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World > South America > Bolivia
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Bolivia |
Introduction:
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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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| Official name: |
Republic of Bolivia |
| Capital: |
name: La Paz (administrative capital)
geographic coordinates: 16 30 S, 68 09 W
time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
note: Sucre (constitutional capital) |
| Government type: |
republic |
| Population: |
9,119,152 (July 2007 est.) |
| Languages: |
Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) |
| Official Currency: |
Bolivian Boliviano (BOB) |
| Currency code: |
BOB |
| Area: |
total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km
water: 14,190 sq km |
| Climate: |
varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid |
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Map of Bolivia
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