Soybeans were the most lucrative legal cash crop in
Bolivia in
the 1980s. Soybean production began in earnest in the
early
1970s, following a substantial increase in the crop's
world
price. By the late 1980s, soybeans represented the
country's most
important oilseed crop. In 1988 soybeans covered 65,000
hectares,
and annual production amounted to about 150,000 tons,
compared
with 19,430 hectares producing 26,000 tons a decade
earlier.
About one-third of the soybean harvest was used
domestically in
the form of soybean meal for the poultry industry. Other
soybean
meal was shipped to Peru and Western Europe, and raw
soybeans
were exported via rail to Brazil. In order to process
soybean oil
for the local market, the country maintained a crushing
capacity
of 150,000 tons in 1988. Locally manufactured soybean oil
also
competed with contraband products from neighboring
countries.
Most of Santa Cruz's soybean farmers were members of the
wellorganized and powerful National Association of Soybean
Producers
(Asociación Nacional de Productores de Soya--Anapo).
Anapo, with
assistance from AID, built new storage facilities that
permitted
continued expansion of the crop. Because of the dynamism
of their
crop, soybean farmers enjoyed the best availability of
credit for
all legal cash-crop producers.
Coffee, another principal cash crop, was the second
most
important agricultural export after timber. As the primary
substitute crop offered to coca growers under the
eradication
program, coffee was of particular importance. Coffee
production
reached 13,000 tons in 1988, nearly double the 1987
output, which
was damaged by disease in western Bolivia. Over 20,000
hectares
were devoted to coffee. Bolivia consumed 25 percent of its
coffee
crop locally in 1988, with the balance exported both
legally and
clandestinely. Legal exports of 102,000 bags, sixty
kilograms
each as measured by the International Coffee Organization
(ICO),
were equivalent to Bolivia's export quota for 1988, which
was
over US$15 million. An ICO member since 1968, Bolivia was
permitted to export 170,000 of the sixty-kilogram bags in
1989.
Approximately 25 percent of coffee exports left the
country
illegally in the late 1980s. Most coffee was grown by
small
farmers in the valleys or by large farmers in the
lowlands. Most
commercial farmers were members of the Bolivian Coffee
Committee
(Comité Boliviano del Café--Cobolca), which allocated ICO
quotas.
The coffee industry also received technical assistance
from the
Bolivian Institute of Coffee (Instituto Boliviano de
Café), an
autonomous government agency established in 1965 to run
model
farms and help control disease.
Bolivia had been self-sufficient in sugar production
since 1963,
although sugarcane had been grown since the colonial era.
Sugarcane in the 1980s was a cash crop of significance for
both
the domestic and the export markets. In 1988 cultivation
of
sugarcane on 62,000 hectares produced 140,000 tons of
sugar.
These figures represented a sharp decline from 1986
figures. The
price of sugar had skyrocketed in the mid-1970s, doubling
the
number of hectares under sugarcane cultivation in a few
years. As
sugar prices declined, however, farmers opted for more
lucrative
crops, such as soybeans. The decline in the sugar industry
also
was caused by poor management, dwindling yields, and poor
quality
control. In 1988 the country's six sugar mills operated at
only
37 percent capacity. Sugarcane also was processed into
methanol
for the domestic and export markets. Continued controls on
imports of sugar constituted one of the few exceptions to
the
import liberalization policies of the late 1980s.
Although cotton was a boom crop in the early 1970s,
production
had waned since 1975. Grown mostly in Santa Cruz, cotton
covered
54,000 hectares in 1975 but only 9,000 hectares in 1988.
Production declined from 22,000 tons to 3,700 tons over
the same
period. Price was the primary reason for the decline, but
insect
problems, disease, and the lack of credit also
contributed.
Because Santa Cruz cotton farmers represented an important
constituency, they had traditionally received highly
favorable
terms of credit. When cotton growing was no longer
profitable,
however, many cotton farmers defaulted on their loans,
leaving
the government's Agricultural Bank of Bolivia (Banco
Agrícola de
Bolivia -- BAB) in a poor financial position in the late
1980s.
Because of the precipitous decline in the industry, the
country's
ten cotton mills were operating at under one-half of their
capacity by the late 1980s.
