Bolivia (2007) | Nauru (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija | 14 districts; Aiwo, Anabar, Anetan, Anibare, Baiti, Boe, Buada, Denigomodu, Ewa, Ijuw, Meneng, Nibok, Uaboe, Yaren |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 34.3% (male 1,593,509/female 1,532,155)
15-64 years: 61.1% (male 2,730,359/female 2,841,872) 65 years and over: 4.6% (male 187,123/female 234,134) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years:
40.33% (male 2,510; female 2,365) 15-64 years: 57.97% (male 3,475; female 3,533) 65 years and over: 1.7% (male 103; female 102) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber | coconuts |
Airports | 1,061 (2007) | 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 16
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2007) |
total:
1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1,045
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 57 914 to 1,523 m: 183 under 914 m: 800 (2007) |
- |
Area | total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km water: 14,190 sq km |
total:
21 sq km land: 21 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Montana | about 0.1 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 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. However, since taking office, his controversial strategies have exacerbated racial and economic tensions between the Amerindian populations of the Andean west and the non-indigenous communities of the eastern lowlands. | Nauru's phosphate deposits began to be mined early in the 20th century by a German-British consortium; the island was occupied by Australian forces in World War I. Upon achieving independence in 1968, Nauru became the smallest independent republic in the world; it joined the UN in 1999. |
Birth rate | 22.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 27.22 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $4.48 billion
expenditures: $3.95 billion (2006 est.) |
revenues:
$23.4 million expenditures: $64.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY95/96) |
Capital | name: La Paz (administrative capital)
geographic coordinates: 16 30 S, 68 09 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Sucre (constitutional capital) |
no official capital; government offices in Yaren District |
Climate | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid | tropical; monsoonal; rainy season (November to February) |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 30 km |
Constitution | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994; referendum on new constitution to be held 6 August 2007 | 29 January 1968 |
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:
Republic of Nauru conventional short form: Nauru former: Pleasant Island |
Currency | - | Australian dollar (AUD) |
Death rate | 7.44 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 7.2 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.455 billion (2006 est.) | $33.3 million |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Philip S. GOLDBERG
embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, La Paz mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032 telephone: [591] (2) 216-8000 FAX: [591] (2) 216-8111 |
the US does not have an embassy in Nauru; the US Ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Nauru |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Gustavo GUZMAN Saldana
chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410 FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712 consulate(s) general: Houston, Miami, New York, Oklahoma City, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, DC |
Nauru does not have an embassy in the US, but does have a UN office at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400 D, New York, New York 10017; telephone: (212) 937-0074
consulate(s): Hagatna (Guam) |
Disputes - international | Chile rebuffs Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, offering instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian natural gas and other commodities | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $582.9 million (2005 est.) | $2.25 million from Australia (FY96/97 est.) |
Economy - overview | Bolivia, long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries, reformed its economy after suffering a disastrous economic crisis in the early 1980s. The reforms spurred real GDP growth, which averaged 4% in the 1990s, and poverty rates fell. Economic growth, however, lagged again beginning in 1999 because of a global slowdown and homegrown factors such as political turmoil, civil unrest, and soaring fiscal deficits, all of which hurt investor confidence. In 2003, violent protests against the pro-foreign investment economic policies of ex-President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA led to his resignation and the cancellation of plans to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005, the government passed a controversial natural gas law that imposed significantly higher taxes on the oil and gas firms and required production firms to sign new operating contracts, which were completed in October 2006. Bolivian officials are in the process of revamping the defunct state-owned oil company and acquiring majority ownership of five gas production, transportation, refining, and storage companies. The MORALES administration plans to increase state control over other sectors as well, including mining, electricity, telecommunications, transportation, and forestry. Real GDP growth in 2003-06 - helped by increased demand for natural gas in neighboring Brazil - was positive, but still below the levels seen during the 1990s. Bolivia's fiscal position has improved in recent years, and the country had a record 6% fiscal surplus for 2006. In 2005, the G8 announced a $2 billion debt-forgiveness plan over the next few decades. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank forgave a total of approximately $1.8 billion of Bolivian debt in 2006 that has helped reduce fiscal pressures on the government. | Revenues of this tiny island have come from exports of phosphates, but reserves are expected to be exhausted within five to ten years. Phosphate production has declined since 1989, as demand has fallen in traditional markets and as the marginal cost of extracting the remaining phosphate increases, making it less internationally competitive. While phosphates have given Nauruans one of the highest per capita incomes in the Third World, few other resources exist with most necessities being imported, including fresh water from Australia. The rehabilitation of mined land and the replacement of income from phosphates are serious long-term problems. In anticipation of the exhaustion of Nauru's phosphate deposits, substantial amounts of phosphate income have been invested in trust funds to help cushion the transition and provide for Nauru's economic future. The government has been borrowing heavily from the trusts to finance fiscal deficits. To cut costs the government has called for a freezing of wages, a reduction of over-staffed public service departments, privatization of numerous government agencies, and closure of some overseas consulates. In recent years Nauru has encouraged the registration of offshore banks and corporations. Tens of billions of dollars have been channeled through their accounts. Few comprehensive statistics on the Nauru economy exist, with estimates of Nauru's per capita GDP varying widely. |
Electricity - consumption | 4.207 billion kWh (2005) | 27.9 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 5.041 billion kWh (2005) | 30 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location along plateau rim 61 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, roof storage tanks collect rainwater, but mostly dependent on a single, aging desalination plant; intensive phosphate mining during the past 90 years - mainly by a UK, Australia, and NZ consortium - has left the central 90% of Nauru a wasteland and threatens limited remaining land resources |
Environment - international agreements | 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, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15% | Nauruan 58%, other Pacific Islander 26%, Chinese 8%, European 8% |
Exchange rates | bolivianos per US dollar - 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003), 7.17 (2002) | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.7995 (January 2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439 (1997), 1.2773 (1996) |
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
head of government: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006) 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 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: Juan Evo MORALES Ayma elected president; percent of vote - Juan Evo MORALES Ayma 53.7%; Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez 28.6%; Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana 7.8%; Michiaki NAGATANI Morishit 6.5%; Felipe QUISPE Huanca 2.2%; Guildo ANGULA Cabrera 0.7% |
chief of state:
President Bernard DOWIYOGO (since 19 April 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Bernard DOWIYOGO (since 19 April 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of Parliament elections: president elected by Parliament for a three-year term; election last held 8 April 2000 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: Bernard DOWIYOGO elected president by a vote in Parliament of nine to eight note: former President Rene HARRIS was deposed in a no-confidence vote; this is the eighth change of government in Nauru since the fall of the Lagumont HARRIS government in a no-confidence motion in early November 1996; six of the last eight governments have resulted because of parliamentary no-confidence motions |
Exports | NA bbl/day | $25.3 million (f.o.b., 1991) |
Exports - commodities | natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin | phosphates |
Exports - partners | Brazil 45.6%, US 10.8%, Argentina 9.2%, Colombia 6.8%, Japan 5.5%, South Korea 4.3% (2006) | Australia, NZ |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 July - 30 June |
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 a narrow, horizontal, yellow stripe across the center and a large white 12-pointed star below the stripe on the hoist side; the star indicates the country's location in relation to the Equator (the yellow stripe) and the 12 points symbolize the 12 original tribes of Nauru |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $59 million (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 12.6%
industry: 35.6% services: 51.8% (2006 est.) |
agriculture:
NA% industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.5% (2006 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 17 00 S, 65 00 W | 0 32 S, 166 55 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru | Nauru is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia; only 53 km south of Equator |
Highways | - | total:
30 km paved: 24 km unpaved: 6 km (1998 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.3%
highest 10%: 47.2% (2002) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 26,500 hectares under cultivation in August 2005, an 8% increase from 2004; transit country for Peruvian and Colombian cocaine destined for Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Europe; cultivation steadily increasing despite eradication and alternative crop programs; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay; major cocaine consumption | - |
Imports | NA bbl/day | $21.1 million (c.i.f., 1991) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans | food, fuel, manufactures, building materials, machinery |
Imports - partners | Brazil 29.3%, Argentina 16%, Chile 12.1%, US 9.1%, Peru 8.1% (2006) | Australia, UK, NZ, Japan |
Independence | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) | 31 January 1968 (from the Australia-, NZ-, and UK-administered UN trusteeship) |
Industrial production growth rate | 5.7% (2004 est.) | NA% |
Industries | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing | phosphate mining, financial services, coconut products |
Infant mortality rate | total: 50.43 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 53.93 deaths/1,000 live births female: 46.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
10.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4.3% (2006 est.) | -3.6% (1993) |
