Bolivia

Bolivia^[a] /bəˈlɪviə/ (listen), officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia,^[b][8][9] is a country in South America. It is land locked by Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Peru, and Chile. Luis Alberto Arce Catacora became the president of Bolivia in November 2020. The population of Bolivia is 8-9 million (2019).

Plurinational State of Bolivia Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia  (Spanish) Tetã Hetãvoregua Mborivia  (Guarani) Wuliwya Suyu  (Aymara) Puliwya Mamallaqta (Quechua)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "La Unión es la Fuerza" (Spanish) "Unity is Strength"[1]
Anthem: "Himno Nacional de Bolivia" (Spanish)
Dual flag Wiphala
Location of  Bolivia  (dark green) in South America  (grey)
Capital	Sucre (constitutional and judicial) La Paz (executive and legislative)
Largest city	Santa Cruz 17°48′S 63°10′W
Official languages[2]	Spanish Quechua Aymara Guarani and 33 others (all Indigenous languages)
Ethnic groups (2009[3])	68% Mestizo (mixed Native and White) 20% Native Bolivian 5% White Bolivian 2% Cholo 1% Afro-Bolivian 1% Others 3% Unspecified
Religion (2018)[4]	88.9% Christianity —70.0% Roman Catholic —17.2% Protestant —1.7% Other Christian 9.3% No religion 1.2% Other religions 0.6% No answer
Demonym(s)	Bolivian
Government	Unitary presidential constitutional republic
• President	Luis Arce
• Vice President	David Choquehuanca
Legislature	Plurinational Legislative Assembly
• Upper house	Chamber of Senators
• Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Independence
• Recognized	21 July 1847
• Admitted to the United Nations	14 November 1945
• Current republic	7 February 2009
Area
• Total	1,098,581 km2 (424,164 sq mi) (27th)
• Water (%)	1.29
Population
• census estimate	8,014,380 hab (83rd)
• Density	10.4/km2 (26.9/sq mi) (224th)
GDP (PPP)	2019 estimate
• Total	$89.018 billion[5] (88th)
• Per capita	$7,790[5] (123rd)
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Total	$40.687 billion[5] (90th)
• Per capita	$3,823[5] (117th)
Gini (2018)	42.2[6] medium
HDI (2019)	0.692[7] medium · 107th
Currency	Boliviano (BOB)
Time zone	UTC−4 (BOT)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+591
ISO 3166 code	BO
Internet TLD	.bo
^ While Sucre is the constitutional capital, La Paz is the seat of government and the executive capital. See below.

Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar. The main languages are Spanish and Quechua, but there are other languages too.

History

Bolivia used to be a colony of Spain. The silver mines in Bolivia made most of Spain's money, and Spain used the Native Bolivians as slaves to work in the mines. After many wars, Simón Bolívar helped Bolivia to be an independent country. After gaining independence in 1825, Bolivia experienced a very divisive 19th century, politically and racially. There was strong political differences amongst liberals and conservatives in Bolivia following their independence. Additionally, creoles in Bolivia dominated Bolivian society until late in the 19th century when Indians and other indigenous communities started to uprise. A notable figure in these indigenous uprisings was Pablo Zárate Willka.^[10]

Geography

Map of Bolivia from the CIA World Factbook

Uyuni

Bolivia is 424,135 mi² (1,098,581 km²).^[11] This means that Bolivia is the world's 28th-largest country (after Ethiopia). It is the same sort of size as Mauritania.

Bolivia is a landlocked nation, which means every border of Bolivia is a border with another country, and so it does not have a sea. It used to own some of the Pacific coast, but it lost it in 1879 in the War of the Pacific. The west of Bolivia is on the Andes mountain range. The highest mountain in Bolivia is called Nevado de Sajama and it is near the city of Oruro. Although this part of the country is very high with lots of mountains, there are also parts of Bolivia which are very flat, and parts of the country which are very near sea level. There is also a bit of Bolivia covered by the Amazon rainforest, and a big lake which is the highest lake in the world. This lake is called Lake Titicaca.

The major cities are La Paz, El Alto, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba. For other places in Bolivia see List of cities in Bolivia.

Demographics

The population of Bolivia is approximately 10,907,778 people. The ethnic composition of the country is like the following:

• 62%: Native American.
• 26%: Mestizo.
• 10%: White.
• 2%: Black

Economy

Bolivia suffers from poverty. Over 65% of the population lives below the poverty line.^[12]

Divisions

Bolivia is divided into nine departments. The departments are divided into 112 provinces. The provinces are divided into 339 municipalities and into native community lands.^[13]

Territorial division of Bolivia
Department	Abbreviation (ISO)	Population	Surface (km²)	Density	Capital city
Bolivia	BO	10.027.644	1.098.581	9,1	Sucre
Beni	BO-B	430.049	213.564	1,9	Trinidad
Chuquisaca	BO-H	631.062	51.524	11,9	Sucre
Cochabamba	BO-C	1.786.040	55.631	22,7	Cochabamba
La Paz	BO-L	2.756.989	133.985	19,9	La Paz
Oruro	BO-O	444.093	53.558	8,2	Oruro
Pando	BO-N	75.335	63.827	1,1	Cobija
Potosí	BO-P	780.392	118.218	6,5	Potosí
Santa Cruz	BO-S	2.626.697	370.621	7,1	Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Tarija	BO-T	496.988	37.623	12,5	Tarija
Source: Demographic Projections 2008, Bolivian National Demographic Institute.[14] The departmental densitiy has been calculated with the population of 2006.

Culture

Bolivian culture has many Inca, Aymara and other native influences in religion, music and clothing. There is a big festival in Oruro, which is called "El carnaval de Oruro". People in Bolivia like playing football, and football, which is often played in the street. Zoos are also very popular, but they do not have much money.

National symbols

The Cantuta (often spelled kantuta or qantuta) (Cantua buxifolia or Fuchsia buxifolia) is a flower found in the Yungas, and is the national flower of Bolivia along with the patujú (Heliconia rostrata) found in the tropical regions of Bolivia.

Related pages

• Bolivia at the Olympics
• Bolivia national football team
• List of rivers of Bolivia