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Bolivia
Capital: Sucre (Constitutional Capital) 835.167, La Paz (Political Capital) 247.259 (2006)
Location: 16º 29' S 68º 02' O
Largest city: Santa Cruz de la Sierra(2006)
Official languages: Spanish, Quechua, Aimara, tupí-guaraní
Government: Republic
Independence from the Spain Date: Started May 25th of 1809
Area: 27º in the World
Total: 1.098.581 km2
Water (%): 1,4%
Borders: 6.743 km
Population: 9.627.269.(2006)
Density: 8,76 hab/km2
GDP (PPP) : Bs. 25.935,070 millons (2005)
HDI (2003) : 0.692 (115º) – average
Internet TLD: .bo (nic-bo)
Calling code: +591
Member of: UN, OBESI, OEA, CSN, CAN, Mercosur, ALADI, ALBA, WTO, FLAR, SELA, TCP, G20.
About Bolivia
Bolivia, officially the Republic of Bolivia (Spanish: “República de Bolivia”), named after Simón Bolívar, is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil on the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina on the south, and Chile and Peru on the west.
The History of Bolivia
Colonial period
The territory now known as Bolivia was called "Upper Peru" or "Charcas" and was under the authority of the Viceroy of Lima. Local government came from the Audiencia de Charcas located in Chuquisaca (La Plata — modern Sucre). Bolivian silver mines produced much of the Spanish empire's wealth. A steady stream of enslaved natives served as labor force. As Spanish royal authority weakened during the Napoleonic wars, sentiment against colonial rule grew.
Independence was proclaimed in 1809, but sixteen years of struggle followed before the establishment of the republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on August 6, 1825 (see Bolivian War of Independence).
In 1836, Bolivia, under the rule of Marshal Andres de Santa Cruz, invaded Peru to reinstall the deposed president, General Luis Orbegoso. Peru and Bolivia formed the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, with de Santa Cruz as the Supreme Protector. Following tensions between the Confederation and Chile, war was declared by Chile on December 28, 1836. Argentina, Chile's ally, declared war on the Confederation on May 9, 1837. The Peruvian-Bolivian forces achieved several major victories; the defeat of the Argentinian expedition, and the defeat of the first Chilean expedition, on the fields of Paucarpata, near the city of Arequipa. On the same field the Paucarpata Treaty was signed with the unconditional surrender of the Chilean and Peruvian rebel army. The treaty assured the Chilean withdrawal from Peru-Bolivia, the return of captured Confederate ships, normalized economic relations, and the payment of Peruvian debt to Chile by the Confederation. Public outrage over the treaty forced the government to reject it. The Chileans organized a second expeditionary force, and attacked the Peru-Bolivian confederation, defeating the Confederation on the fields of Yungay using the same arms and equipment Santa Cruz had allowed them to retain. After this defeat, Santa Cruz fled Ecuador, and the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation was dissolved.
Following the independence of Peru, General Gamarra, the Peruvian president, invaded Bolivia in an attempt to reunify the two countries, under the Peruvian flag. The Peruvian army was decisively defeated at the Battle of Ingaví on November 20, 1841, where General Gamarra himself was killed. The Bolivian army under General José Ballivián then mounted a counter-offensive managing to capture the Peruvian port of Arica. Later, both sides signed a peace in 1842 putting a final end to the war.
Due to a period of political and economic instability in the early to middle nineteenth century, Bolivia's weakness was demonstrated during the War of the Pacific (1879–83), during which it lost its access to the sea, and the adjoining rich nitrate fields, together with the port of Antofagasta, to Chile. Since independence, Bolivia has lost over half of its territory to neighboring countries due to wars. Bolivia also lost the state of Acre (known for its production of rubber) when Brazil persuaded the state of Acre to secede from Bolivia in 1903 (see the Treaty of Petrópolis).
An increase in the world price of silver brought Bolivia a measure of relative prosperity and political stability in the late 1800s. During the early part of the twentieth century, tin replaced silver as the country's most important source of wealth. A succession of governments controlled by the economic and social elite followed laissez-faire capitalist policies through the first thirty years of the twentieth century.
Living conditions of the native people, who constituted most of the population, remained deplorable. Forced to work under primitive conditions in the mines and in nearly feudal status on large estates, they were denied access to education, economic opportunity, or political participation. Bolivia's defeat by Paraguay in the Chaco War (1932–35) marked a turning point.
Political System of the Republic of Bolivia
The 1967 constitution, amended in 1994, provides for balanced executive, legislative, and judicial powers. The traditionally strong executive, however, tends to overshadow the Congress, whose role is generally limited to debating and approving legislation initiated by the executive. The judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court and departmental and lower courts, has long been riddled with corruption and inefficiency. Through revisions to the constitution in 1994, and subsequent laws, the government has initiated potentially far-reaching reforms in the judicial system and processes.
Bolivia's nine departments received greater autonomy under the Administrative Decentralization law of 1995. Departmental autonomy further increased with the first popular elections for departmental governors (prefectos) on 18 December 2005, after long protests by pro-autonomy-leader department of Santa Cruz. Bolivian cities and towns are governed by directly elected mayors and councils. Municipal elections were held on 5 December 2004, with councils elected to five-year terms. The Popular Participation Law of April 1994, which distributes a significant portion of national revenues to municipalities for discretionary use, has enabled previously neglected communities to make striking improvements in their facilities and services. The president is elected to a five-year term by popular vote.
