Bolivia (2008) | Mongolia (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija | 21 provinces (aymguud, singular - aymag) and 1 municipality* (hot); Arhangay, Bayanhongor, Bayan-Olgiy, Bulgan, Darhan Uul, Dornod, Dornogovi, Dundgovi, Dzavhan, Govi-Altay, Govi-Sumber, Hentiy, Hovd, Hovsgol, Omnogovi, Orhon, Ovorhangay, Selenge, Suhbaatar, Tov, Ulaanbaatar*, Uvs |
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: 32% (male 438,176; female 422,960)
15-64 years: 64.1% (male 864,033; female 865,172) 65 years and over: 3.9% (male 45,080; female 59,011) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber | wheat, barley, potatoes, forage crops; sheep, goats, cattle, camels, horses |
Airports | 1,061 (2007) | 34 (2001) |
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: 8
2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
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) |
total: 26
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 5 (2002) |
Area | total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km water: 14,190 sq km |
total: 1.565 million sq km
land: 1,555,400 sq km water: 9,600 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Montana | slightly smaller than Alaska |
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. | The Mongols entered history in the 13th century when under GENGHIS KHAN they conquered a huge Eurasian empire. After his death the empire was divided into several powerful Mongol states, but these broke apart in the 14th century. The Mongols eventually retired to their original steppe homelands and came under Chinese rule. Mongolia won its independence in 1921 with Soviet backing. A Communist regime was installed in 1924. During the early 1990s, the ex-Communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) gradually yielded its monopoly on power to the Democratic Union Coalition (DUC), which defeated the MPRP in a national election in 1996. Over the next four years the DUC put forward a number of key reforms to modernize the economy and democratize the political system. However, the former Communists were a strong opposition that stalled additional restructuring and made implementation difficult. In 2000, the MPRP won an overwhelming victory in the legislature - with 72 of the 76 seats - and completely reshuffled the government. While it continues many of the reform policies, the MPRP is focusing on social welfare and public order priorities. |
Birth rate | 22.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 21.8 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $4.1 billion
expenditures: $4 billion (2007 est.) |
revenues: $262 million
expenditures: $328 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
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) |
Ulaanbaatar |
Climate | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid | desert; continental (large daily and seasonal temperature ranges) |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994; possible referendum on new constitution to be held in 2008 | 12 February 1992 |
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: Mongolia local long form: none local short form: Mongol Uls former: Outer Mongolia |
Currency | - | togrog/tugrik (MNT) |
Death rate | 7.44 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 7.01 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.8 billion (31December 2007 est.) | $760 million (2000 est.) |
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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador John DINGER
embassy: inner northeast part of the Big Ring Road, just west of the Selbe Gol, Ulaanbaatar mailing address: United States Embassy in Mongolia, P. O. Box 1021, Ulaanbaatar 13; PSC 461, Box 300, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [976] (11) 329095 FAX: [976] (11) 320776 |
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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Jalbuugiyn CHOINHOR
chancery: 2833 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 333-7117 FAX: [1] (202) 298-9227 consulate(s) general: New York |
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.) | $208.7 million (1999 est.) |
Economy - overview | Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. Following a disastrous economic crisis during the early 1980s, reforms spurred private investment, stimulated economic growth, and cut poverty rates in the 1990s. The period 2003-05 was characterized by political instability, racial tensions, and violent protests against plans - subsequently abandoned - to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005, the government passed a controversial hydrocarbons law that imposed significantly higher royalties and required foreign firms then operating under risk-sharing contracts to surrender all production to the state energy company, which was made the sole exporter of natural gas. The law also required that the state energy company regain control over the five companies that were privatized during the 1990s - a process that is still underway. In 2006, higher earnings for mining and hydrocarbons exports pushed the current account surplus to about 12% of GDP and the government's higher tax take produced a fiscal surplus after years of large deficits. Debt relief from the G8 - announced in 2005 - also has significantly reduced Bolivia's public sector debt burden. Private investment as a share of GDP, however, remains among the lowest in Latin America, and inflation reached double-digit levels in 2007. | Economic activity traditionally has been based on agriculture and breeding of livestock. Mongolia also has extensive mineral deposits: copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production. Soviet assistance, at its height one-third of GDP, disappeared almost overnight in 1990-91, at the time of the dismantlement of the USSR. Mongolia was driven into deep recession, prolonged by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party's (MPRP) reluctance to undertake serious economic reform. The Democratic Coalition (DC) government has embraced free-market economics, easing price controls, liberalizing domestic and international trade, and attempting to restructure the banking system and the energy sector. Major domestic privatization programs were undertaken, as well as the fostering of foreign investment through international tender of the oil distribution company, a leading cashmere company, and banks. Reform was held back by the ex-Communist MPRP opposition and by the political instability brought about through four successive governments under the DC. Economic growth picked up in 1997-99 after stalling in 1996 due to a series of natural disasters and declines in world prices of copper and cashmere. In August and September 1999, the economy suffered from a temporary Russian ban on exports of oil and oil products, and Mongolia remains vulnerable in this sector. Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization (WTrO) in 1997. The international donor community pledged over $300 million per year at the last Consultative Group Meeting, held in Ulaanbaatar in June 1999. The MPRP government, elected in July 2000, is anxious to improve the investment climate; it must also deal with a heavy burden of external debt. Falling prices for Mongolia's mainly primary sector exports, widespread opposition to privatization, and adverse effects of weather on agriculture in early 2000 and 2001 restrained real GDP growth in 2000-01. |
Electricity - consumption | 3.385 billion kWh (2006) | 2.732 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 177,000 kWh (2005) | 25 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 18,000 kWh (2007) | 181 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 5.293 billion kWh (2006) | 2.77 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
lowest point: Hoh Nuur 518 m
highest point: Nayramadlin Orgil (Huyten Orgil) 4,374 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 in some areas; policies of the former Communist regime promoting rapid urbanization and industrial growth have raised concerns about their negative effects on the environment; the burning of soft coal in power plants and the lack of enforcement of environmental laws have severely polluted the air in Ulaanbaatar; deforestation, overgrazing, the converting of virgin land to agricultural production have increased soil erosion from wind and rain; desertification and mining activities have also had a deleterious effect on the environment |
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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15% | Mongol (predominantly Khalkha) 85%, Turkic (of which Kazakh is the largest group) 7%, Tungusic 4.6%, other (including Chinese and Russian) 3.4% (1998) |
Exchange rates | bolivianos per US dollar - 7.8616 (2007), 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003) | togrogs/tugriks per US dollar - 1,101.29 (December 2001), 1,097.70 (2001), 1,076.67 (2000), 1,072.37 (1999), 840.83 (1998), 789.99 (1997) |
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 Natsagiyn BAGABANDI (since 20 June 1997)
head of government: Prime Minister Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR (since 26 July 2000) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the State Great Hural in consultation with the president elections: president nominated by parties in the State Great Hural and elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 20 May 2001 (next to be held NA May 2005); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by the State Great Hural; election last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: Natsagiyn BAGABANDI reelected president; percent of vote - Natsagiyn BAGABANDI (MPRP) 58.13%, Radnaasumbereliyn GONCHIGDORJ (DP) 36.58%, Luvsandamba DASHNYAM (CWP) 3.54%, other 1.75%; Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR elected prime minister by a vote in the State Great Hural of 68 to 3 |
Exports | 18,500 bbl/day (2007 est.) | $466.1 million f.o.b. (2000) |
Exports - commodities | natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin | copper, livestock, animal products, cashmere, wool, hides, fluorspar, other nonferrous metals |
Exports - partners | Brazil 45.5%, US 10.8%, Argentina 9.2%, Colombia 6.8%, Japan 5.5%, South Korea 4.3% (2006) | China 59%, US 20%, Russia 10%, Japan 2% (2000) |
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
note: similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band |
three equal, vertical bands of red (hoist side), blue, and red; centered on the hoist-side red band in yellow is the national emblem ("soyombo" - a columnar arrangement of abstract and geometric representation for fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and the yin-yang symbol) |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $4.7 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 14.5%
industry: 30.5% services: 55% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 32%
industry: 30% services: 38% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $1,770 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2007 est.) | 2.4% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 17 00 S, 65 00 W | 46 00 N, 105 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru | landlocked; strategic location between China and Russia |
Highways | - | total: 3,387 km
paved: 1,563 km unpaved: 1,824 km note: there are also 45,862 km of rural roads that consist of rough, unimproved, cross-country tracks (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.3%
highest 10%: 47.2% (2002) |
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25% (1995) (1995) |
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 | 8,600 bbl/day (2007 est.) | $614.5 million c.i.f. (2000) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans | machinery and equipment, fuels, food products, industrial consumer goods, chemicals, building materials, sugar, tea |
Imports - partners | Brazil 29.3%, Argentina 16%, Chile 12.1%, US 9.1%, Peru 8.1% (2006) | Russia 34%, China 21%, Japan 12%, South Korea 9%, US 4% (2000) |
Independence | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) | 11 July 1921 (from China) |
Industrial production growth rate | 1.1% (2007 est.) | 2.4% (2000 est.) |
Industries | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing | construction materials, mining (coal, copper, molybdenum, fluorspar, and gold); oil; food and beverages, processing of animal 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.) |
51.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 12% (2007 est.) | 11.8% (2000 est.) |