Cash crops of lesser importance included tobacco, tea,
cocoa,
and oilseeds, such as sesame, peanuts, castor beans, and
sunflowers. Approximately 1,000 tons of tobacco for the
Bolivian
market were grown on about 1,000 hectares. Tea was grown
as a
secondary crop in the Yungas, Alto Beni (Upper Beni), and
Santa
Cruz areas. Eighty percent of the country's cacao trees,
from
which cocoa is derived, were grown in the Alto Beni by a
network
of cooperatives that were increasingly involved in
processing
cocoa and exporting chocolate products. Oilseeds were an
important part of both the agricultural and the
manufacturing
sectors. The growing dominance of soybeans, however,
diminished
the role of other oilseeds in the economy.
|
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.
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Location | | Central South America, southwest of Brazil
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|
Area(sq km) | | total: 1,098,581 sq km
land: 1,083,301 sq km
water: 15,280 sq km
|
|
Geographic coordinates | | 17 00 S, 65 00 W
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|
Land boundaries(km) | | total: 6,940 km
border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,423 km, Chile 860 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 1,075 km
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Coastline(km) | | 0 km (landlocked)
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|
Climate | | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid
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|
Elevation extremes(m) | | lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m
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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)
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|
Irrigated land(sq km) | | 1,320 sq km (2003)
|
|
Total renewable water resources(cu km) | | 622.5 cu km (2000)
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|
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) | | total: 1.44 cu km/yr (13%/7%/81%)
per capita: 157 cu m/yr (2000)
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|
Natural hazards | | flooding in the northeast (March-April)
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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
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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
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|
Geography - note | | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru
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|
Population | | 9,775,246 (July 2009 est.)
|
|
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) (2009 est.)
|
|
Median age(years) | | total: 21.9 years
male: 21.3 years
female: 22.6 years (2009 est.)
|
|
Population growth rate(%) | | 1.772% (2009 est.)
|
|
Birth rate(births/1,000 population) | | 25.82 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
|
|
Death rate(deaths/1,000 population) | | 7.05 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
|
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Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population) | | -1.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
|
|
Urbanization(%) | | urban population: 66% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 2.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
|
|
Sex ratio(male(s)/female) | | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
|
|
Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births) | | total: 44.66 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 48.56 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 40.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
|
|
Life expectancy at birth(years) | | total population: 66.89 years
male: 64.2 years
female: 69.72 years (2009 est.)
|
|
Total fertility rate(children born/woman) | | 3.17 children born/woman (2009 est.)
|
|
Nationality | | noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian
|
|
Ethnic groups(%) | | Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15%
|
|
Religions(%) | | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5%
|
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Languages(%) | | Spanish 60.7% (official), Quechua 21.2% (official), Aymara 14.6% (official), foreign languages 2.4%, other 1.2% (2001 census)
|
|
Country name | | conventional long form: Plurinational State of Bolivia
conventional short form: Bolivia
local long form: Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia
local short form: Bolivia
|
|
Government type | | republic; note - the new constitution defines Bolivia as a "Social Unitarian State"
|
|
Capital | | name: La Paz (administrative capital)
geographic coordinates: 16 30 S, 68 09 W
time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
note: Sucre (constitutional capital)
|
|
Administrative divisions | | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija
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|
Constitution | | 7-Feb-09
|
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Legal system | | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; the 2009 Constitution incorporates indigenous community justice into Bolivia's judicial system
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Suffrage | | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single)
|
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Executive branch | | chief of state: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 6 December 2009 (next to be held in 2014); note - per the new constitution, presidents can serve for a total of two consecutive terms
election results: Juan Evo MORALES Ayma elected president; percent of vote - Juan Evo MORALES Ayma 64%; Manfred REYES VILLA 26%; Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana 6%; Rene JOAQUINO 2%; other 2%
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Legislative branch | | bicameral Plurinational Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (36 seats; members are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; 76 members are directly elected from their districts [7 or 8 of these are chosen from indigenous districts] and 54 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms).
