Bolivia (2002) | Western Sahara (2007) | |
Administrative divisions | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija | none (under de facto control of Morocco) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 37.8% (male 1,626,596; female 1,565,124)
15-64 years: 57.7% (male 2,383,852; female 2,491,823) 65 years and over: 4.5% (male 169,583; female 208,156) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 45.4% (male 88,176/female 85,421)
15-64 years: 52.3% (male 98,345/female 101,895) 65 years and over: 2.3% (male 3,705/female 5,075) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber | fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads); fish |
Airports | 1,109 (2001) | 9 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 12
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1,069 1,096
over 3,047 m: 1 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 64 65 914 to 1,523 m: 225 236 under 914 m: 776 790 (2002) |
total: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
Area | total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km water: 14,190 sq km |
total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Montana | about the size of Colorado |
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 anticorruption campaign. | Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. |
Birth rate | 26.41 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
Budget | revenues: $4 billion
expenditures: $4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.) |
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA |
Capital | La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital and seat of judiciary) | none
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 1,110 km |
Constitution | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994 | - |
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: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
Currency | boliviano (BOB) | - |
Death rate | 8.05 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
Debt - external | $5.8 billion (2001 est.) | $NA |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador David N. GREENLEE
embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, San Jorge, La Paz mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032 telephone: [591] (2) 2430120, 2430251 FAX: [591] (2) 2433900 |
none |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Jaime APARICIO Otero
chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410 FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712 consulate(s) general: Miami, New York, and San Francisco |
none |
Disputes - international | continues to demand a sovereign corridor to the South Pacific Ocean since the Atacama region was lost to Chile in 1884 | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty remains unresolved; UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, administered by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals; several states have extended diplomatic relations to the "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" represented by the Polisario Front in exile in Algeria, while others recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara; most of the approximately 102,000 Sahrawi refugees are sheltered in camps in Tindouf, Algeria |
Economic aid - recipient | $588 million (1997) (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 becoming an associate member of the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur), as well as the privatization of the state airline, telephone company, railroad, electric power company, and oil company. 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%. Bolivia's GDP failed to grow in 2001 due to the global slowdown and laggard domestic activity. Growth is expected to pick up in 2002, but the fiscal deficit and debt burden will remain high. | Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. Incomes in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. The Moroccan Government controls all trade and other economic activities in Western Sahara. Morocco and the EU signed a four-year agreement in July 2006 allowing European vessels to fish off the coast of Morocco, including the disputed waters off the coast of Western Sahara. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. However, in 2006, the Polisario awarded similar exploration licenses in the disputed territory, which would come into force if Morocco and the Polisario resolve their dispute over Western Sahara. |
Electricity - consumption | 3.605 billion kWh (2000) | 79.05 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 5 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 11 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 3.87 billion kWh (2000) | 85 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 48%
hydro: 50% nuclear: 0% other: 2% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 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 | sparse water and lack of arable land |
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 |
party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15% | Arab, Berber |
Exchange rates | bolivianos per US dollar - 6.8613 (January 2002), 6.6069 (2001), 6.1835 (2000), 5.8124 (1999), 5.5101 (1998), 5.2543 (1997) | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.7722 (2006), 8.865 (2005), 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003), 11.0206 (2002) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA Bustamante (since 4 August 2002); Vice President Carlos Diego MESA Gisbert (since 4 August 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA Bustamante (since 4 August 2002); Vice President Carlos Diego MESA Gisbert (since 4 August 2002); 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 30 June 2002 (next to be held NA June 2007) election results: the new president was chosen by Congress, a result of no candidate winning a majority in the 30 June 2002 election; Congressional votes - Gonzalo SANCHEZ de Lozada 84, Evo MORALES 43 |
none |
Exports | $1.2 billion (2001 est.) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | soybeans, natural gas, zinc, gold, wood | phosphates 62% |
Exports - partners | US 32%, Colombia 18%, UK 15%, Brazil 15%, Peru 6% (2000) | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
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 | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $21.4 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 14%
industry: 31% services: 55% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: 40% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 0% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 17 00 S, 65 00 W | 24 30 N, 13 00 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas |
Highways | total: 49,400 km