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, UNFICYP, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMISET, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (observer), CCC, CP (provisional), EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 5 (2001) |
Irrigated land | 1,320 sq km (2003) | 840 sq km (1998 est.) |
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); Constitutional Tribunal (5 primary or titulares and 5 alternate or suplente magistrates appointed by Congress; to rule on constitutional issues); National Electoral Court (6 members elected by Congress, Supreme Court, the President, and the political party with the highest vote in the last election for 4-year terms) | Supreme Court (serves as appeals court for people's and provincial courts, but rarely overturns verdicts of lower courts; judges are nominated by the General Council of Courts for approval by the president) |
Labor force | 4.793 million (2006 est.) | 1.4 million (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 40%
industry: 17% services: 43% (2006 est.) |
primarily herding/agricultural |
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 |
total: 8,162 km
border countries: China 4,677 km, Russia 3,485 km |
Land use | arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 97.03% (2005) |
arable land: 0.84%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.16% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) | Khalkha Mongol 90%, Turkic, Russian (1999) |
Legal system | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | blend of Russian, Chinese, Turkish, and Western systems of law that combines aspects of a parliamentary system with some aspects of a presidential system; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislative acts; 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 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 State Great Hural (76 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held NA July 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MPRP 72, other 4 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 66.19 years
male: 63.53 years female: 68.97 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 64.62 years
male: 62.47 years female: 66.87 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.7% male: 93.1% female: 80.7% (2001 census) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.8% male: 98% female: 97.5% (2000) |
Location | Central South America, southwest of Brazil | Northern Asia, between China and Russia |
Map references | South America | Asia |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
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) |
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Military branches | Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2008) | Mongolian Armed Forces (includes General Purpose Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense Troops); note - Border Troops are under Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs in peacetime |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $24.3 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.9% (2006) | 2.5% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 772,619 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 501,493 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 30,230 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) | Independence Day/Revolution Day, 11 July (1921) |
Nationality | noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian |
noun: Mongolian(s)
adjective: Mongolian |
Natural hazards | flooding in the northeast (March-April) | dust storms, grassland and forest fires, drought, and "zud", which is harsh winter conditions |
Natural resources | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower | oil, coal, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, phosphates, tin, nickel, zinc, wolfram, fluorspar, gold, silver, iron, phosphate |
Net migration rate | -1.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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 (2007) | - |
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] | Citizens' Will Party or CWP (also called Civil Will Party or Civil Courage Party) [Sanjaasurengyn OYUN]; Democratic Party or DP [D. DORLIGJAN]; Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party or MPRP [Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR]; Mongolian New Socialist Democratic Party or MNSDP [B. ERDENEBAT]; Mongolian Republican Party or MRP [B. JARGALSAIHAN]
note: the MPRP is the ruling party |
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.) | 2,694,432 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 60% (2006 est.) | 36% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.42% (2007 est.) | 1.48% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) | AM 7, FM 9, shortwave 4 (2001) |
Radios | - | 155,900 (1999) |
Railways | total: 3,504 km
narrow gauge: 3,504 km 1.000-m gauge (2006) |
1,815 km
broad gauge: 1,815 km 1.524-m gauge (2001) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5% | Tibetan Buddhist Lamaism 96%, Muslim (primarily in the southwest), Shamanism, and Christian 4% (1998) |
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: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2002 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: 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: very low density: about 3.5 telephones for each thousand persons
domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean Region) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 646,300 (2005) | 104,100 (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2.421 million (2005) | 110,000 (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 48 (1997) | 4 (plus 18 provincial repeaters and many low powered repeaters) (1999) |
Terrain | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin | vast semidesert and desert plains, grassy steppe, mountains in west and southwest; Gobi Desert in south-central |
Total fertility rate | 2.76 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 2.37 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2006) | 20% (2000) |
Waterways | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2007) | 400 km (1999) |