International organization participation | CAN, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMISET, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, ICAO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 1,320 sq km (2003) | NA sq km |
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) | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 4.297 million (2006 est.) | - |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
employed in mining phosphates, public administration, education, and transportation |
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 |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 97.03% (2005) |
arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) | Nauruan (official, a distinct Pacific Island language), English widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes |
Legal system | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | acts of the Nauru Parliament and British common law |
Legislative branch | bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; 70 members are directly elected from their districts and 60 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PODEMOS 13, MAS 12, UN 1, MNR 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 73, PODEMOS 43, UN 8, MNR 6 |
unicameral Parliament (18 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 9 April 2000 (next to be held NA April 2003) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 18 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 66.19 years
male: 63.53 years female: 68.97 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
61.2 years male: 57.7 years female: 64.88 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.7% male: 93.1% female: 80.7% (2001 census) |
definition:
NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Central South America, southwest of Brazil | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands |
Map references | South America | Oceania |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | contiguous zone:
24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 25 ships (1000 GRT or over) 73,877 GRT/110,148 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 12, carrier 1, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 9 foreign-owned: 9 (Argentina 1, China 1, Egypt 1, Iran 1, Italy 1, Singapore 1, Syria 1, Taiwan 1, Yemen 1) (2007) |
none (2000 est.) |
Military - note | - | Nauru maintains no defense forces; under an informal agreement, defense is the responsibility of Australia |
Military branches | Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2007) | no regular armed forces; Directorate of the Nauru Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.9% (2006) | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
3,018 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
1,661 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) | Independence Day, 31 January (1968) |
Nationality | noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian |
noun:
Nauruan(s) adjective: Nauruan |
Natural hazards | flooding in the northeast (March-April) | periodic droughts |
Natural resources | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower | phosphates |
Net migration rate | -1.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 4,860 km; liquid petroleum gas 47 km; oil 2,475 km; refined products 1,589 km; unknown (oil/water) 247 km (2006) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Franz BARRIOS]; Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Juan Evo MORALES Ayma]; Movement Without Fear or MSM [Juan DEL GRANADO]; National Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Mirta QUEVEDO]; National Unity [Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana]; Poder Democratico Nacional or PODEMOS [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]; Social Alliance [Rene JOAQUINO] | loose multiparty system; Democratic Party [Kennan ADEANG]; Nauru Party (informal) [Bernard DOWIYOGO] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Cocalero groups; indigenous organizations; labor unions; Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB | NA |
Population | 9,119,152 (July 2007 est.) | 12,088 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 64% (2004 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.42% (2007 est.) | 2% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Nauru |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 7,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 3,504 km
narrow gauge: 3,504 km 1.000-m gauge (2006) |
total:
5 km; note - used to haul phosphates from the center of the island to processing facilities on the southwest coast |
Religions | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5% | Christian (two-thirds Protestant, one-third Roman Catholic) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.961 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.799 male(s)/female total population: 0.979 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single) | 20 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Telephone system | general assessment: privatization beginning in 1995; reliability has steadily improved; new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile- cellular telephone use expanding rapidly; fixed-line teledensity of 7 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density of 27 per 100 persons
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: country code - 591; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2007) |
general assessment:
adequate local and international radiotelephone communications provided via Australian facilities domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 646,300 (2005) | 2,000 (1996) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2.421 million (2005) | 450 (1994) |
Television broadcast stations | 48 (1997) | 1 (1997) |
Terrain | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin | sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center |
Total fertility rate | 2.76 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 3.61 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 7.8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2006 est.) | 0% |
Waterways | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2007) | none |