paved: 2,500 km (including 30 km of expressways) unpaved: 46,900 km (1996) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 46% (1997) (1997) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 24,400 hectares under cultivation in June 2002, a 23% increase from June 2001; 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 under the SANCHEZ DE LOZADA administration have been unable to keep pace with farmers' attempts to increase cultivation after significant reductions in 1998 and 1999; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay | - |
Imports | $1.5 billion (2001 est.) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | capital goods, raw materials and semi-manufactures, chemicals, petroleum, food | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | US 24%, Argentina 17%, Brazil 15%, Chile 9%, Peru 5% (2000) | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2006) |
Independence | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.9% (1998) (1998) | NA% |
Industries | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing | phosphate mining, handicrafts |
Infant mortality rate | 57.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2001 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNTAET, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | none |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 9 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 1,280 sq km (1998 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) | - |
Labor force | 2.5 million | 12,000 |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% | agriculture: 50%
industry and services: 50% |
Land boundaries | total: 6,743 km
border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km |
total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km |
Land use | arable land: 1.73%
permanent crops: 0.21% other: 98.06% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2005) |
Languages | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic |
Legal system | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | - |
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 30 June 2002 (next to be held NA June 2007) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MNR 11, MAS 8, MIR 5, NFR 2, other 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MNR 36, MAS 27, MIR 26, NFR 25, others 16 |
- |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 64.42 years
male: 61.86 years female: 67.1 years (2002 est.) |
total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83.1% male: 90.5% female: 76% (1995 est.) |
NA |
Location | Central South America, southwest of Brazil | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco |
Map references | South America | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue |
Merchant marine | total: 36 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 196,399 GRT/320,137 DWT
ships by type: bulk 3, cargo 15, chemical tanker 2, container 1, petroleum tanker 13, roll on/roll off 2 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of Belize 2, China 2, Cuba 1, Cyprus 1, Egypt 1, Honduras 1, Latvia 2, Liberia 2, Panama 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Saudi Arabia 1, Singapore 1, South Korea 3, Switzerland 1, Ukraine 1, United Arab Emirates 5, United States 1 (2002 est.) |
- |
Military branches | Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Navy (Fuerza Naval, 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: 2,062,321 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 1,343,755 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 19 years of age (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 90,120 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) | - |
Nationality | noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian |
noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
Natural hazards | flooding in the northeast (March-April) | hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility |
Natural resources | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower | phosphates, iron ore |
Net migration rate | -1.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | - |
Pipelines | crude oil 1,800 km; petroleum products 580 km; natural gas 1,495 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Bolivian Socialist Falange or FSB [Otto RICHTER]; Civic Solidarity Union or UCS [Johnny FERNANDEZ]; Conscience of the Fatherland or CONDEPA [Remedios LOZA Alvarado]; Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Franz BARRIOS]; Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR [Jaime PAZ Zamora]; Movement to Socialism or MAS [leader NA]; Nationalist Democratic Action or ADN [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]; Nationalist Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA]; New Republican Force or NFR [Manfred REYES-VILLA]; United Left or IU [Marcos DOMIC]
note: the ADN, MIR, and UCS comprise the ruling coalition |
- |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Cocalero Groups; indigenous organizations; labor unions; Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB [Felipe QUISPE] | none |
Population | 8,445,134 (July 2002 est.) | 382,617
note: estimate is based on projections by age, sex, fertility, mortality, and migration; fertility and mortality are based on data from neighboring countries (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 70% (1999 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.69% (2002 est.) | NA |
Ports and harbors | Puerto Aguirre (on the Paraguay/Parana waterway, at the Bolivia/Brazil border); also, Bolivia has free port privileges in maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 5.25 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total: 3,691 km
narrow gauge: 3,652 km 1.000-m gauge; 39 km 0.760-m gauge (13 km electrified) (1995 est.) |
- |
Religions | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) | Muslim |
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 (2002 est.) |
NA |
Suffrage | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single) | none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed |
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: sparse and limited system
domestic: NA international: country code - 212; tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco |
Telephones - main lines in use | 327,600 (1996) | about 2,000 (1999 est.) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 116,000 (1997) | 0 (1999) |
Television broadcast stations | 48 (1997) | NA |
Terrain | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast |
Total fertility rate | 3.37 children born/woman (2002 est.) | NA |
Unemployment rate | 7.6% (2000)
note: widespread underemployment (2000) |
NA% |
Waterways | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) | - |