1987 Edition

Boundary disputes

none; has wanted a sovereign corridor to the Pacific Ocean since Atacama area was lost to Chile in 1884; dispute with Chile over Rio Lauca water rights

Climate

varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid

Comparative area

about the size of California and Texas combined

Environment

cold, thin air of high plateau makes physical activity very difficult; overgrazing; soi] erosion; desertification

Land boundaries

6,083 km total

Land use

3% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 25% meadows and pastures; 52% forest and woodland; 20% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Special notes

landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world’s highest navigable lake, with Peru

Terrain

high plateau, hills, lowland plains

Total area

400 km « Trinidad Lago Titicaca Soe LA PAZ cochabamba “Santa Cruz e Orura Sucra a ? Potost “Tarija

1,098,580 km: land area: 1,084,390 km?

Ethnic divisions

30% Quechua, 25% Aymara, 25-30% mixed, 5-15% European

Infant mortality rate

142/1,000 (1983)

Labor force

1.7 million (1983); 50% agriculture, 26% services and utilities, 10% manufacturing, 4% mining, 10% other

Language

Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara (all official)

Life expectancy

49

Literacy

63%

Nationality

noun—Bolivian(s); adjective Bolivian

Organized labor

150,000-200,000, concentrated in mining, industry, construction, and transportation; mostly organized under Bolivian Workers’ Central (COB) labor federation

Population

6,309,642 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.19%

Religion

95% Roman Catholic; active Protestant minority, especially Methodist

Administrative divisions

nine departments with limited autonomy

Branches

executive; bicameral legislature (National Congress—Senate and Chamber of Deputies); Congress began meeting again in October 1982; judiciary

Elections

presidential election on 14 July 1985 did not produce the required majority for any of the three leading candidates; Victor Paz Estenssoro, center-left leader of the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR), placed second in the popular vote to center-right Hugo Banzer, head of the Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN); however, the MNR won 94 congressional seats compared to the ADN’s 5]; as a result, the Bolivian Congress on 5 August chose Paz Estenssoro to head the government; he was inaugurated on 6 August Political parties and leaders: the two parties that garnered the most votes in the 1985 elections, the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR) and the Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN), continue to have a tactical alliance; MNR, Victor Paz Estenssoro; ADN, Hugo Banzer; Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), Jaime Paz Zamora; Nationalist Revolutionary Movement of the Left (MNRI), Hernan Siles Zuazo; Bolivian Socialist Falange (FSB), Mario Gutiérrez; Authentic Revolutionary Party (PRA), Walter Guevara; Christian Democratic Party (PDC), Benjamin Miguel; Nationalist Revolutionary Party of the Left, Juan Lechin Oquendo

Government leader

Victor PAZ Estenssoro, President (since August 1985)

Legal system

based on Spanish law and Code Napoleon; constitution adopted 1967; constitution in force except where contrary to dispositions dictated by governments since 1969; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Member of

FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IATP, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB— Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITC, ITU, [WC—International Wheat Council, LAIA and Andean SubRegional Group (created in May 1969 within LAIA, formerly LAFTA), NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 6 August

Official name

Republic of Bolivia

Suffrage

universal and compulsory at age 18 if married, 21 if single

Type

republic Capital; La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital and seat of judiciary)

Voting strength

(1985 election) ADN 28.11%, MNR 26.66%; MIR 8.86%

Agriculture

main crops—potatoes, corn, rice, sugarcane, yucca, bananas, coffee; imports significant quantities of wheat; an illegal producer of coca for the international drug trade

Budget

revenues, $476.9 million; expenditures, $669.8 million (1986 est.)

Electric power

508,000 kW capacity; 2,080 million kWh produced, 330 kWh per capita (1986) Bolivia (continued)

Exports

$673 million (f.0.b., 1985); tin, natural gas, silver, tungsten, zinc, antimony, lead, bismuth, gold, coffee, sugar, cotton

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$3.79 billion (1986 est.), $610 per capita; 79.2% private consumption, 16.6% public consumption, 12.0% gross domestic investment; - 11.0% current account balance (1983); real growth rate - 3.7% (1986)

Imports

$582 million (c.i.f., 1985); foodstuffs, chemicals, capital goods, pharmaceuticals, transportation

Major industries

mining, smelting, petroleum refining, food processing, textiles, and clothing

Major trade partners

exports—Argentina 44%, US 24%, EC 19%, FRG 6%, UK 4%; imports—Brazil 22%, US 16%, EC 16%, Argentina 14%, Japan 138%, FRG 4% (1984)

Monetary conversion rate

1,923,000 pesos=US$1 (December 1986); currency changed to boliviano on 1 January 1987 with a one-year transition period; 1.92 bolivianos=US$1 (1 January 1987)

Natural resources

tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron ore

Airfields

711 total, 643 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; | with runways over 3,659 m, 7 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 130 with runways 1,220-2,489 m

Civil air

56 major transport aircraft

Highways

38,836 km total; 1,300 km paved, 6,700 km gravel, 30,836 km improved and unimproved earth

Inland waterways

officially estimated to be 10,000 km of commercially navigable waterways

Pipelines

crude oil, 1,670 km; refined products, 1,495 km; natural gas, 580 km

Ports

none (Bolivian cargo moved through Arica and Antofagasta, Chile, and Matarani, Peru)

Railroads

3,675 km total; 3,538 km 1.000meter gauge and 32 km 0.760-meter gauge, all government owned, single track; 105 km 1,000-meter gauge, privately owned

Telecommunications

radio-relay system being expanded; improved international services; 144,300 telephones (2.6 per 100 popl.); 129 AM, 62 shortwave, 38 TV stations; 1] Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT station