Disputes - international:
Bhutan cooperates with India to expel Indian Nagaland separatists; lacking any treaty describing the boundary, Bhutan and China continue negotiations to establish a common boundary alignment to resolve territorial disputes arising from substantial cartographic discrepancies, the largest of which lie in Bhutan's northwest and along the Chumbi salient
page last updated on January 13, 2011
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@Bolivia (South America)
Introduction ::Bolivia
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, indigenous 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. In December 2009, President MORALES easily won reelection, and his party took control of the legislative branch of the government, which will allow him to continue his process of change.
Geography ::Bolivia
Location:
Central South America, southwest of Brazil
Geographic coordinates:
17 00 S, 65 00 W
Map references:
South America
Area:
total: 1,098,581 sq km country comparison to the world: 28 land: 1,083,301 sq km
water: 15,280 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than three times the size of Montana
Land boundaries:
total: 6,940 km
border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,423 km, Chile 860 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 1,075 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid
Terrain:
rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m
Natural resources:
tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower
Land use:
arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.19%
other: 97.03% (2005)
Irrigated land:
1,320 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
622.5 cu km (2000)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 1.44 cu km/yr (13%/7%/81%)
per capita: 157 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
flooding in the northeast (March-April)
volcanism: Bolivia experiences volcanic activity in Andes Mountains on the border with Chile; historically active volcanoes in this region are Irruputuncu (elev. 5,163 m, 16,939 ft), which last erupted in 1995 and Olca-Paruma
Environment - current issues:
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
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note:
landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru
People ::Bolivia
Population:
9,947,418 (July 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 84
Age structure:
0–14 years: 35.5% (male 1,767,310/female 1,701,744)
15–64 years: 60% (male 2,877,605/female 2,992,043)
65 years and over: 4.5% (male 193,196/female 243,348) (2010 est.)
Median age:
total: 22.2 years
male: 21.5 years
female: 22.9 years (2010 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.72% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 71
Birth rate:
25.16 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 63
Death rate:
6.95 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.) country comparison to the
