Bolivia (2001) | British Virgin Islands (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
38.46% (male 1,626,698; female 1,565,748) 15-64 years: 57.07% (male 2,315,098; female 2,421,987) 65 years and over: 4.47% (male 166,986; female 203,946) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 21% (male 2,400/female 2,358)
15-64 years: 73.9% (male 8,607/female 8,115) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 614/female 549) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber | fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish |
Airports | 1,093 (2000 est.) | 3 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
13 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
1,080 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 65 914 to 1,523 m: 212 under 914 m: 800 (2000 est.) |
total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
1,098,580 sq km land: 1,084,390 sq km water: 14,190 sq km |
total: 153 sq km
land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the island of Anegada |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Montana | about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | 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 counter-coups. Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in the 1980s, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and drug production. Current goals include attracting foreign investment, strengthening the educational system, continuing the privatization program, and waging an anti-corruption campaign. | First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency. |
Birth rate | 27.27 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 14.96 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$2.7 billion expenditures: $2.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998) |
revenues: $121.5 million
expenditures: $115.5 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1997) |
Capital | La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital and seat of judiciary) | Road Town |
Climate | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid | subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 80 km |
Constitution | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994 | 1 June 1977 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Bolivia conventional short form: Bolivia local long form: Republica de Bolivia local short form: Bolivia |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI |
Currency | boliviano (BOB) | - |
Death rate | 8.2 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $6.6 billion (2000) | $36.1 million (1997) |
Dependency status | - | overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador V. Manuel ROCHA embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, San Jorge, La Paz mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032 telephone: [591] (2) 432254 FAX: [591] (2) 433854 |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Marlene FERNANDEZ del Granado chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410 FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Disputes - international | 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 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $588 million (1997) | NA |
Economy - overview | Bolivia, long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries, has made considerable progress toward the development of a market-oriented economy. Successes under President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA (1993-97) included the signing of a free trade agreement with Mexico and joining the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur), as well as the privatization of the state airline, telephone company, railroad, electric power company, and oil company. His successor, Hugo BANZER Suarez has tried to further improve the country's investment climate with an anticorruption campaign. Growth slowed in 1999, in part due to tight government budget policies, which limited needed appropriations for anti-poverty programs, and the fallout from the Asian financial crisis. In 2000, major civil disturbances in April, and again in September and October, held down overall growth to 2.5%. | The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as its currency since 1959. |
Electricity - consumption | 3.377 billion kWh (1999) | 33.74 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 4 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 10 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 3.625 billion kWh (1999) | 36.28 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
56.61% hydro: 41.6% nuclear: 0% other: 1.79% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Rio Paraguay 90 m highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Sage 521 m |
Environment - 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 | limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments) |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection |
- |
Ethnic groups | Quechua 30%, Aymara 25%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, white 15% | black 83%, white, Indian, Asian and mixed |
Exchange rates | bolivianos per US dollar - 6.4071 (January 2001), 6.1835 (2000), 5.8124 (1999), 5.5101 (1998), 5.2543 (1997), 5.0746 (1996) | the US dollar is used |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Hugo BANZER Suarez (since 6 August 1997); Vice President Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez (since 6 August 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Hugo BANZER Suarez (since 6 August 1997); Vice President Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez (since 6 August 1997); note - the president is both the 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 five-year terms; election last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held May or June 2002) election results: Hugo BANZER Suarez elected president; percent of vote - Hugo BANZER Suarez (ADN) 22%; Jaime PAZ Zamora (MIR) 17%, Juan Carlos DURAN (MNR) 18%, Ivo KULJIS (UCS) 16%, Remedios LOZA (CONDEPA) 17%; no candidate received a majority of the popular vote; Hugo BANZER Suarez won a congressional runoff election on 5 August 1997 after forming a "megacoalition" with MIR, UCS, CONDEPA, NFR, and PDC |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor Tom MACAN (since 14 October 2002)
head of government: Chief Minister Orlando D. SMITH (since 17 June 2003) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor |
Exports | $1.26 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA |
Exports - commodities | soybeans, natural gas, zinc, gold, wood | rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand |
Exports - partners | UK 16%, US 12%, Peru 11%, Argentina 10%, Colombia 7% (1998) | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | 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 | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $20.9 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
16% industry: 31% services: 53% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $38,500 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2000 est.) | 1% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 17 00 S, 65 00 W | 18 30 N, 64 30 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru | strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico |
Highways | total:
49,400 km paved: 2,500 km (including 30 km of expressways) unpaved: 46,900 km (1996) |
total: 177 km
