Bolivia Info

Location

Bolivia is situated at the heart of South America between latitude 9° 38' and 22 ° 53' South and between meridians 57° 25' and 69° 38' of longitude West of Greenwich. It borders with Brazil to the North and East, with Peru and Chile to the West, and Argentina and Paraguay to the South.

(Click on the map for a larger image of South America.)

Bolivia ranges in elevation from sea level, in the rainforest lowlands, to over 17,000 feet, in the Andes region. Bolivia contains proportionately more land above 10,000 feet than any other country in the world. La Paz is located in the middle on the western side, surrounded by high peaks on the Altiplano, roughly two miles above sea level.

"La Paz is a great place to explore on foot, but don't be in too much of a hurry or the altitude might take its toll, especially when you're walking uphill." - from Lonely Planet Guidebook to Bolivia

Bolivia has nine departments: La Paz, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, Potosí, Oruro, Tarija, Beni and Pando. These departments are divided into a total of 94 provinces and sub provinces, the country is also divided into 311 municipalities for local government purposes with city hall elections held every five years.  The country has a total surface area of 1,098,581 sq. kilometers, or 428,446 sq. miles.(roughly the size of three Montanas)

Since 1950 the Bolivian population has more than doubled. As of 1995, the population of Bolivia totaled 7.4 million and has grown at a rate of 2.4 percent annually since 1991. The current population of the country is 8,043,499, with roughly 62.5% located in urban zones and 37.5% in rural areas.

Bolivia is divided into nine departments. Sixty percent of the population in Bolivia resides in urban centers. Approximately 46% of the population is concentrated in the capital cities of each department. The migration trend is toward further urbanization, as the population in the main cities is growing at a rate of 4.16% annually versus an overall population growth rate of 2.4%. The following table shows the breakdown of the population by department, as of 1994. 

The road network which unites all nine of Bolivia's departments has a combined length of 41,696 Kms. (26,060 Miles). Recently completed road projects have improved links with neighboring countries and between the major cities. Multilateral lenders have been heavily supporting the government's road investment program.

The railroad system is composed of two separate networks one covering the Andean region (Red Andina) with connections to Chile, Peru and Argentina. The other network (Red Oriental) covers the lowland eastern region based on Santa Cruz with international connections to Argentina and Brazil. The railways which principally carry freight were partially privatized at the end of 1995 and mainly transport minerals and agricultural produce.

The country's telecommunications services are a pleasant surprise, and are undergoing a massive injection of private capital since the partial privatization of long-distance and international carrier ENTEL in 1995. The threat of competition has increased investment by local telephone companies and the price of a cellular phone call is now the cheapest in the region. From any of Bolivia's principal cities one can now direct dial almost any country in the world. Continued modernization is taking place including the laying of a fiber optic loop round Bolivia which will connect to neighboring countries. Entel is also moving ahead with the extension of the telephone network to rural and outlying areas.

Air travel is increasing with seven international airlines flying regularly to the country (Aerolineas Argentinas, American Airlines, Aero Perú, Lan Chile, Lineas Aereas Paraguayas, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano and Varig). There are daily flights to Miami and daily domestic flights to most major centers are provided by Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB) and Aerosur.

                                                                        - from www.bolivianet.com/amcham/info.htm

• Information about Bolivia's population
• Basic Facts and Statistics on Bolivia, including geography, people, culture, government, economy, communication, transportation, etc.  (It's the CIA World Factbook Page on Bolivia.)