style="font-size:15px;"> [591] (2) 350251 or 350120FAX:
[591] (2) 359875
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the
coat of arms centered on the yellow band; similar to the flag of
Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the
yellow band
@Bolivia, Economy
Overview: With its long history of semifeudal social controls, dependence on volatile prices for its mineral exports, and bouts of hyperinflation, Bolivia has remained one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries. However, Bolivia has experienced generally improving economic conditions since the PAZ Estenssoro administration (1985–89) introduced market-oriented policies which reduced inflation from 11,700% in 1985 to about 20% in 1988. PAZ Estenssoro was followed as President by Jaime PAZ Zamora (1989–93) who continued the free-market policies of his predecessor, despite opposition from his own party and from Bolivia's once powerful labor movement. By maintaining fiscal discipline, PAZ Zamora helped reduce inflation to 9.3% in 1993, while GDP grew by an annual average of 3.25% during his tenure. Inaugurated in August 1993, President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA has vowed to advance government market-oriented economic reforms he helped launch as PAZ Estenssoro's Planning Minister. A major privatization bill was passed by the Bolivian legislature in late March 1994. National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $15.8 billion (1993 est.) National product real growth rate: 2.2% (1993) National product per capita: $2,100 (1993 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.3% (1993) Unemployment rate: 5.8% (1993) Budget: revenues: $3.19 billion expenditures: $3.19 billion, including capital expenditures of $552.4 million (1994 est.) Exports: $752 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.) commodities: metals 35%, natural gas 26%, other 39% (coffee, soybeans, sugar, cotton, timber) partners: US 16% , Argentina (1992 est.) Imports: $1.17 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.) commodities: food, petroleum, consumer goods, capital goods partners: US 23.3% (1992) External debt: $3.8 billion (January 1994) Industrial production: growth rate 7% (1992); accounts for almost 30% of GDP Electricity: capacity: 865,000 kW production: 1.834 billion kWh consumption per capita: 250 kWh (1992) Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverage, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing; illicit drug industry reportedly produces 15% of its revenues Agriculture: accounts for about 21% of GDP (including forestry and fisheries); principal commodities - coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes, timber; self-sufficient in food Illicit drugs: world's second-largest producer of coca (after Peru) with an estimated 45,500 hectares under cultivation in 1992; voluntary and forced eradication program unable to prevent production from rising to 80,300 metric tons in 1992 from 78,200 tons in 1989; government considers all but 12,000 hectares illicit; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported to or through Colombia and Brazil to the US and other international drug markets Economic aid: recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70–89), $990 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970–89), $2.025 billion; Communist countries (1970–89), $340 million Currency: 1 boliviano ($B) = 100 centavos Exchange rates: bolivianos ($B) per US$1 - 4.5 (March 1994), 4.4604 (November 1993), 3.9005 (1992), 3.5806 (1991), 3.1727 (1990), 2.6917 (1989), 2.3502 (1988) Fiscal year: calendar year
@Bolivia, Communications
Railroads:
3,684 km total, all narrow gauge; 3,652 km 1.000-meter gauge and 32 km
0.760-meter gauge, all government owned, single track
Highways:
total:
42,815 km
paved:
1,865 km
unpaved:
gravel 12,000 km; improved/unimproved earth 28,950 km
Inland waterways:
10,000 km of commercially navigable waterways
Pipelines:
crude oil 1,800 km; petroleum products 580 km; natural gas 1,495 km
Ports:
none; maritime outlets are Arica and Antofagasta in Chile, Matarani
and Ilo in Peru
Merchant marine:
1 cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,214 GRT/6,390 DWT
Airports:
total:
1,395
usable:
1,188
with permanent-surface runways:
9
with runways over 3,659 m:
2
with runways 2,440–3,659 m:
7
with runways 1,220–2,439 m:
165
Telecommunications:
very poor telephone service for the general population; 144,300
telephones - 18.7 telephones per 1,000 persons; microwave radio relay
system being expanded; improved international services; broadcast
stations - 129 AM, no FM, 43 TV, 68 shortwave; 1 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT earth station
@Bolivia, Defense Forces
Branches:
Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Navy includes Marines (La Fuerza Naval
Boliviana), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana), National Police Force
( Policia Nacional de Bolivia)
Manpower availability:
males age 15–49 1,835,661; fit for military service 1,194,077; reach
military age (19) annually 79,580 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $130.48 million; NA% of GDP (1994 est.)
@Bosnia and Herzegovina
Header
Note:
Bosnia and Herzegovina is suffering from interethnic civil strife
which began in March 1992 after the Government of Bosnia and
Herzegovina held a referendum on independence. Bosnia's Serbs -
supported by neighboring Serbia - responded with armed resistance
aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining
Serb-held areas to