paved: 177 km unpaved: 0 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2.3% highest 10%: 31.7% (1990) |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru, a distant second) with an estimated 14,600 hectares under cultivation in 2000, a 33% decrease in overall cultivation of coca from 1999 levels; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported to or through Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to the US and other international drug markets; eradication and alternative crop programs have slashed illicit coca cultivation during the BANZER administration beginning in 1997 | transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering |
Imports | $1.86 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA |
Imports - commodities | capital goods, raw materials and semi-manufactures, chemicals, petroleum, food | building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery |
Imports - partners | US 32%, Japan 24%, Brazil 12%, Argentina 12%, Chile 7%, Peru 4%, Germany 3%, other 6% (1998) | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US |
Independence | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 4% (1995 est.) | NA% |
Industries | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing | tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center |
Infant mortality rate | 58.98 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 18.05 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.02 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4.4% (2000 est.) | 2.5% (2003) |
International organization participation | CAN, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNTAET, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate), UPU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 9 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 1,750 sq km (1993 est.) | NA |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges appointed for 10-year terms by National Congress); District Courts (one in each department); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases) | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction |
Labor force | 2.5 million | 12,770 (2004) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total:
6,743 km border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land:
2% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 24% forests and woodland: 53% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 20%
permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) | English (official) |
Legal system | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | English law |
Legislative branch | bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - some members are drawn from party lists, thus not directly elected)
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held NA June 2002) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ADN 11, MIR 7, MNR 4, CONDEPA 3, UCS 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ADN 32, MNR 26, MIR 23, UCS 21, CONDEPA 19, MBL 5, IU 4 |
unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, one member from each of 9 electoral districts, four at-large members; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 16 May 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NDP 8, VIP 5 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
64.06 years male: 61.53 years female: 66.72 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 76.49 years
male: 75.41 years female: 77.62 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 83.1% male: 90.5% female: 76% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Central South America, southwest of Brazil | Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico |
Map references | South America | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total:
42 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 141,017 GRT/211,058 DWT ships by type: bulk 5, cargo 20, chemical tanker 3, container 1, petroleum tanker 10, roll on/roll off 3 (2000 est.) |
total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 83,825 GRT/155,909 DWT
by type: cargo 1 registered in other countries: 7 (2005) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
Military branches | Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Navy (Fuerza Naval Boliviana, includes Marines), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana), National Police Force (Policia Nacional de Bolivia) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $147 million (FY99) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.8% (FY99) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
2,005,660 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,306,452 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 19 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
90,120 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) | Territory Day, 1 July |
Nationality | noun:
Bolivian(s) adjective: Bolivian |
noun: British Virgin Islander(s)
adjective: British Virgin Islander |
Natural hazards | flooding in the northeast (March-April) | hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October) |
Natural resources | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower | NEGL |
Net migration rate | -1.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 1,800 km; petroleum products 580 km; natural gas 1,495 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Christian Democratic Party or PDC [leader NA]; Civic Solidarity Union or UCS [Johnny FERNANDEZ]; Conscience of the Fatherland or CONDEPA [Remedios LOZA Alvarado]; Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Antonio ARANIBAR]; Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR [Jaime PAZ Zamora]; Nationalist Democratic Action or ADN [Hugo BANZER Suarez]; Nationalist Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA]; New Republican Force or NFR [leader NA]; Pachacuti Indigenous Movement [Filipe QUISPE]; United Left or IU [Marcos DOMIC]
note: the ADN, MIR, and UCS comprise the ruling coalition |
Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Cocalero Groups; indigenous organizations; labor unions | NA |
Population | 8,300,463 (July 2001 est.) | 22,643 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 70% (1999 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.76% (2001 est.) | 2.06% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none; however, Bolivia has free port privileges in maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay | Road Town |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) | AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Radios | 5.25 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
3,691 km (single track) narrow gauge: 3,652 km 1.000-m gauge; 39 km 0.760-m gauge (13 km electrified) (1995) |
- |
Religions | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) | Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.12 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single) | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile cellular telephone use expanding rapidly domestic: primary trunk system, which is being expanded, employs digital microwave radio relay; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; mobile cellular systems are being expanded international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: worldwide telephone service
domestic: NA international: country code - 1-284; submarine cable to Bermuda |
Telephones - main lines in use | 327,600 (1996) | 11,700 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 116,000 (1997) | 8,000 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 48 (1997) | 1 (plus one cable company) (1997) |
Terrain | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin | coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly |
Total fertility rate | 3.51 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.72 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 11.4% (1997)
note: widespread underemployment |
3% (1995) |
Waterways | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) | - |