"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 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 and 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 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 in October 2020; President Luis Alberto ARCE Catacora took office the following month.</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) 68.1%, Quechua (official) 17.2%, Aymara (official) 10.5%, Guarani (official) 0.6%, other 1.5%, unspecified 2.1%; note - Bolivia's 2009 constitution designates Spanish and all indigenous languages as official; 36 indigenous languages are specified, including a few that are extinct (2012 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"
}
},
"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"
"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>2019:</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 8 November 2020 inauguration of Luis Alberto ARCE Catacora, who was 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)"
"text":"<br>Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 21, ACC 11, Creemos 4; composition as of March 2022 - men 16, women 20, percent of women 55.6%<br>Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 75, ACC 39, Creemos 16; composition as of March 2022 - men 70, women 60, percent of women 46.2%; note - total Plurinational Legislative Assembly percent of women as of March 2022 - 48.2%"
"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":"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 Auza]<br>Revolutionary Left Front or FRI [Edgar GUZMAN Jauregui]<br>Social Democrat Movement or MDS [Ruben COSTAS Aguilera]<br>We Believe or Creemos [Luis Fernando CAMACHO Vaca]",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> We Believe or Creemos [Luis Fernando CAMACHO Vaca] is a coalition comprised of several opposition parties that participated in the 2020 election, which includes the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and Solidarity Civic Unity (UCS)"
"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":"resource-rich economy benefits during commodity booms; has bestowed juridical rights to Mother Earth, impacting extraction industries; increasing Chinese lithium mining trade relations; hard hit by COVID-19; increased fiscal spending amid poverty increases; rampant banking and finance corruption"
"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":"the structure of Bolivia’s fixed telecom market is different from most other countries; local services are primarily provided by 15 telecom cooperatives; these are non-profit-making companies privately owned and controlled by their users; since the market was liberalized, the cooperatives have also provided long-distance telephony, while several also offer broadband and pay TV service; they have invested in network upgrades in a bid to improve services for customers, and to expand their footprints; Bolivia has a multi-carrier system wherein consumers can choose a long-distance carrier for each call by dialing the carrier’s prefix; several operators have also adopted fixed-wireless technologies, and some rent fiber-optic capacity; the fixed broadband services remain expensive, though the cost of bandwidth is only a fraction of what it was only a few years ago; services are still unavailable in many rural and remote areas, and even in some of the major urban areas; being a landlocked country, Bolivia had no direct access to submarine cable networks, and relies on satellite services or terrestrial links across neighboring countries; in September 2020 a new cable running via Peru, has increased capacity and contributed to a dramatic fall in end-user prices; fixed broadband services are fast migrating from DSL to fiber, while there are also cable broadband services available in some major cities; in 2007 the focus was on providing telecom services in rural areas under a project known as ‘Territory with Total Coverage’; this project aims to increase telecom coverage through mobile rather than through fixed networks; Bolivia has almost twenty times as many mobile phone subscribers as fixed line connections, and the trend towards fixed-mobile substitution continues; all the mobile companies offer 3G and LTE services; due to the poor quality, high cost, and poor reach of DSL, mobile networks have become the principal platform for voice services and data access; by early 2021 companies’ networks reached more than 95% of the population; about 92% of all internet accesses are via smartphones (2021)"
"text":"4 per 100 fixed-line, mobile-cellular telephone use expanding rapidly and teledensity stands at 100 per 100 persons; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz, Santa Cruz, and other capital cities (2021)"
"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)"
"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 (2019)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control"
"text":"Bolivian Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas de Bolivia or FAB): Bolivian Army (Ejercito de Boliviano, EB), Bolivian Naval Force (Fuerza Naval Boliviana, FNB), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB)<br><br>Ministry of Government: National Police (Policía Nacional de Bolivia, PNB) (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the PNB includes two paramilitary forces, the Anti-Narcotics Special Forces (Fuerza Especial de Lucha Contra el Narcotráfico, FELCN) and the Anti-Terrorist Group (GAT); the PNB is part of the reserves for the Armed Forces; the police and military share responsibility for border enforcement"
"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 (2022)"
"text":"the military is equipped with a mix of mostly older Brazilian, Chinese, European, and US equipment; in recent years, France has been the leading supplier (2023)"
"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 12 months; Search and Rescue service can be substituted for citizens who have reached the age of compulsory military service; duration of this service is 24 months (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> foreign nationals 18-22 residing in Bolivia may join the armed forces; joining speeds the process of acquiring Bolivian citizenship by naturalization"
"text":"the Bolivian Armed Forces (FAB) are responsible for territorial defense but also have some internal security duties, particularly counternarcotics and border security; the FAB shares responsibility for border enforcement with the National Police (PNB), and it may be called out to assist the PNB with maintaining public order in critical situations; the Army is the largest service and is organized into 6 military regions and 10 divisional headquarters; most of the combat units are light, motorized, or mechanized infantry along with a sizeable contingent of mechanized, motorized, or horse cavalry; the Army also has a special operations command with airborne, ranger, and special forces units; the Air Force does not have any fighter aircraft but rather a small force of reconnaissance and transport aircraft and multirole helicopters<br><br>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 (2023)"
"text":"<p>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).<br><br><em>Bolivia-Chile:</em> Despite tariff-free access to ports in southern Peru and northern Chile, Bolivia persists with its long-standing claims to regain sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean. <br><br><em>Bolivia-Peru:</em> Despite tariff-free access to ports in southern Peru and northern Chile, Bolivia persists with its long-standing claims to regain sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean. Smuggling of archaeological artifacts from Peru to Bolivia, illegal timber and narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, and falsified documents are current issues.<br><br><em>Bolivia-Brazil:</em> The Roboré Accord of March 29, 1958 placed the long-disputed Isla Suárez/Ilha de Guajará-Mirim, a fluvial island on the Río Mamoré, between the two towns of Guajará-Mirim (Brazil) and Guayaramerin (Bolivia), under Bolivian administration but did not resolve the sovereignty dispute<br><br><em>Bolivia-Argentina:</em> Contraband smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal narcotic trafficking are problems in the porous areas of the border.<br><br><em>Bolivia-Paraguay:</em> On April 27, 2009, the president of Argentina hosted the presidents of Bolivia and Paraguay together with representatives of thefiver otherguarantor states --Brazil, Chile,Peru, the United States, and Uruguay --to the signing for the Final Record of the Boundary Commission in execution of the 1938 Peace Treaty between Bolivia and Paraguay.</p>"
"text":"<p>the third-largest source country of cocaine and a major transit country for Peruvian cocaine; coca cultivation in 2021 totaled 39,700 hectares (ha); most cocaine is exported to other Latin American countries, especially Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, for domestic consumption, or for onward transit from those countries to West Africa and Europe, not the United States.</p> <p></p>"
