LOCATION:

Location: Central South America, southwest of Brazil 

AREA:

total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km
water: 14,190 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Montana 

POPULATION

8,857,870

(July 2005 est.)

AGE STRUCTURE:

Age structure:
  
0-14 years: 35.7% (male 1,613,049/female 1,551,023)
15-64 years: 59.8% (male 2,591,328/female 2,701,892)
65 years and over: 4.5% (male 178,486/female 222,092)

(2005 est.)

MEDIAN AGE:

Median age:
  
total: 21.47 years
male: 20.79 years
female: 22.17 years

(2005 est.)

POPULATION GROWTH:

Population growth rate:
  
1.49%

(2005 est.)

INFANT MORTALITY RATE:

Infant mortality rate:
   
total: 53.11 deaths/1,000 live births
 
male: 56.7 deaths/1,000 live births
 
female: 49.33 deaths/1,000 live births

 (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS-ADULT PREVALENCE RATE:

HIV/AIDS Adult prevalence rate

1.9 %

HIV/AIDS- PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS :

ages 15-49
4800

low estimate:
1600

high estimate:
9400

HIV/AIDS-DEATH

Adults and Children deaths:

low estimate:
less than 500

high estimate:
less than 1,000

ETHNIC GROUPS:

Ethnic groups:
  
Quechua 30%,
mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%,
white 15%

RELIGIONS:

Religions:
  
Roman Catholic 95%,
Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5%

LANGUAGES:

Languages:
  
Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official)

LITERACY:

Literacy:
  
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 87.2%
male: 93.1%
female: 81.6%

(2003 est.)

GOVERNMENT TYPE:

Government type:
  
parliamentary democracy

CAPITAL:

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

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:

Administrative divisions:
  
9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento);
Chuquisaca, Cochabamba,
Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Pando,
Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija

INDEPENDENCE:

Independence:
  
6 August 1825 (from Spain)

ECONOMY:

Economy - overview:
  
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 investmenteconomic policies of President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA led to his
resignation and the cancellation of plans to exportBolivia'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 and 2004 -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:

GDP:
   
purchasing power parity -
$22.33 billion
 
(2004 est.)

POPULATION BELOW POVERT LINE:

Population below poverty line:
  
64%

(2004 est.)

(1999 est.)

INFLATION RATE:

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
   
4.9%
(2004 est.)

UNEMPLOYMENT:

Unemployment rate:
   
9.2% in urban areas
note: widespread underemployment

(2003 est.)

EXCHANGE RATES:

Exchange rates:
  
Exchange rates:
  
bolivianos per US dollar -

 7.9934 (2004),
7.6592 (2003),
7.17 (2002),
 6.6069 (2001),
6.1835 (2000)

ILLICIT DRUGS:
  
Illicit drugs:
  
world's third-largest cultivator of coca
(after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 28,450 hectares under cultivation in June 2003, a 23% increase from June 2002; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported mostly to or through Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to European and US drug markets; eradication and alternative crop programs under the MESA administration have been unable to keep pace with farmers' attempts to increase cultivation; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay.