Bolivia

BOLIVIA

Information about travelling to Bolivia

Bolivia is located in Central South America, southwest of Brazil

Facts about Bolivia
Population9,247,816 (July 2008 est.
CapitalLa Paz (administrative capital)
Time zoneUTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Sucre (constitutional capita
Location Central South America, southwest of Brazil

General info about Bolivia
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.
Disease threats
degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid
Languages spoken
Spanish 60.7% (official), Quechua 21.2% (official), Aymara 14.6% (official), foreign languages 2.4%, other 1.2% (2001 census)
What about drugs?
world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 29,500 hectares under cultivation in 2007, a slight increase over 2006; third largest producer of cocaine, estimated at 120 metric tons of potential pure cocaine in 2007; transit country for Peruvian and Colombian cocaine destined for Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Europe; cultivation generally increasing since 2000, despite eradication and alternative crop programs; weak border controls; some money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay; major cocaine consumption (2007)
Ethnic division
Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15%
HIV/AIDS prevalence rate
0.1% (2003 est.)
Climate
varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid
Resources
tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower
Economy
Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. Following a disastrous economic crisis during the early 1980s, reforms spurred private investment, stimulated economic growth, and cut poverty rates in the 1990s. The period 2003-05 was characterized by political instability, racial tensions, and violent protests against plans - subsequently abandoned - to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005, the government passed a controversial hydrocarbons law that imposed significantly higher royalties and required foreign firms then operating under risk-sharing contracts to surrender all production to the state energy company. In early 2008, higher earnings for mining and hydrocarbons exports pushed the current account surplus to 9.4% of GDP and the government's higher tax take produced a fiscal surplus after years of large deficits. Private investment as a share of GDP, however, remains among the lowest in Latin America, and inflation remained at double-digit levels in 2008. The decline in commodity prices in late 2008, the lack of foreign investment in the mining and hydrocarbon sectors, and the suspension of trade benefits with the United States will pose challenges for the Bolivian economy in 2009.
Environment
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

Cities in Bolivia

abapo     achacachi     aiquile     arani     ascension     atocha     bermejo     betanzos     boyuibe     buena vista     camargo     camiri     capinota     caracollo     caranavi     challapata     charagua     chimore     chulumani     cliza     cobija     cochabamba     colomi     colquechaca     colquiri     comarapa     concepcion     copacabana     coripata     coroico     cotoca     el carmen     el torno     entre rios     eucaliptus     guanay     guayaramerin     huanuni     irpa irpa     jorochito     la belgica     la guardia     la paz     lahuachaca     limoncito     llallagua     los negros     machacamarca     mairana     mapiri     mineros     mizque     monteagudo     montero     oruro     padilla     pailon     patacamaya     poopo     portachuelo     potosi     puerto pailas     puerto quijarro     puerto suarez     punata     quime     reyes     riberalta     robore     rurrenabaque     samaipata     san borja     san carlos     san ignacio     san javier     san joaquin     san jose     san julian     san lorenzo     san matias     san miguel     san pedro     san rafael     san ramon     santa barbara     santa rita     santa rosa     sipe sipe     sorata     sucre     tarabuco     tarata     tarija     tipuani     totoral     trinidad     tupiza     uncia     urubicha     uyuni     villamontes     villazon     viloco     warnes     yacuiba    

National airlines
Aerosurairline website
Englishairline website


Airports in Bolivia
ApoloAPB
AscensionASC
BermejoBJO
HuacarajeBVK
BauresBVL
YacuibaBYC
CamiriCAM
J WilstermanCBB
E. BeltramCIJ
GuayaramerinGYA
El AltoLPB
MagdalenaMGD
MonteagudoMHW
San MatiasMQK
OruroORU
PotosiPOI
Puerto SuarezPSZ
Puerto RicoPUR
RoboreRBO
RurrenabaqueRBQ
ReyesREY
Gen BuechRIB
YacumaSBL
San JoaquinSJB
San JoseSJS
San JavierSJV
San Ignacio De VelascoSNG
Santa RosaSRB
San RamonSRD
SucreSRE
Capitan G Q GuardiaSRJ
El TrompilloSRZ
TrinidadTDD
TarijaTJA
VallegrandeVAH
VillamontesVLM
Viru Viru InternationalVVI


Beer in Bolivia (0.33l)
Cochabamba~ 0.5 EUR
San Matias~ 0.4 EUR
Santa Cruz~ 0.3 EUR
Sucre~ 0.5 EUR
Trinidad~ 0.2 EUR

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