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 6 December 2009 (next to be held in 2015)
election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 26, PPB-CN 10; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 89, PPB-CN 36, UN 3, AS 2
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|
Judicial branch | | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges elected by popular vote from list of candidates pre-selected by Assembly for six-year terms); District Courts (one in each department); Plurinational Constitutional Court (five primary or titulares and five alternate or suplente magistrates elected by popular vote from list of candidates pre-selected by Assembly for six-year terms; to rule on constitutional issues); Plurinational Electoral Organ (seven members elected by the Assembly and the president; one member must be of indigenous origin to six-year terms); Agro-Environmental Court (judges elected by popular vote from list of candidates pre-selected by Assembly for six-year terms; to run on agro-environmental issues); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases)
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Political pressure groups and leaders | | Bolivian Workers Central or COR; Federation of Neighborhood Councils of El Alto or FEJUVE; Landless Movement or MST; National Coordinator for Change or CONALCAM; Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB
other: Cocalero groups; indigenous organizations (including Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Bolivia or CIDOB and National Council of Ayullus and Markas of Quollasuyu or CONAMAQ); labor unions (including the Central Bolivian Workers' Union or COB and Cooperative Miners Federation or FENCOMIN)
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International organization participation | | CAN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
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Flag description | | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band
note: similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; in 2009, a presidential decree made it mandatory for a so-called wiphala - a square, multi-colored flag representing the country's indigenous peoples - to be used alongside the traditional flag
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Economy - overview | | Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. Following a disastrous economic crisis during the early 1980s, reforms spurred private investment, stimulated economic growth, and cut poverty rates in the 1990s. The period 2003-05 was characterized by political instability, racial tensions, and violent protests against plans - subsequently abandoned - to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005, the government passed a controversial hydrocarbons law that imposed significantly higher royalties and required foreign firms then operating under risk-sharing contracts to surrender all production to the state energy company. In early 2008, higher earnings for mining and hydrocarbons exports pushed the current account surplus to 9.4% of GDP and the government's higher tax take produced a fiscal surplus after years of large deficits. Private investment as a share of GDP, however, remains among the lowest in Latin America, and inflation remained at double-digit levels in 2008. The decline in commodity prices in late 2008, the lack of foreign investment in the mining and hydrocarbon sectors, and the suspension of trade benefits with the United States will pose challenges for the Bolivian economy in 2009.
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|
GDP (purchasing power parity) | | $43.38 billion (2008 est.)
$40.88 billion (2007 est.)
$39.08 billion (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
|
|
GDP (official exchange rate) | | $16.6 billion (2008 est.)
|
|
GDP - real growth rate(%) | | 6.1% (2008 est.)
4.6% (2007 est.)
4.8% (2006 est.)
|
|
GDP - per capita (PPP) | | $4,500 (2008 est.)
$4,300 (2007 est.)
$4,200 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
|
|
GDP - composition by sector(%) | | agriculture: 11.3%
industry: 36.9%
services: 51.8% (2008 est.)
|
|
Labor force | | 4.454 million (2008 est.)
|
|
Labor force - by occupation(%) | | agriculture: 40%
industry: 17%
services: 43% (2006 est.)
|
|
Unemployment rate(%) | | 7.5% (2008 est.)
7.5% (2007 est.)
note: data are for urban areas; widespread underemployment
|
|
Population below poverty line(%) | | 60% (2006 est.)
|
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share(%) | | lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 44.1% (2005)
|
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index | | 59.2 (2006)
44.7 (1999)
|
|
Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP) | | 18% of GDP (2008 est.)
|
|
Budget | | revenues: $8.039 billion
expenditures: $7.5 billion (2008 est.)
|
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%) | | 14% (2008 est.)
8.7% (2007 est.)
|
|
Stock of money | | $3.998 billion (31 December 2008)
$3.032 billion (31 December 2007)
|
|
Stock of quasi money | | $6.339 billion (31 December 2008)
$4.729 billion (31 December 2007)
|
|
Stock of domestic credit | | $5.433 billion (31 December 2008)
$4.759 billion (31 December 2007)
|
|
Market value of publicly traded shares | | $NA (31 December 2008)
$2.263 billion (31 December 2007)
$2.223 billion (31 December 2006)
|
|
Economic aid - recipient | | $582.9 million (2005 est.)
|
|
Public debt(% of GDP) | | 45.2% of GDP (2008 est.)
46.3% of GDP (2007 est.)
|
|
Agriculture - products | | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber
|
|
Industries | | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing
|
|
Industrial production growth rate(%) | | 10.6% (2008 est.)
|
|
Current account balance | | $2.015 billion (2008 est.)
$1.984 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Exports | | $6.448 billion (2008 est.)
