Bolivia

Plurinational State of Bolivia Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia  (Spanish) Tetã Hetãvoregua Mborivia  (Guarani) Wuliwya Suyu  (Aymara) Puliwya Mamallaqta (Quechua)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "La Unión es la Fuerza" (Spanish) "Unity is Strength"
Anthem: "Himno Nacional de Bolivia" (Spanish)
Dual flag Wiphala
Location of  Bolivia  (dark green) in South America  (grey)
Capital	Sucre (constitutional and judicial) La Paz (executive and legislative)
Largest city	Santa Cruz 17°48′S 63°10′W / 17.800°S 63.167°W / -17.800; -63.167
Official languages	Spanish Quechua Aymara Guarani and 33 others (all Indigenous languages)
Ethnic groups (2009)	68% Mestizo (mixed Native and White) 20% Native Bolivian 5% White Bolivian 2% Cholo 1% Afro-Bolivian 1% Others 3% Unspecified
Religion (2018)	88.9% Christianity —70.0% Roman Catholic —17.2% Protestant —1.7% Other Christian 9.3% No religion 1.2% Other religions 0.6% No answer
Demonym(s)	Bolivian
Government	Unitary presidential constitutional republic
• President	Rodrigo Paz Pereira
• Vice President	Edmand Lara
Legislature	Plurinational Legislative Assembly
• Upper house	Chamber of Senators
• Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Independence
• Recognized	21 July 1847
• Admitted to the United Nations	14 November 1945
• Current republic	7 February 2009
Area
• Total	1,098,581 km2 (424,164 sq mi) (27th)
• Water (%)	1.29
Population
• census estimate	8,014,380 hab (83rd)
• Density	10.4/km2 (26.9/sq mi) (224th)
GDP (PPP)	2019 estimate
• Total	$89.018 billion (88th)
• Per capita	$7,790 (123rd)
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Total	$40.687 billion (90th)
• Per capita	$3,823 (117th)
Gini (2018)	42.2 medium
HDI (2019)	0.692 medium · 107th
Currency	Boliviano (BOB)
Time zone	UTC−4 (BOT)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+591
ISO 3166 code	BO
Internet TLD	.bo
^ While Sucre is the constitutional capital, La Paz is the seat of government and the executive capital. See below.

Bolivia /bəˈlɪviə/ (listen^ⓘ), officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a country in South America. It is landlocked by Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Peru, and Chile. Rodrigo Paz Pereira became its president in November 2025.

As of 2024 the population of Bolivia was 11,916,453.

Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar. The main languages are Spanish and Quechua, but there are other languages too.

History

Bolivia used to be a colony of Spain. The silver mines in Bolivia made most of Spain's money, and Spain used the native Bolivians as slaves to work in the mines.

After many wars, Simón Bolívar helped Bolivia to gain its independence in 1825. After this, the country experienced a very divisive 19th century, both politically and racially. There were strong political differences amongst liberals and conservatives in Bolivia following their independence.

Additionally, creoles in the country dominated Bolivian society until late in the 19th century, when Indians and other indigenous communities started to uprise. A notable figure in these indigenous uprisings was Pablo Zárate Willka.

Bolivia used to own some of the Pacific coast, but it lost it in 1879 in the War of the Pacific.

Geography

Bolivia is 424,135 mi² (1,098,581 km²). This makes Bolivia the world's 28th-largest country (after Ethiopia). It is around the same size as Mauritania.

Bolivia is a landlocked nation, which means none of its borders touch the sea. It is surrounded on all sides by other countries.

The west of Bolivia is on the Andes mountain range. The highest mountain in Bolivia, located near the city of Oruro, is called Nevado de Sajama.

Although the west is very high-altitude with lots of mountains, there are also parts of Bolivia which are very flat and/or very near sea level. There is also a bit of Bolivia covered by the Amazon rainforest, and the highest lake in the world: Lake Titicaca.

The major cities are La Paz, El Alto, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba. For other places in Bolivia see List of cities in Bolivia.

Demographics

The population of Bolivia is approximately 10,907,778 people. The ethnic composition of the country is like the following:

• 62% Native American
• 26% Mestizo
• 10% White
• 2% Black

Economy

Bolivia suffers from poverty. Over 65% of the population lives below the poverty line.

Divisions

Bolivia is divided into nine departments. These departments are divided into 112 provinces. The provinces are divided into 339 municipalities and into native community lands.

Territorial division of Bolivia
Department	Abbreviation (ISO)	Population	Surface (km²)	Density	Capital city
Bolivia	BO	10.027.644	1.098.581	9,1	Sucre
Beni	BO-B	430.049	213.564	1,9	Trinidad
Chuquisaca	BO-H	631.062	51.524	11,9	Sucre
Cochabamba	BO-C	1.786.040	55.631	22,7	Cochabamba
La Paz	BO-L	2.756.989	133.985	19,9	La Paz
Oruro	BO-O	444.093	53.558	8,2	Oruro
Pando	BO-N	75.335	63.827	1,1	Cobija
Potosí	BO-P	780.392	118.218	6,5	Potosí
Santa Cruz	BO-S	2.626.697	370.621	7,1	Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Tarija	BO-T	496.988	37.623	12,5	Tarija
Source: Demographic Projections 2008, Bolivian National Demographic Institute. The departmental densitiy has been calculated with the population of 2006.

Culture

Bolivian culture has many Inca, Aymara and other native influences in religion, music and clothing. There is a big festival in Oruro, which is called "El carnaval de Oruro". People in Bolivia like playing football, and football, which is often played in the street. Zoos are also very popular, but they do not have much money.

National symbols

The Cantuta (often spelled kantuta or qantuta) (Cantua buxifolia or Fuchsia buxifolia) is a flower found in the Yungas, and is the national flower of Bolivia along with the patujú (Heliconia rostrata) found in the tropical regions of Bolivia.

Related pages

• Bolivia at the Olympics
• Bolivia national football team
• List of rivers of Bolivia

References

Notes

1. ↑ Spanish: [boˈliβja] (listen^ⓘ); Guarani: Mborivia [ᵐboˈɾiʋja]; Aymara: Wuliwya [wʊlɪwja]; Quechua: Puliwya [pʊlɪwja]
2. ↑ Spanish: Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia Spanish pronunciation: [esˈtaðo pluɾinasjoˈnal de βoˈliβja] (listen^ⓘ)

Other websites

• Bolivia map
• Media related to Bolivia at Wikimedia Commons
• Bolivia travel guide from Wikivoyage