Bolivia's government is a republic. The Congreso Nacional (National Congress) has two chambers. The Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies) has 130 members elected to five-year terms, seventy from single-member districts (circunscripciones) and sixty by proportional representation. The Cámara de Senadores (Chamber of Senators) has twenty-seven members (three per department), elected to five-year terms.

Bolivia has had a total of 193 coups d'etat from independence until 1981, thereby averaging a change of government once every ten months. Credit for the past quarter century of relative political stability is largely attributed to President Víctor Paz Estenssoro, who ceded power peacefully after cutting hyperinflation which reached as high as 14,000 percent.^[8]

Military

The Bolivian military comprises three branches: an Army, Navy and Air Force. The legal age for voluntary admissions is 18; however, when the numbers are small the government recruits anyone as young as 14^[9]. It is estimated that 20% of the Bolivian army is between the ages 14 and 16 while another 20% is from 16 to 18. The tour of duty is generally 12 months. The Bolivian government annually spends $130 million on defense.^[10]

Departments and provinces

Main articles: Departments of Bolivia, Provinces of Bolivia, Municipalities of Bolivia, and Cantons of Bolivia

Bolivia is divided into nine departments (departamentos); capitals in parentheses:

• Beni (Trinidad)
• Chuquisaca (Sucre)
• Cochabamba (Cochabamba)
• La Paz (La Paz)
• Oruro (Oruro)
• Pando (Cobija)
• Potosí (Potosí)
• Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz de la Sierra)
• Tarija (Tarija)

Additionally, the departments are further divided into 100 provinces (provincias), and the provinces are each divided into municipalities (municipios) and cantons (cantones), which handle local affairs.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Bolivia

At 1,098,580 km² (424,135 mi²), Bolivia is the world's 28th-largest country (after Ethiopia). It is comparable in size to Mauritania, and it has about 1.5 times the area of the US state of Texas. ^[11]

Bolivia has been a landlocked nation since 1879, when it lost its coastal department of Litoral to Chile in the War of the Pacific. However, it does have access to the Atlantic via the Paraguay River.

An enormous diversity of ecological zones are represented within Bolivia's territory. The western highlands of the country are situated in the Andes Mountains and include the Bolivian Altiplano. The eastern lowlands include large sections of Amazonian rainforests and Chaco. The highest peak is Nevado Sajama at 6,542 metres (21,463 ft) located in the department of Oruro. Lake Titicaca is located on the border between Bolivia and Peru. The Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat, lies in the southwest corner of the country, in the department of Potosí.

Major cities are La Paz, El Alto, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and Cochabamba.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Bolivia

Bolivia is the poorest country in South America.^{[citation needed]} The country is rich in natural resources, and has been called a "donkey sitting on a gold-mine" because of this.

Bolivia's 2002 gross domestic product (GDP) totaled USD $7.9 billion. Economic growth is about 2.5% a year, and inflation was expected to be between 3% and 4% in 2002 (it was under 2% in 2001).

Bolivia’s current lackluster economic situation can be linked to several factors from the past three decades. The first major blow to the Bolivian economy came with a dramatic fall in the price of tin during the early 1980s, which impacted one of Bolivia’s main sources of income and one of its major mining-industries.^[12] The second major economic blow came at the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s and early 1990s as economic aid was withdrawn by western countries who had previously tried to keep a market-liberal regime in power through financial support.

Since 1985, the government of Bolivia has implemented a far-reaching program of macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform aimed at maintaining price-stability, creating conditions for sustained growth, and alleviating scarcity. A major reform of the customs-service in recent years has significantly improved transparency in this area. The most important structural changes in the Bolivian economy have involved the capitalization of numerous public-sector enterprises.^{[citation needed]}

Parallel legislative reforms have locked into place market-liberal policies, especially in the hydrocarbon- and telecommunication-sectors, that have encouraged private investment. Foreign investors are accorded national treatment, and foreign ownership of companies enjoys virtually no restrictions in Bolivia.

The government has a long-term sales-agreement to sell natural gas to Brazil through 2019. The government expects to hold a binding referendum in 2004 on plans to export natural gas.

In April 2000, Bechtel signed a contract with Hugo Banzer, the former president of Bolivia, to privatize the water-supply in Bolivia's third-largest city, Cochabamba. Shortly thereafter, the company tripled the water-rates in that city, an action which resulted in protests and rioting among those who could no longer afford clean water. Drawing water from community wells or gathering rainwater was made illegal. ^[13][14] Amidst Bolivia's nationwide economic collapse and growing national unrest over the state of the economy, the Bolivian government was forced to withdraw the water contract.