Legislative branch: 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.
According to Guinness World Records, Bolivia's total of 192 coups d'etat during its history is greater than any other country.
Administrative divisions 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, each department is further divided into provinces (provincias), cantons (cantones), and municipalities (municipalidades), which handle local affairs.
Geography of Bolivia
At 424,135 mi² (1,098,580 km² [2]), Bolivia is the world's 28th-largest country (after Ethiopia). It is comparable in size to Mauritania, and is half as large as the US state of Texas.
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 includes 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 of Bolivia
Bolivia is rich in natural resources, and has been called a "donkey sitting on a gold mine" because of this. Apart from famous mines, which were known by the Incas and later exploited by the Spaniards, Bolivia owns the second largest natural gas field of South America after Venezuela. Furthermore, El Mutún in the Santa Cruz department represents 70% of the world's iron and magnesium.
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 1% in 2001).
Bolivia’s current lackluster economic situation can be linked to several factors from the past two decades. The first major blow to the Bolivian economy came with a dramatic fall in silver prices during the early 1980s which impacted one of Bolivia’s main sources of income and one of its major mining industries. The second major economic blow came from 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. (Capitalization in the Bolivian context is a form of privatization where investors acquire a 50% share and management control of public enterprises by agreeing to invest directly into the enterprise over several years rather than paying cash to the government).
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. While the capitalization program was successful in vastly boosting foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bolivia ($1.7 billion in stock during 1996-2002), FDI flows have subsided in recent years as investors complete their capitalization contract obligations.
In 1996, three units of the Bolivian state oil corporation (YPFB) involved in hydrocarbon exploration, production, and transportation were capitalized, facilitating the construction of a gas pipeline to Brazil. The government has a long-term sales agreement to sell natural gas to Brazil through 2019. The Brazil pipeline carried about 12 million cubic metres (424 million cu. ft) per day in 2002. Bolivia has the second-largest natural gas reserves in South America, and its current domestic use and exports to Brazil account for just a small portion of its potential production. The government expects to hold a binding referendum in 2004 on plans to export natural gas. Widespread opposition to exporting gas through Chile touched off protests that led to the resignation of President Sánchez de Lozada in October 2003.
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 (Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.) Bolivia began to implement an association agreement with Mercosur (Southern Cone Common Market) in March 1997. The agreement provides for the gradual creation of a free trade area covering at least 80% of the trade between the parties over a 10-year period, though economic crises in the region have derailed progress at integration. The U.S. Andean Trade Preference and Drug Enforcement Act (ATPDEA) allows numerous Bolivian products to enter the United States free of duty on a unilateral basis, including alpaca and llama products and, subject to a quota, cotton textiles.
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. Bolivia's major exports to the United States are tin, gold, jewelry, and wood products. Its major imports from the United States are computers, vehicles, wheat, and machinery. A Bilateral Investment Treaty between the United States and Bolivia came into effect in 2001.
Agriculture accounts for roughly 15% of Bolivia's GDP. The amount of land cultivated by modern farming techniques is increasing rapidly in the Santa Cruz area, where weather allows for two crops a year. Soybeans are the major cash crop, sold into the Andean Community market. The extraction of minerals and hydrocarbons accounts for another 10% of GDP and manufacturing less than 17%.
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. Rescheduling 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 debted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Enhanced HIPC debt relief programs, which by agreement restricts Bolivia's access to new soft loans. Bolivia was one of three countries in the Western Hemisphere selected for eligibility for the Millennium Challenge Account and is participating as an observer in FTA negotiations.
In 2004, the government gave great importance to the development of port facilities at Puerto Busch on the Paraguay river. Further north in Puerto Suarez and Puerto Aguirre, which are connected to the Paraguay river via the canal tamengo, which passes through Brazil, mid-size container ships traverse. As of 2004 about half of Bolivia's exports leave via the Paraguay river. When Puerto Busch is finished, larger ocean-going ships will be able to dock in Bolivia. This will greatly increase Bolivia's competitiveness, in that they will have a reduced need for foreign ports, such as those in Peru and Chile, which adds to the price of exports and imports. Tobacco is produced by Bolivian farmers – in 1992, over 1,000 million tons – but even more is imported to satisfy domestic demand.
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). The remaining 30% is Mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian), and around 15% is classified as white.
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 down south to 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.
Religion of Bolivia
The great majority of Bolivians are Roman Catholic (the official religion), although Protestant denominations are expanding strongly. 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. 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 CIA the literacy rate is 87% nation wide, similar to Brazil's literacy rate, but below the South American average.
Cultural Heritage of Bolivia
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.[4]
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.
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.
Culture of 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 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 foosball, which is played on street corners by both children and adults.
Useful Links
Government Sites
Government of Bolivia: http://www.bolivia.gov.bo/
Bolivia Tax Administration: http://www.impuestos.gov.bo/
Bolivia Tourism Vice Ministry: http://www.turismobolivia.bo/
Main Newspapers
La Razón: http://www.la-razon.com/
El diario: http://www.eldiario.net/
El mundo: http://www.elmundo.com.bo/
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