Bolivia (2008) | Netherlands Antilles (2006) | |
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Administrative divisions | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija | none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
note: each island has its own government |
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: 23.9% (male 27,197/female 25,886)
15-64 years: 67.3% (male 71,622/female 77,710) 65 years and over: 8.7% (male 7,925/female 11,396) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber | aloes, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables, tropical fruit |
Airports | 1,061 (2007) | 5 (2006) |
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: 5
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2006) |
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) |
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Area | total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km water: 14,190 sq km |
total: 960 sq km
land: 960 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin) |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Montana | more than five 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. | Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade, the island of Curacao was hard hit by the abolition of slavery in 1863. Its prosperity (and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored in the early 20th century with the construction of oil refineries to service the newly discovered Venezuelan oil fields. The island of Saint Martin is shared with France; its southern portion is named Sint Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles; its northern portion is called Saint-Martin and is part of Guadeloupe (France). |
Birth rate | 22.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 14.78 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $4.1 billion
expenditures: $4 billion (2007 est.) |
revenues: $757.9 million
expenditures: $949.5 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2004) |
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) |
name: Willemstad (on Curacao)
geographic coordinates: 12 06 N, 68 56 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid | tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 364 km |
Constitution | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994; possible referendum on new constitution to be held in 2008 | 29 December 1954, Statute of the Realm of the Netherlands, as amended |
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: Netherlands Antilles local long form: none local short form: Nederlandse Antillen former: Curacao and Dependencies |
Death rate | 7.44 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 6.45 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.8 billion (31December 2007 est.) | $2.68 billion (2004) |
Dependency status | - | an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands; full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 1954; Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs |
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: Consul General Robert E. SORENSON
consulate(s) general: J. B. Gorsiraweg #1, Willemstad, Curacao mailing address: P. O. Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao telephone: [599] (9) 4613066 FAX: [599] (9) 4616489 |
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 |
none (represented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands); note - Mr. Jeffrey CORRION, Minister Plenipotentiary for Aruba at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands |
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.) | $21.5 million IMF provided $61 million in 2000, and the Netherlands continued its support with $40 million (2004) |
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. | Tourism, petroleum refining, and offshore finance are the mainstays of this small economy, which is closely tied to the outside world. Although GDP has declined or grown slightly in each of the past eight years, the islands enjoy a high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure compared with other countries in the region. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, the US and Mexico being the major suppliers. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the development of agriculture. Budgetary problems hamper reform of the health and pension systems of an aging population. |
Electricity - consumption | 3.385 billion kWh (2006) | 945.8 million kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | 177,000 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | 18,000 kWh (2007) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | 5.293 billion kWh (2006) | 1.017 billion kWh (2003) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Scenery 862 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 | NA |
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 |
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Ethnic groups | Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15% | mixed black 85%, Carib Amerindian, white, East Asian |
Exchange rates | bolivianos per US dollar - 7.8616 (2007), 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003) | Netherlands Antillean guilders per US dollar - 1.79 (2005), 1.79 (2004), 1.79 (2003), 1.79 (2002), 1.79 (2001) |
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: Queen BEATRIX of the Netherlands (since 30 April 1980), represented by Governor General Frits GOEDGEDRAG (since 1 July 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Emily de JONGH-ELHAGE (since 26 March 2006) cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the Staten (legislature) elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch for a six-year term; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually elected prime minister by the Staten; election last held 27 January 2006 (next to be held by 2007) note: government coalition - PAR, PNP, DP St. Maarten, UP Bonaire, WIPM Saba, DP Statia |
Exports | 18,500 bbl/day (2007 est.) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin | petroleum products |
Exports - partners | Brazil 45.5%, US 10.8%, Argentina 9.2%, Colombia 6.8%, Japan 5.5%, South Korea 4.3% (2006) | US 29.4%, Panama 14.4%, Mexico 8.8%, Haiti 5.6%, Venezuela 4.9%, Bahamas, The 4.5% (2005) |
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 |
white, with a horizontal blue stripe in the center superimposed on a vertical red band, also centered; five white, five-pointed stars are arranged in an oval pattern in the center of the blue band; the five stars represent the five main islands of Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 14.5%
industry: 30.5% services: 55% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 15% services: 84% (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2007 est.) | 1% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 17 00 S, 65 00 W | 12 15 N, 68 45 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru | the five islands of the Netherlands Antilles are divided geographically into the Leeward Islands (northern) group (Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten) and the Windward Islands (southern) group (Bonaire and Curacao) |
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 | transshipment point for South American drugs bound for the US and Europe; money-laundering center |
Imports | 8,600 bbl/day (2007 est.) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans | crude petroleum, food, manufactures |
Imports - partners | Brazil 29.3%, Argentina 16%, Chile 12.1%, US 9.1%, Peru 8.1% (2006) | Venezuela 52.3%, US 21.4%, Italy 4.9%, Netherlands 4.6% (2005) |
Independence | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) | none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) |
Industrial production growth rate | 1.1% (2007 est.) | NA% |