Bolivian exports were $1.3 billion in 2002, from a low of $652 million in 1991. imports were $1.7 billion in 2002. Bolivian tariffs are a uniformly low 10%, with capital equipment charged only 5%. Bolivia's trade-deficit was $460 million in 2002.

Bolivia's trade with neighboring countries is growing, in part because of several regional preferential trade-agreements it has negotiated. Bolivia is a member of the Andean Community and enjoys nominally free trade with other member countries.

The United States remains Bolivia's largest trading-partner. In 2002, the United States exported $283 million of merchandise to Bolivia and imported $162 million.

Agriculture accounts for roughly 15% of Bolivia's GDP. Soybeans are the major cash crop, sold into the Andean Community market.

Bolivia's government remains heavily dependent on foreign assistance to finance development-projects. At the end of 2002, the government owed $4.5 billion to its foreign creditors, with $1.6 billion of this amount owed to other governments and most of the balance owed to multilateral development-banks. Most payments to other governments have been rescheduled on several occasions since 1987 through the Paris Club mechanism. External creditors have been willing to do this because the Bolivian government has generally achieved the monetary and fiscal targets set by IMF programs since 1987, though economic crises in recent years have undercut Bolivia's normally good record. The rescheduling of agreements granted by the Paris Club has allowed the individual creditor-countries to apply very soft terms to the rescheduled debt. As a result, some countries have forgiven substantial amounts of Bolivia's bilateral debt. The U.S. government reached an agreement at the Paris Club meeting in December 1995 that reduced by 67% Bolivia's existing debt-stock. The Bolivian government continues to pay its debts to the multilateral development banks on time. Bolivia is a beneficiary of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Enhanced HIPC debt-relief-programs, which by agreement restricts Bolivia's access to new soft loans.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Bolivia

Bolivia's ethnic distribution is estimated to be 30% Quechua-speaking and 25% Aymara-speaking Amerindians. The largest of the approximately three-dozen native groups are the Quechuas (2.5 million), Aymaras (2 million), then Chiquitano (180,000), and Guaraní (125,000). So the full Amerindian population is at 55% and the remaining 30% is Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) and around 15% are Whites.^[15]

The white population consists mostly of criollos, which in turn consist of families of relatively unmixed Spanish ancestry, descended from the early Spanish colonists. These have formed much of the aristocracy since independence. Other smaller groups within the white population are Germans who founded the national airline Lloyd Aereo Boliviano, as well as Italian, American, Basque, Croatian, Russian, Polish and other minorities, many of whose members descend from families that have lived in Bolivia for several generations.

Also noteworthy is the Afro-Bolivian community that numbers more than 0.5% of the population, descended from African slaves that were transported to work in Brazil and then migrated westward into Bolivia. They are mostly concentrated in the Yungas region (Nor Yungas and Sud Yungas provinces) in the department of La Paz, some three hours from La Paz city. There are also Japanese who are concentrated mostly in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and Middle Easterners who became prosperous in commerce.

Bolivia is one of the least developed countries in South America. Almost two-thirds of its people, many of whom are subsistence farmers, live in poverty. Population-density ranges from less than one person per square kilometer in the southeastern plains to about ten per square kilometer (twenty-five per sq. mi) in the central highlands. As of 2006, the population is increasing about 1.45% per year.^[16]

The great majority of Bolivians are Roman Catholic (the official religion), although Protestant denominations are expanding strongly.^[16] According to a 2001 survey conducted by the National Statistical Institute, 78 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, 16 percent is Protestant and 3 percent follow other religions of Christian origin.[1] Islam practiced by the descendants of Middle Easterners is almost nonexistent. There is also a small Jewish community that is almost all Ashkenazi in origin. More than 1% of Bolivians practice the Bahá'í Faith (giving Bolivia one of the largest percentages of Bahá'ís in the world).

There are colonies of Mennonites in the department of Santa Cruz.^[17] Many Native communities interweave pre-Columbian and Christian symbols in their worship. About 80% of the people speak Spanish as their first language, although the Aymara and Quechua languages are also common. Approximately 90% of the children attend primary-school but often for a year or less. The literacy-rate is low in many rural areas, but, according to the CIA, the literacy-rate is 87% nationwide, a rate similar to Brazil's, but below the South American average.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Bolivia

See also: Music of Bolivia and Public holidays in Bolivia

Bolivian culture has been heavily influenced by the Quechua, the Aymara, as well as by the popular cultures of Latin America as a whole.

