Bolivia
Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational IssuesCountry information - Bolivia
Country name - conventional long form : Republic of Bolivia
Country name - conventional short form : Bolivia
Country name - local long form : Republica de Bolivia
Country name - local short form : Bolivia
Country name - former :
Country code : BL
Government type : republic
Capital - name : La Paz (administrative capital)
Capital - time difference : UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
National holiday : Independence Day, 6 August (1825)
Population : 9,247,816 (July 2008 est.)
Nationality - noun : Bolivian(s)
Nationality - adjective : Bolivian
Languages : Spanish 60.7% (official), Quechua 21.2% (official), Aymara 14.6% (official), foreign languages 2.4%, other 1.2% (2001 census)
Currency (code) : boliviano (BOB)
Currency code : BOB
Major infectious diseases - degree of risk : high
Major infectious diseases - note :
Bolivia is located Central South America, southwest of Brazil. The climate is varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid. The terrain is rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin.
Background
This entry usually highlights major historic events and current issues and may include a statement about one or two key future trends.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.
