Country Profile Bolivia

06-29-12 by Emmanuel Besserve


Country Profile Bolivia South America

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.

• Capital:  La Paz
• Population: 10,290,003 (July 2011 est.)
• Currency: Boliviano (BOB)
• Language:  Spanish (official),Quechua (official),Aymara (official), English
• Time zone:  UTC-4
• Government:  Republic
• Chief of State: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma
• Country Dialing Code: +591
• Emergency numbers:  110 to contact the police 118 for medical assistance
• Voltage: 220V but can find some areas with 110V

Detailed country profile

ECONOMY

GDP real growth rate:

• 5.1% (2011 est.)
• 4.1% (2010 est.)
• 3.4% (2009 est.)
• 5.6% (2008 est.)
• 4.6% (2007 est.)
• 4.8% (2006 est.)

GDP Composition by sector (2011)

• Agriculture: 10%
• Industry: 40%
• Services: 50%  

Labor force by occupation (2006):

• Agriculture: 40%
• Industry: 17%
• Services: 43%

Agriculture products:

• Soybeans
• Coffee
• Cocoa
• Cotton
• Corn
• Sugarcane
• Rice
• Potatoes
• Timber

Industries:

• Mining
• Smelting
• Petroleum
• Food and beverages
• Tobacco
• Handicrafts
• Clothing

Exports:

• $9.109 billion (2011 est.)
• $7.038 billion (2010 est.)

Export Commodities

• Natural gas
• Soybeans and soy products
• Crude petroleum
• Zinc ore
• Tin

Export Partners (2009):

• Brazil 43.5%
• US 12.3%
• Peru 6.8%
• Colombia 5.5%
• Japan 5.1%
• Argentina 4.8% 

Imports:

• $7.613 billion (2011 est.)
• $5.393 billion (2010 est.)

Import commodities:

• Petroleum products
• Plastics
• Paper
• Aircraft and aircraft parts
• Prepared foods
• Automobiles
• Insecticides
• Soybeans

Import partners (2009):

• Brazil 27.4%
• Argentina 17.3%
• US 11.9%
• Peru 9.6%
• Chile 7.8%
• China 4.1%

Ports and Terminal:

Puerto Aguirre (inland port on the Paraguay/Parana waterway at the Bolivia/Brazil border)

Bolivia has free port privileges in maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay

Unemployment rate:

• 5.5% (2011 est.)
• 5.7% (2010 est.)

GOVERNMENT

Government Type:Republic

Executive Branch:

Chief of state: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006) Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006)
note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 6 December 2009 (next to be held in 2014)

Legal system:

Based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

GEOGRAPHY

Land Boundaries:total: 6,940 km

Border countries:

• Argentina 832 km
• Brazil 3,423 km
• Chile 860 km
• Paraguay 750 km
• Peru 1,075 km

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
• Highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m

Natural resources:

• Tin
• Natural gas
• Petroleum
• Zinc
• Tungsten
• Antimony
• Silver
• Iron
• Lead
• Gold
• Timber
• Hydropower

Environment and international agreement:

Party to:

• Biodiversity
• Climate Change
• Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
• Desertification
• Endangered Species
• Hazardous Wastes
• Law of the Sea
• Marine Dumping
• Ozone Layer Protection
• Ship Pollution
• Tropical Timber 83
• Tropical Timber 94
• Wetlands

Signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification and Marine Life Conservation

Environment and 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

PEOPLE

Ethnic groups:

• Quechua 30%
• Mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%
• Aymara 25%
• White 15%

Languages:

• Spanish 60.7% (official)
• Quechua 21.2% (official)
• Aymara 14.6% (official)
• Foreign languages 2.4%
• Other 1.2% (2001 census)

Religion:

• Roman Catholic 95%
• Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5%

HISTORY

Express History

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.

Source: The world factbook www.cia.gov

FEATURED NEWS

The 2012-2013 Economic Competitiveness in Latin America - INFOGRAPHIC		Colombia's economic potential, the darling of investors in Latin America - VIDEO		Brazil Boosts Sustainable Tourism		Financial and Commercial Barriers Hold Back the Mexican Wine Industry

commentary system: Disqus