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Facts about Bolivia
Bolivia
is named after the independence fighter Simón Bolívar
who gained independence from Spanish rule for Bolivia in 1825.
There have been almost 200 coups and counter-coups since then.
Bolivia is South America’s poorest country, with 70% of
its 8.6 million inhabitants living in poverty and 25% who are
malnourished. Its indigenous population, over 50% of the total,
are routinely discriminated against and are among the poorest.
It is this grinding poverty that led to massive protests in
April 2000 in Bolivia’s third largest city, Cochabamba.
It was a response to the effects of the takeover of the water
system by a subsidiary of the US multinational, Bechtel Corporation.
The huge price increases for drinking water which they implemented
forced some of the poorest families in South America to literally
choose between food or water. A popular uprising against the
company, repressed violently by government troops, left one
17-year-old boy dead and more than a hundred people wounded.
In April 2000 Bechtel was finally forced to leave but in November
2001 it filed a legal demand for US $ 25 million against the
Bolivian people – demanding compensation for its lost
opportunity to make future profits.
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Official Name:
Capital:
Area:
Population:
Ethnic groups:
Population growth rate:
Birth rate:
Death rate:
Infant mortality rate:
Life expectancy at birth:
Total fertility rate:
Languages:
Religions:
Illiteracy:
Education:
Population per doctor: |
República de Bolivia.
La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital).
1,098,581 sq km.
Sixth largest country in Latin America
4 times bigger than the UK.
8,857,870
Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed) 30%,
Aymara 25%, white 15%.
1.49%
23.76 births per 1,000 population
7.64 deaths per 1,000 population
Total: 53.11 deaths per 1,000 live births
(For UK: 6 per 1,000. For India: 98 per 1,000)
Female: 49.33 deaths per 1,000 live births
Male: 56.7 deaths per 1,000 live births
Total population: 65.5 years
(Life expectancy in the UK is 77 years)
Male: 62.89 years
Female: 68.25 years
2.94 children per woman
Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official)
Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5%
Total population: 12.8%
Male: 6.9%
Female: 18.4%
Free and compulsory between the ages of 7 and 14.
Average years of education; Urban adults: 9.8 years
Rural adults: 3.5 years.
3125 (in the UK this is 870) |