The cultural development of what is present-day Bolivia is divided into three distinct periods: pre-Columbian, colonial, and republican. Important archaeological ruins, gold and silver ornaments, stone monuments, ceramics, and weavings remain from several important pre-Columbian cultures. Major ruins include Tiwanaku, Samaipata, Incallajta, and Iskanawaya. The country abounds in other sites that are difficult to reach and have seen little archaeological exploration.^[16]

The Spanish brought their own tradition of religious art which, in the hands of local native and mestizo builders and artisans, developed into a rich and distinctive style of architecture, painting, and sculpture known as "Mestizo Baroque". The colonial period produced not only the paintings of Pérez de Holguín, Flores, Bitti, and others but also the works of skilled but unknown stonecutters, woodcarvers, goldsmiths, and silversmiths. An important body of native baroque religious music of the colonial period was recovered in recent years and has been performed internationally to wide acclaim since 1994.^[16]

Bolivian artists of stature in the twentieth century include Guzmán de Rojas, Arturo Borda, María Luisa Pacheco, and Marina Núñez del Prado.

Bolivia has a rich folklore. Its regional folk music is distinctive and varied. The "devil dances" at the annual carnival of Oruro are one of the great folkloric events of South America, as is the lesser known carnival at Tarabuco.^[16]

The best known of the various festivals found in the country is the "Carnaval de Oruro", which was among the first 19 "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity," as proclaimed by the UNESCO in May of 2001.

Entertainment includes football, which is the national sport, as well as table football, which is played on street-corners by both children and adults.

References

Further reading

• Brusco, Elizabeth 1995 Reformation of Machismo: Evangelical Conversion and Gender in Colombia. Austin: University of Texas Press.
• Batalla, Guiellermo Bonfil 1996 México Profundo: Reclaiming a Civilization. Austin: University of Texas Press.
• Burdick, John 1993 Looking for God in Brazil: The Progressive Catholic Church in Urban Brazil’s Religious Arena. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Corten, André 1999 Pentecostalism in Brazil: Emotion of the Poor and Theological Romanticism. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
• Gill, Lesley 1990 “Like a Veil to Cover Them”: Women and the Pentecostal Movement in La Paz. American Ethnologist 17(4): 708-721.
• Gill, Lesley 2000 Teetering on the Rim: Global Restructuring, Daily Life, and the Armed Retreat of the Bolivian State. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Kray, Christine A.2002 The Pentecostal Re-Formation of Self: Opting for Orthodoxy in Yucatan. Ethos. 29(4):395-429.
• Martin, David.1990 Tongues of Fire: The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Morales, Waltraud Queiser 1992 Bolivia: Land of Struggle. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Stoll, David 1990 Is Latin America Turning Protestant? The Politics of Evangelical Growth. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Weber, Max 1930 [1984] The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Trans. Talcott Preston. London:Counterpoint.

External links

Find more about Bolivia on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Dictionary definitions
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Government

• Agencia Para el Desarrollo de la Sociedad de la Informacion en Bolivia Agency for the Development of the Society of Information in Bolivia. Official web portal of the Bolivian Government.
• Presidencia de la Republica de Bolivia Office of the President of the Republic of Bolivia.
• Vicepresidencia de la Republica de Bolivia, Presidencia del Congreso Nacional Web portal of the Office of the Vice-President of the Republic of Bolivia, President of the Senate and President of the Commission of Congress.
• Poder Judicial de la Republica de Bolivia Web portal of the Bolivian Judicial Branch, which includes the Supreme Court of Bolivia, Constitutional Court, Agrarian Tribunal, Superior Courts and Judicial Council.
• Congreso Nacional de la Republica de Bolivia Web portal of the Bolivian National Congress, which includes the Presidency of the National Congress, the National Senate and the House of Representatives.
• Corte Nacional Electoral Web portal of the National Electoral Court of Bolivia. Electoral Organism of Bolivia.
• Asamblea Constituyente de la Republica de Bolivia Web portal of the Constituent Assembly of Bolivia.
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Web portal of the Statistics National Institute of Bolivia.

General information

• Public Opinion in Bolivia
• Election Tracker-Bolivia
• Bolivia-Online.net Information about Bolivia
• Encyclopaedia Britannica - Bolivia's Country Page
• Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Bolivia
• The Spitting Llama Bookstore Maps and Books on Bolivia
• Bolivia Information Forum - news and background information
• Annotated map of Bolivia

Military

• Ministerio de Defensa de Bolivia Ministry of Defense.
• Ejercito

Native culture

• 'Coca is a way of life' (The Guardian's article)
• Project to strengthen the culture and the self reliance of the indigenous tribes of the Yuracaré and Trinitario

Health

• Virtual Library of Public Health

Geographic locale
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International membership
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