Population: 8,857,870 (July 2005 est.)
Capital: La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital and seat of
judiciary)
Languages: Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official)
Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5%
Government: republic
Climate: varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid
Terrain: rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau
(Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin
Geography: landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru
Ethnic groups: Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15%
Economy: 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 percent 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 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. Foreign investment
dried up as companies adopted a wait-and-see attitude regarding new President Carlos MESA's willingness to protect investor
rights in the face of increased demands by radical groups that the government expropriate foreign-owned assets. Real GDP
growth in 2003-05 - helped by increased demand for natural gas in neighboring Brazil - was positive, but still below the
levels seen during the 1990s. Bolivia remains dependent on foreign aid from multilateral lenders and foreign governments.
GDP per capita: purchasing power
parity - $2,700 (2005 est.)
GDP real growth: 3% (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate: 8% in urban areas
widespread underemployment (2005 est.)
Internet country code: .bo
Dial code: +591
Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history
has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and counter-coups. Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in
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.