$4.49 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Exports - commodities(%) | | natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin
|
|
Exports - partners(%) | | Brazil 60.1%, US 8.3%, Japan 4.1% (2008)
|
|
Imports | | $4.641 billion (2008 est.)
$3.24 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Imports - commodities(%) | | petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans
|
|
Imports - partners(%) | | Brazil 26.7%, Argentina 16.3%, US 10.5%, Chile 9.5%, Peru 7.1%, China 4.8% (2008)
|
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | | $7.722 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$5.318 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
|
|
Debt - external | | $5.931 billion (31 December 2008)
$5.385 billion (31 December 2007)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home | | $5.998 billion (31 December 2008)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad | | $NA
|
|
Exchange rates | | bolivianos (BOB) per US dollar - 7.253 (2008 est.), 7.8616 (2007), 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004)
|
|
Currency (code) | | boliviano (BOB)
|
|
Telephones - main lines in use | | 690,000 (2008)
|
|
Telephones - mobile cellular | | 4.83 million (2008)
|
|
Telephone system | | general assessment: privatization begun in 1995; reliability has steadily improved; new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile-cellular telephone use expanding rapidly; fixed-line teledensity of 7 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density slighly exceeds 50 per 100 persons
domestic: primary trunk system, which is being expanded, employs digital microwave radio relay; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; mobile cellular systems are being expanded
international: country code - 591; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2008)
|
|
Internet country code | | .bo
|
|
Internet users | | 1 million (2008)
|
|
Airports | | 952 (2009)
|
|
Pipelines(km) | | gas 4,883 km; liquid petroleum gas 47 km; oil 2,475 km; refined products 1,589 km (2008)
|
|
Roadways(km) | | total: 62,479 km
paved: 3,749 km
unpaved: 58,730 km (2004)
|
|
Ports and terminals | | Puerto Aguirre (inland port on the Paraguay/Parana waterway at the Bolivia/Brazil border); Bolivia has free port privileges in maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay
|
|
Military branches | | Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano, EB), Bolivian Navy (Fuerza Naval Boliviana, FNB; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2009)
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|
Military service age and obligation(years of age) | | 18-49 years of age for 12-month compulsory military service; when annual number of volunteers falls short of goal, compulsory recruitment is effected, including conscription of boys as young as 14; 15-19 years of age for voluntary premilitary service, provides exemption from further military service (2009)
|
|
Manpower available for military service | | males age 16-49: 2,295,746
females age 16-49: 2,366,828 (2008 est.)
|
|
Manpower fit for military service | | males age 16-49: 1,666,697
females age 16-49: 1,906,396 (2009 est.)
|
|
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually | | male: 108,304
female: 104,882 (2009 est.)
|
|
Military expenditures(% of GDP) | | 1.9% of GDP (2006)
|
|
Disputes - international | | Chile and Peru rebuff Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, but Chile offers instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian natural gas and other commodities; an accord placed the long-disputed Isla Suarez/Ilha de Guajara-Mirim, a fluvial island on the Rio Mamore, under Bolivian administration in 1958, but sovereignty remains in dispute
|
|
Electricity - production(kWh) | | 5.495 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
|
Electricity - production by source(%) | | fossil fuel: 44.4%
hydro: 54%
nuclear: 0%
other: 1.5% (2001)
|
|
Electricity - consumption(kWh) | | 4.665 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
|
Electricity - exports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
|
|
Electricity - imports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
|
|
Oil - production(bbl/day) | | 51,360 bbl/day (2008 est.)
|
|
Oil - consumption(bbl/day) | | 60,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
|
|
Oil - exports(bbl/day) | | 10,950 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - imports(bbl/day) | | 6,172 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - proved reserves(bbl) | | 465 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - production(cu m) | | 14.2 billion cu m (2008 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption(cu m) | | 2.41 billion cu m (2008 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports(cu m) | | 11.79 billion cu m (2008)
|
|
Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m) | | 750.4 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
|
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%) | | 0.2% (2007 est.)
|
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | | 8,100 (2007 est.)
|
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths | | fewer than 500 (2007 est.)
|
|
Major infectious diseases | | degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and yellow fever
water contact disease: leptospirosis (2009)
|
|
Literacy(%) | | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.7%
male: 93.1%
female: 80.7% (2001 census)
|
|
Education expenditures(% of GDP) | | 6.4% of GDP (2003)
|
