Bolivia Movement (MBL), led by Antonio ARANIBAR;
United Left (IU), a coalition of leftist parties which includes
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 Aviles;
Revolutionary Vanguard-9th of April (VR-9), Carlos SERRATE Reich;
Civic Union Solidarity (UCS), Max FERNANDEZ
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 SANCHEZ de Lozada (MNR) 23%, Hugo BANZER Suarez
(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 1989;
Senate--last held 7 May 1989 (next to be held May 1993);
results--percent of vote NA;
seats (27 total) MNR 9, ADN 7, MIR 8, CONDEPA 2, PDC 1;
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 35, MIR 33, IU 10, CONDEPA 9,
PDC 3
Member of: AG, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD,
ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM,
ITU, LAES, LAIA, LORCS, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, 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 S. 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 since 1987, eventually restarting economic growth.
President Paz Zamora has retained the economic policies of the previous
government, keeping inflation down and continuing the moderate 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--agricultural products,
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.
GDP: $4.85 billion, per capita $690; real growth rate 2.7% (1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 18% (1990)
Unemployment rate: 21.5% (1990 est.)
Budget: revenues $2.5 billion; expenditures $2.8 billion,
including capital expenditures of $850 million (1990 est.)
Exports: $927 million (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--metals 45%, natural gas 30%, other 25%
(coffee, soybeans, sugar, cotton, timber);
partners--US 15%, Argentina
Imports: $716 million (c.i.f., 1990);
commodities--food, petroleum, consumer goods, capital goods;
partners--US 22%
External debt: $3.7 billion (December 1990)
Industrial production: growth rate 5% (1990); accounts for
almost 30% of GDP
Electricity: 833,000 kW capacity; 1,763 million kWh produced, 260
kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverage,
tobacco, handicrafts, clothing; illicit drug industry reportedly produces
significant revenues
Agriculture: accounts for about 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 51,900 hectares under cultivation;
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
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $990
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $1.7 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $340 million
Currency: boliviano (plural--bolivianos); 1 boliviano ($B) = 100
centavos
Exchange rates: bolivianos ($B) per US$1--3.3732 (December 1990),
3.1727 (1990), 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
Civil air: 56 major transport aircraft
Airports: 807 total, 659 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways;
1 with runways over 3,659 m; 8 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 120 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 (including Marines),
Bolivian Air Force, National Police Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,679,352; 1,091,368 fit for
military service; 72,979 reach military age (19) annually
Defense expenditures: $162 million, 4% of GNP (1988 est.)