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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.

All figures are from January 2004.

Official Name: República de Bolivia.

Capital: La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital).

Area: 1,098,581 sq km.
Sixth largest country in Latin America
4 times bigger than the UK.

Population: 8,724,156

Ethnic groups: Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed) 30%,
Aymara 25%, white 15%.

Population growth rate: 1.56%

Birth rate: 24.65 births per 1,000 population

Death rate: 7.77 deaths per 1,000 population

Infant mortality rate: Total: 54.58 deaths per 1,000 live births
(For UK: 6 per 1,000. For India: 98 per 1,000)
Female: 50.75 deaths per 1,000 live births
Male: 58.23 deaths per 1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: Total population: 65.14 years
(Life expectancy in the UK is 77 years)
Male: 62.54 years
Female: 67.86 years

Total fertility rate: 3.08 children per woman

Languages: Spanish (87%), Quechua (37%), Aymara (24%)

Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist)

Illiteracy: Total population: 12.8%
Male: 6.9%
Female: 18.4%

Education: Free and compulsory between the ages of 7 and 14.
Average years of education; Urban adults: 9.8 years
Rural adults: 3.5 years.

Population per doctor: 3125 (in the UK this is 870)

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