Bolivia (2008) | Singapore (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija | none |
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:
17.89% (male 397,124; female 372,058) 15-64 years: 75.16% (male 1,575,381; female 1,656,838) 65 years and over: 6.95% (male 130,815; female 168,203) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber | rubber, copra, fruit, orchids, vegetables; poultry, eggs, fish, ornamental fish |
Airports | 1,061 (2007) | 9 (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:
9 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 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:
647.5 sq km land: 637.5 sq km water: 10 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Montana | slightly more than 3.5 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. | Founded as a British trading colony in 1819, Singapore joined Malaysia in 1963, but withdrew two years later and became independent. It subsequently became one of the world's most prosperous countries, with strong international trading links (its port is one of the world's busiest) and with per capita GDP above that of the leading nations of Western Europe. |
Birth rate | 22.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 12.8 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $4.1 billion
expenditures: $4 billion (2007 est.) |
revenues:
$18.1 billion expenditures: $17.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $9.5 billion (FY99/00 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) |
Singapore |
Climate | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid | tropical; hot, humid, rainy; two distinct monsoon seasons - Northeastern monsoon from December to March and Southwestern monsoon from June to September; inter-monsoon - frequent afternoon and early evening thunderstorms |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 193 km |
Constitution | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994; possible referendum on new constitution to be held in 2008 | 3 June 1959, amended 1965 (based on preindependence State of Singapore Constitution) |
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 Singapore conventional short form: Singapore |
Currency | - | Singapore dollar (SGD) |
Death rate | 7.44 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 4.24 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.8 billion (31December 2007 est.) | $9.7 billion (2000) |
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 (vacant) embassy: 27 Napier Road, Singapore 258508 mailing address: PSC Box 470, FPO AP 96534-0001 telephone: [65] 476-9100 FAX: [65] 476-9340 |
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 CHAN Heng Chee chancery: 3501 International Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 537-3100 FAX: [1] (202) 537-0876 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, San Francisco consulate(s): 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 | Pedra Branca Island (Pulau Batu Putih) disputed with Malaysia |
Economic aid - recipient | $582.9 million (2005 est.) | $NA |
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. | Singapore is blessed with a highly developed and successful free-market economy, a remarkably open and corruption-free business environment, stable prices, and the fifth highest per capita GDP in the world. Exports, particularly in electronics and chemicals, and services are the main drivers of the economy. Mainly because of robust exports, especially electronic goods, the economy grew 10.1% in 2000. Forecasters, however, are projecting only 4%-6% growth in 2001 largely because of weaker global demand, especially in the US. The government promotes high levels of savings and investment through a mandatory savings scheme and spends heavily in education and technology. It also owns government-linked companies (GLCs) - particularly in manufacturing - that operate as commercial entities. As Singapore looks to a future increasingly marked by globalization, the country is positioning itself as the region's financial and high-tech hub. |
Electricity - consumption | 3.385 billion kWh (2006) | 25.464 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 177,000 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 18,000 kWh (2007) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 5.293 billion kWh (2006) | 27.381 billion 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:
Singapore Strait 0 m highest point: Bukit Timah 166 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 | industrial pollution; limited natural fresh water resources; limited land availability presents waste disposal problems; seasonal smoke/haze resulting from forest fires in Indonesia |
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, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15% | Chinese 76.7%, Malay 14%, Indian 7.9%, other 1.4% |
Exchange rates | bolivianos per US dollar - 7.8616 (2007), 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003) | Singapore dollars per US dollar - 1.7365 (January 2001), 1.7240 (2000), 1.6950 (1999), 1.6736 (1998), 1.4848 (1997), 1.4100 (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 Sellapan Rama (S. R.) NATHAN (since 1 September 1999) head of government: Prime Minister GOH Chok Tong (since 28 November 1990) and Deputy Prime Ministers LEE Hsien Loong (since 28 November 1990) and Tony TAN Keng Yam (since 1 August 1995) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president, responsible to Parliament elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 28 August 1999 (next to be held NA August 2005); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president; deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Sellapan Rama (S. R.) NATHAN elected president unopposed |
Exports | 18,500 bbl/day (2007 est.) | $137 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
Exports - commodities | natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin | machinery and equipment (including electronics), chemicals, mineral fuels |
Exports - partners | Brazil 45.5%, US 10.8%, Argentina 9.2%, Colombia 6.8%, Japan 5.5%, South Korea 4.3% (2006) | US 19%, Malaysia 17%, Hong Kong 8%, Japan 7%, Taiwan 5%, Thailand 4%, UK 4%, Netherlands 3.8%, China 3%, South Korea 3%, Germany 3% (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band
note: similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band |
two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white; near the hoist side of the red band, there is a vertical, white crescent (closed portion is toward the hoist side) partially enclosing five white five-pointed stars arranged in a circle |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $109.8 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 14.5%
industry: 30.5% services: 55% (2006 est.) |
agriculture:
NEGL% industry: 30% services: 70% |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $26,500 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2007 est.) | 10.1% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 17 00 S, 65 00 W | 1 22 N, 103 48 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru | focal point for Southeast Asian sea routes |
Heliports | - | 1 (2000 est.) |
Highways | - | total:
3,150 km paved: 3,066 km (including 150 km of expressways) unpaved: 84 km (2000) |
