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Bolivia:
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Other pages in this profile of Bolivia:
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.
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Background |
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 nearly 200 coups and countercoups. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and illegal drug production. 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 majority. However, since taking office, his controversial strategies have exacerbated racial and economic tensions between the Amerindian populations of the Andean west and the non-indigenous communities of the eastern lowlands. |
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Location |
Central South America, southwest of Brazil |
Geographic coordinates |
17 00 S, 65 00 W |
Map references |
South America |
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 |
Land boundaries |
total: 6,940 km border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,423 km, Chile 860 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 1,075 km |
Coastline |
0 km (landlocked) |
Maritime claims |
none (landlocked) |
Climate |
varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid |
Terrain |
rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin |
Elevation extremes |
lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
Natural resources |
tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower |
Land use |
arable land: 2.78% permanent crops: 0.19% other: 97.03% (2005) |
Irrigated land |
1,320 sq km (2003) |
Natural hazards |
flooding in the northeast (March-April) |
Environment - current issues |
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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection |
Geography - note |
landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru |
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Copyright 2008 World Sites Atlas (sitesatlas.com) |