Industries | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing | tourism (Curacao, Sint Maarten, and Bonaire), petroleum refining (Curacao), petroleum transshipment facilities (Curacao and Bonaire), light manufacturing (Curacao) |
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.) |
total: 9.76 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 10.54 deaths/1,000 live births female: 8.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 12% (2007 est.) | 2.1% (2003 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 | ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WCL, WCO, WMO, WToO (associate) |
Irrigated land | 1,320 sq km (2003) | 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); 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) | Joint High Court of Justice (judges appointed by the monarch) |
Labor force | 4.793 million (2006 est.) | 83,600 (2005) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 40%
industry: 17% services: 43% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 20% services: 79% (2005 est.) |
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: 15 km
border countries: Guadeloupe (Saint-Martin) 15 km |
Land use | arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 97.03% (2005) |
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 0% other: 90% (2005) |
Languages | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) | Papiamento 65.4% (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect), English 15.9% (widely spoken), Dutch 7.3% (official), Spanish 6.1%, Creole 1.6%, other 1.9%, unspecified 1.8% (2001 census) |
Legal system | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on Dutch civil law system with some English common law influence |
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 States or Staten (22 seats - Curacao 14, Bonaire 3, St. Maarten 3, St. Eustatius 1, Saba 1; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 27 January 2006 (next to be held in 2010) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PAR 5, MAN 3, FOL 2, Forsa Korsou 2, National Alliance 2, PNP 2, UPB 2, DP St. E 1, DP St. M 1, BDP 1, WIPM 1 note: the government of Prime Minister Emily de JONGH-ELHAGE is a coalition of several parties |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 66.19 years
male: 63.53 years female: 68.97 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 76.03 years
male: 73.76 years female: 78.41 years (2006 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: 96.7% male: 96.7% female: 96.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Central South America, southwest of Brazil | Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea - composed of five islands, Curacao and Bonaire located off the coast of Venezuela, and St. Maarten, Saba, and St. Eustatius lie east of the US Virgin Islands |
Map references | South America | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 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) |
total: 152 ships (1000 GRT or over) 1,289,462 GRT/1,671,649 DWT
by type: barge carrier 3, bulk carrier 13, cargo 68, chemical tanker 3, container 19, liquefied gas 4, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 28, roll on/roll off 4, specialized tanker 3 foreign-owned: 143 (Belgium 4, Cuba 1, Denmark 1, Germany 60, Netherlands 54, Norway 5, Sweden 5, Turkey 9, UK 3, US 1) registered in other countries: 1 (Netherlands 1) (2006) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands |
Military branches | Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2008) | no regular military forces; National Guard, Police Force (2005) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.9% (2006) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) | Queen's Day (Birthday of Queen-Mother JULIANA in 1909 and accession to the throne of her oldest daughter BEATRIX in 1980), 30 April |
Nationality | noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian |
noun: Dutch Antillean(s)
adjective: Dutch Antillean |
Natural hazards | flooding in the northeast (March-April) | Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane belt and are rarely threatened; Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes from July to October |
Natural resources | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower | phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only) |
Net migration rate | -1.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 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] | Bonaire: Democratic Party of Bonaire or PDB [Jopi ABRAHAM]; Patriotic Union of Bonaire or UPB [Ramonsito BOOI]
Curacao: Ban Vota [Norbert GEORGE]; C-93 [Stanley BROWN]; Democratic Party of Curacao or DP [Errol HERNANDEZ]; E Mayoria [Aurelio PEDRO]; Forsa Korsou [Nelson NAVARRO]; Liste Ni'un Paso Atras [Nelson PIERRE]; Movemiento Patriotiko Korsou [Reginald LAK]; New Antilles Movement or MAN [Charles COOPER]; Partido Akshon Pa Prosperidat I Seguridat [Sonja BERKEMEYER]; Partido Laboral Krusada Popular or PLKP [Errol COVA]; Party for the Restructured Antilles or PAR [Emily de JONGH-ELHAGE]; People's National Party or PNP [Ersilia DE LANNOOY]; Pidjin [Jasmin PINEDO]; Pueblo Soberano [Herman WIELS]; Workers' Liberation Front or FOL [Anthony GODETT] Saba: Saba Labor Party [Akilah LEVENSTONE]; Windward Islands People's Movement or WIPM [Ray HASSELL] Sint Eustatius: Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius or DP-St. E [Julian WOODLEY]; Progressive Labor Party [Clyde VAN PUTTEN]; St. Eustatius Alliance [Ingrid HOUTMAN-WHITFIELD] Sint Maarten: Democratic Party of Sint Maarten or DP-St. M [Sarah WESCOTT-WILLIAMS]; Freedom Slate of National Democratic Party [Theophilus PRIEST]; National Alliance or NA [William MARLIN]; People's Progressive Alliance or PPA [Gracita ARRINDELL]; St. Maarten People's Party [Johan LEONARD]; United People's Labor Party [Bienvenido RICHARDSON] note: political parties are indigenous to each island |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Cocalero groups; indigenous organizations; labor unions; Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB | Unions (AVBO) and Employers Association (VBC) |
Population | 9,119,152 (July 2007 est.) | 221,736 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 60% (2006 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.42% (2007 est.) | 0.79% (2006 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) | AM 8, FM 19, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Railways | total: 3,504 km
narrow gauge: 3,504 km 1.000-m gauge (2006) |
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Religions | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5% | Roman Catholic 72%, Pentecostal 4.9%, Protestant 3.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 3.1%, Methodist 2.9%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.7%, other Christian 4.2%, Jewish 1.3%, other or unspecified 1.2%, none 5.2% (2001 census) |
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: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2006 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: generally adequate facilities
domestic: extensive interisland microwave radio relay links international: country code - 599; submarine cables - 2; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 646,300 (2005) | 81,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2.421 million (2005) | 200,000 (2004) |
Television broadcast stations | 48 (1997) | 3 (there is also a cable service, which supplies programs received from various US satellite networks and four Venezuelan channels) (2004) |
Terrain | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin | generally hilly, volcanic interiors |
Total fertility rate | 2.76 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 1.99 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2006) | 17% (2002 est.) |
Waterways | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2007) | - |