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 | as a transportation and financial services hub, Singapore is vulnerable, despite strict laws and enforcement, to use as a transit point for Golden Triangle heroin and as a venue for money laundering |
Imports | 8,600 bbl/day (2007 est.) | $127 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans | machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | Brazil 29.3%, Argentina 16%, Chile 12.1%, US 9.1%, Peru 8.1% (2006) | US 17%, Japan 17%, Malaysia 16%, Thailand 5%, China 5%, Taiwan 4%, Germany 3%, Saudi Arabia 3% (1999) |
Independence | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) | 9 August 1965 (from Malaysia) |
Industrial production growth rate | 1.1% (2007 est.) | 14% (2000 est.) |
Industries | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing | electronics, chemicals, financial services, oil drilling equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages, ship repair, entrepot trade, biotechnology |
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.) |
3.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 12% (2007 est.) | 1.4% (2000) |
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 | APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, Australia Group (observer), BIS, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNTAET, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 9 (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); 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 (chief justice is appointed by the president with the advice of the prime minister, other judges are appointed by the president with the advice of the chief justice); Court of Appeals |
Labor force | 4.793 million (2006 est.) | 2.1 million (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 40%
industry: 17% services: 43% (2006 est.) |
financial, business, and other services 35%, manufacturing 21%, construction 13%, transportation and communication 9% |
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:
2% permanent crops: 6% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 5% other: 87% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) | Chinese (official), Malay (official and national), Tamil (official), English (official) |
Legal system | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on English common law; 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 Parliament (83 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 2 January 1997 (next to be held by 26 August 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - PAP 65% (in contested constituencies), other 35%; seats by party - PAP 81, WP 1, SPP 1; note - subsequent to the election, there was a change in the distribution of seats, the new distribution is as follows: PAP 80, WP 1, SPP 1, vacant 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 66.19 years
male: 63.53 years female: 68.97 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
80.17 years male: 77.22 years female: 83.35 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:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 93.5% male: 97% female: 89.8% (1999) |
Location | Central South America, southwest of Brazil | Southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia |
Map references | South America | Southeast Asia |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | exclusive fishing zone:
within and beyond territorial sea, as defined in treaties and practice territorial sea: 3 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:
879 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 20,849,168 GRT/33,215,317 DWT ships by type: bulk 134, cargo 111, chemical tanker 63, combination bulk 10, combination ore/oil 6, container 167, liquefied gas 28, livestock carrier 2, multi-functional large-load carrier 4, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 295, refrigerated cargo 7, roll on/roll off 7, short-sea passenger 1, specialized tanker 10, vehicle carrier 33 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Australia 1, Bermuda 12, Belgium 6, China 9, Denmark 29, Germany 8, Greece 1, Hong Kong 20, Indonesia 9, Japan 32, South Korea 3, Netherlands 2, Norway 9, Russia 1, Sweden 22, Thailand 22, Taiwan 17, UK 3, US 10 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2008) | Army, Navy, Air Force, People's Defense Force, Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $5 billion (FY00/01 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.9% (2006) | 4.5% (FY00/01 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
1,316,815 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
959,636 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) | Independence Day, 9 August (1965) |
Nationality | noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian |
noun:
Singaporean(s) adjective: Singapore |
Natural hazards | flooding in the northeast (March-April) | NA |
Natural resources | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower | fish, deepwater ports |
Net migration rate | -1.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 26.45 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 (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] | People's Action Party or PAP [GOH Chok Tong, secretary general] - the governing party; Singapore Democratic Party or SDP [CHEE Soon Juan]; Singapore People's Party or SPP [CHIAM See Tong]; Workers' Party or WP [J. B. JEYARETNAM] |
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.) | 4,300,419 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 60% (2006 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.42% (2007 est.) | 3.5% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Singapore |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) | AM 0, FM 16, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Radios | - | 2.6 million (2000) |
Railways | total: 3,504 km
narrow gauge: 3,504 km 1.000-m gauge (2006) |
total:
38.6 km narrow gauge: 38.6 km 1.000-m gauge note: there is a 83 km mass transit system with 48 stations |
Religions | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5% | Buddhist (Chinese), Muslim (Malays), Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Taoist, Confucianist |
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:
1.08 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single) | 21 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:
major consideration given to serving business interests; excellent international service domestic: excellent domestic facilities international: submarine cables to Malaysia (Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia), Indonesia, and the Philippines; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean region) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 646,300 (2005) | 1.928 million (November 2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2.421 million (2005) | 2.333 million (November 2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 48 (1997) | 6 (2000) |
Terrain | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin | lowland; gently undulating central plateau contains water catchment area and nature preserve |
Total fertility rate | 2.76 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 1.22 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2006) | 3% (2000 est.) |
Waterways | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2007) | none |