"text":"<p>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 coups and countercoups, with the last coup occurring in 1978. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and illegal drug production.</p> <p>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, indigenous majority. In December 2009 and October 2014, President MORALES easily won reelection. His party maintained control of the legislative branch of the government, which has allowed him to continue his process of change. In February 2016, MORALES narrowly lost a referendum to approve a constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to compete in the 2019 presidential election. However, a 2017 Supreme Court ruling stating that term limits violate human rights provided the justification for MORALES to be chosen by his party to run again in 2019. MORALES attempted to claim victory in the 20 October 2019 election, but widespread allegations of electoral fraud, rising violence, and pressure from the military ultimately forced him to flee the country. An interim government, led by President Jeanine ANEZ Chavez, prepared new elections that took place on 18 October 2020.</p>"
"text":"a high altitude plain in the west between two cordillera of the Andes, known as the Altiplano, is the focal area for most of the population; a dense settlement pattern is also found in and around the city of Santa Cruz, located on the eastern side of the Andes"
"text":"<p>flooding in the northeast (March to April)</p><p><strong>volcanism:</strong> volcanic activity in Andes Mountains on the border with Chile; historically active volcanoes in this region are Irruputuncu (5,163 m), which last erupted in 1995, and the Olca-Paruma volcanic complex (5,762 m to 5,167 m)</p>"
"text":"<strong>note 1:</strong> landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru<br><br><strong>note 2:</strong> the southern regions of Peru and the extreme northwestern part of Bolivia are considered to be the place of origin for the common potato, while southeast Bolivia and northwest Argentina seem to be the original development site for peanuts"
"text":"Mestizo (mixed White and Amerindian ancestry) 68%, Indigenous 20%, White 5%, Cholo/Chola 2%, African descent 1%, other 1%, unspecified 3%; 44% of respondents indicated feeling part of some indigenous group, predominantly Quechua or Aymara (2009 est.)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> results among surveys vary based on the wording of the ethnicity question and the available response choices; the 2001 national census did not provide \"Mestizo\" as a response choice, resulting in a much higher proportion of respondents identifying themselves as belonging to one of the available indigenous ethnicity choices; the use of \"Mestizo\" and \"Cholo\" varies among response choices in surveys, with surveys using the terms interchangeably, providing one or the other as a response choice, or providing the two as separate response choices"
"text":"Spanish (official) 60.7%, Quechua (official) 21.2%, Aymara (official) 14.6%, Guarani (official) 0.6%, other native languages 0.4%, foreign languages 2.4%, none 0.1%; note - Bolivia's 2009 constitution designates Spanish and all indigenous languages as official; 36 indigenous languages are specified, including a few that are extinct (2001 est.)"
"text":"<br>La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"<p>Bolivia ranks at or near the bottom among Latin American countries in several areas of health and development, including poverty, education, fertility, malnutrition, mortality, and life expectancy. On the positive side, more children are being vaccinated and more pregnant women are getting prenatal care and having skilled health practitioners attend their births.</p><p>Bolivia’s income inequality is the highest in Latin America and one of the highest in the world. Public education is of poor quality, and educational opportunities are among the most unevenly distributed in Latin America, with girls and indigenous and rural children less likely to be literate or to complete primary school. The lack of access to education and family planning services helps to sustain Bolivia’s high fertility rate—approximately three children per woman. Bolivia’s lack of clean water and basic sanitation, especially in rural areas, contributes to health problems.</p><p>Between 7% and 16% of Bolivia’s population lives abroad (estimates vary in part because of illegal migration). Emigrants primarily seek jobs and better wages in Argentina (the principal destination), the US, and Spain. In recent years, more restrictive immigration policies in Europe and the US have increased the flow of Bolivian emigrants to neighboring countries. Fewer Bolivians migrated to Brazil in 2015 and 2016 because of its recession; increasing numbers have been going to Chile, mainly to work as miners.</p>"
"text":"a high altitude plain in the west between two cordillera of the Andes, known as the Altiplano, is the focal area for most of the population; a dense settlement pattern is also found in and around the city of Santa Cruz, located on the eastern side of the Andes"
"text":"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"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands,"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation"
}
},
"Air pollutants":{
"particulate matter emissions":{
"text":"20.24 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)"
},
"carbon dioxide emissions":{
"text":"21.61 megatons (2016 est.)"
},
"methane emissions":{
"text":"21.01 megatons (2020 est.)"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid"
"text":"La Paz is a shortening of the original name of the city, Nuestra Senora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace); Sucre is named after Antonio Jose de Sucre (1795-1830), military hero in the independence struggle from Spain and the second president of Bolivia"
},
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> at approximately 3,630 m above sea level, La Paz's elevation makes it the highest capital city in the world"
"text":"proposed through public petition by at least 20% of voters or by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly; passage requires approval by at least two-thirds majority vote of the total membership of the Assembly and approval in a referendum; amended 2013"
}
},
"Legal system":{
"text":"civil law system with influences from Roman, Spanish, canon (religious), French, and indigenous law"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"yes"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"yes"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"yes"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"3 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal and compulsory"
"text":"President Luis Alberto ARCE Catacora (since 8 November 2020); Vice President David CHOQUEHUANCA Cespedes (since 8 November 2020); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government"
"text":"president and vice president directly elected on the same ballot one of 3 ways: candidate wins at least 50% of the vote, or at least 40% of the vote and 10% more than the next highest candidate; otherwise a second round is held and the winner determined by simple majority vote; president and vice president are elected by majority vote to serve a 5-year term; no term limits (changed from two consecutive term limit by Constitutional Court in late 2017); election last held on 18 October 2020 (next to be held in October 2025)"
"text":"<br><em>2020:</em> Luis Alberto ARCE Catacora elected president; percent of vote - Luis Alberto ARCE Catacora (MAS) 55.1%; Carlos Diego MESA Gisbert (CC) 28.8%; Luis Fernando CAMACHO Vaca (Creemos) 14%; other 2.1%<br><br><em>2018:</em> Juan Evo MORALES Ayma reelected president; percent of vote - Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (MAS) 61%; Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana (UN) 24.5%; Jorge QUIROGA Ramirez (POC) 9.1%; other 5.4%; note - MORALES resigned from office on 10 November 2019 over alleged election rigging; resignations of all his constitutionally designated successors followed, including the Vice President, President of the Senate, President of the Chamber of Deputies, and First Vice President of the Senate, leaving the Second Vice President of the Senate, Jeanine ANEZ Chavez, the highest-ranking official still in office; her appointment to the presidency was endorsed by Bolivia's Constitutional Court, and she served as interim president until the inauguration of Luis Alberto ARCE Catacora, winner of the 18 October 2020 presidential election"
"text":"bicameral Plurinational Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional consists of:<br>Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (36 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)<br>Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; 70 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, 53 directly elected in single-seat constituencies by closed party-list proportional representation vote, and 7 (apportioned to non-contiguous, rural areas in 7 of the 9 states) directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote; members serve 5-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"<br>Chamber of Senators - last held on 18 October 2020 (next to be held in 2025)<br>Chamber of Deputies - last held on 18 October 2020 (next to be held in 2025)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"<br>Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 21, ACC 11, Creemos 4; <br>Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 75, ACC 39, Creemos 16"
"text":"Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo de Justicia (consists of 12 judges or ministros organized into civil, penal, social, and administrative chambers); Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal (consists of 7 primary and 7 alternate magistrates); Plurinational Electoral Organ (consists of 7 members and 6 alternates); National Agro-Environment Court (consists of 5 primary and 5 alternate judges; Council of the Judiciary (consists of 3 primary and 3 alternate judges)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Supreme Court, Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal, National Agro-Environmental Court, and Council of the Judiciary candidates pre-selected by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly and elected by direct popular vote; judges elected for 6-year terms; Plurinational Electoral Organ judges appointed - 6 by the Legislative Assembly and 1 by the president of the republic; members serve single 6-year terms"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"National Electoral Court; District Courts (in each of the 9 administrative departments); agro-environmental lower courts"
"text":"Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]<br>Community Citizen Alliance or ACC [Carlos Diego MESA Gisbert]<br>Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Juan Evo MORALES Ayma]<br>National Unity or UN [Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana]<br>Social Democrat Movement or MDS [Ruben COSTAS Aguilera]<br>We Believe or Creemos [Luis Fernando CAMACHO Vaca]",
"note":"<em>note:</em> the Democrat Unity Coalition or UD [Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana] was a coalition comprised of several of the largest opposition parties participating in the 2014 election, which included the Democrats (MDS), National Unity Front (UN), and Without Fear Movement"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> in September 2008, the US expelled the Bolivian ambassador to the US in reciprocity for Bolivia expelling the US ambassador to Bolivia; in November 2019, the interim Bolivian Government names Oscar SERRATE Cuellar as its temporary special representative to the US"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> in September 2008, the Bolivian Government expelled the US Ambassador to Bolivia, Philip GOLDBERG, and both countries have yet to reinstate their ambassadors"
"text":"three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band; red stands for bravery and the blood of national heroes, yellow for the nation's mineral resources, and green for the fertility of the land",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; in 2009, a presidential decree made it mandatory for a so-called wiphala - a square, multi-colored flag representing the country's indigenous peoples - to be used alongside the traditional flag"
"text":"City of Potosi (c), El Fuerte de Samaipata (c), Historic Sucre (c), Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos (c), Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (n), Tiahuanacu (c), Qhapaq Ñan/Andean Road System (c)"
"text":"<p>Bolivia is a resource rich country with strong growth attributed to captive markets for natural gas exports – to Brazil and Argentina. However, the country remains one of the least developed countries in Latin America because of state-oriented policies that deter investment.</p><p></p><p>Following an economic crisis during the early 1980s, reforms in the 1990s spurred private investment, stimulated economic growth, and cut poverty rates. 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 2005-06, the government passed hydrocarbon laws that imposed significantly higher royalties and required foreign firms then operating under risk-sharing contracts to surrender all production to the state energy company in exchange for a predetermined service fee; the laws engendered much public debate. High commodity prices between 2010 and 2014 sustained rapid growth and large trade surpluses with GDP growing 6.8% in 2013 and 5.4% in 2014. The global decline in oil prices that began in late 2014 exerted downward pressure on the price Bolivia receives for exported gas and resulted in lower GDP growth rates - 4.9% in 2015 and 4.3% in 2016 - and losses in government revenue as well as fiscal and trade deficits.</p><p></p><p>A lack of foreign investment in the key sectors of mining and hydrocarbons, along with conflict among social groups, pose challenges for the Bolivian economy. In 2015, President Evo MORALES expanded efforts to court international investment and boost Bolivia’s energy production capacity. MORALES passed an investment law and promised not to nationalize additional industries in an effort to improve the investment climate. In early 2016, the Government of Bolivia approved the 2016-2020 National Economic and Social Development Plan aimed at maintaining growth of 5% and reducing poverty.</p>"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> data cover general government debt and includes debt instruments issued by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities"
"text":"<p>with low national GDP and remote landlocked geography, Bolivia’s telecom services are historically expensive and neglected resulting in low penetration; fixed telecom market is provided by non-profit cooperatives focused on improvement of services such as broadband and paid TV services; some operators adopted fixed-wireless technologies and fiber-optic capacity; fixed broadband services migrating from DSL to fiber remain expensive and largely unavailable in many areas; historically relied on satellite services or terrestrial links and inaugurated a new cable running via Peru to the Pacific; operator aims to increase coverage through mobile networks for voice and data access, especially to rural areas; space agency plans to boost satellite-based Internet; in 2020, communications towers in Yapacani were destroyed due to pandemic conspiracy fears; importer of broadcasting equipment from China</p> (2021)"
"text":"5 per 100 fixed-line, mobile-cellular telephone use expanding rapidly and teledensity stands at 101 per 100 persons; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz, Santa Cruz, and other capital cities (2020)"
"text":"country code - 591; Bolivia has no direct access to submarine cable networks and must therefore connect to the rest of the world either via satellite or through terrestrial links across neighboring countries; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments"
"text":"large number of radio and TV stations broadcasting with private media outlets dominating; state-owned and private radio and TV stations generally operating freely, although both pro-government and anti-government groups have attacked media outlets in response to their reporting"
"text":"Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito de Boliviano, EB), Bolivian Naval Force (Fuerza Naval Boliviana, FNB), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB); Ministry of Government: National Police (Policía Nacional de Bolivia, PNB; includes paramilitary Anti-Narcotics Special Forces (Fuerza Especial de Lucha Contra el Narcotráfico, FELCN)) and an Anti-Terrorist Group (GAT) (2021)",
"text":"information varies widely; approximately 40,000 active troops (28,000 Army; 5,000 Navy; 7,000 Air Force); note - a considerable portion of the Navy personnel are marines and naval police; approximately 40,000 National Police (2021)"
"text":"the Bolivian Armed Forces are equipped with a mix of mostly older Brazilian, Chinese, European, and US equipment; since 2010, China and France are the leading suppliers of military hardware to Bolivia (2021)"
"text":"compulsory for all men between the ages of 18 and 22; men can volunteer from the age of 16, women from 18; service is for one year; Search and Rescue service can be substituted for citizens who have reached the age of compulsory military service; duration of this service is 2 years (2021)"
"text":"<p>Bolivia has a small naval force for patrolling some 5,000 miles of navigable rivers to combat narcotics trafficking and smuggling, provide disaster relief, and deliver supplies to remote rural areas, as well as for maintaining a presence on Lake Titicaca; the Navy also exists in part to cultivate a maritime tradition and as a reminder of Bolivia’s desire to regain the access to the Pacific Ocean that the country lost to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879-1884); every year on 23 March, the Navy participates in parades and government ceremonies commemorating the Día Del Mar (Day of the Sea) holiday that remembers the loss</p>"
"text":"<p>Chile and Peru rebuff Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, but Chile offers instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian products; contraband smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal narcotic trafficking are problems in the porous areas of its border regions with all of its neighbors (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru)</p>"
"text":"<p>third-largest source country of cocaine and a major transit for Peruvian cocaine; in 2020 coca cultivation totaled 39,400 hectares (ha); illicit drug consumption is low in Bolivia; most cocaine is exported to other Latin American countries, such as Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, for domestic consumption, or for onward transit to West Africa and Europe, not the United States</p>"
