Bolivia

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 majority. Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15% Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5% Spanish 60.7% (official), Quechua 21.2% (official), Aymara 14.6% (official), foreign languages 2.4%, other 1.2% (2001 census) 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 GDP (purchasing power parity):$43.71 billion (2008 est.) GDP (official exchange rate):$18.94 billion (2008 est.) GDP - real growth rate:4.8% (2008 est.) GDP - per capita (PPP):$4,700 (2008 est.) Bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 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; 70 members are directly elected from their districts and 60 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) Environment 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 18 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 (2008) 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 Suárez/Ilha de Guajará-Mirim, a fluvial island on the Río Mamoré, under Bolivian administration in 1958, but sovereignty remains in dispute The world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 29,500 hectares under cultivation in 2007, a slight increase over 2006; third largest producer of cocaine, estimated at 120 metric tons of potential pure cocaine in 2007; transit country for Peruvian and Colombian cocaine destined for Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Europe; cultivation generally increasing since 2000, despite eradication and alternative crop programs; weak border controls; some money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay; major cocaine consumption (2007) · THOUSANDS gathered in front of the presidential palace in La Paz, Bolivia’s capital, waving the chequered flag of the country’s indigenous people alongside the national tricolour on the night of Sunday January 25th. “A new Bolivia is being re-founded” said President Evo Morales, who led support for the new constitution. · Mr Morales now has the opportunity to increases the role of the state in the economy including tightening central control of the country’s natural resources. The new constitution strengthens the powers of the president and includes a provision that allows Mr Morales to stand for re-election in December. It also protects the coca leaf (cocaine’s raw material), sets the basis for land reform, and grants the regions and indigenous people greater autonomy. Although official results have yet to be declared some 40% of Bolivians do not appear to share Mr Morales’s socialist dream. In fact, opponents claim that the new constitution will impose a dogmatic socialism, curtail human rights and undermine property rights and the rule of law. · As a result, the new constitution has been at the centre of a bitter dispute since its draft was hurriedly approved by a constituent assembly in December 2007. The opposition was excluded from that decision. In response they called a recall referendum last August in a bid to unseat Mr Morales. He emerged with a firmer grip on power: upping the 54% of the vote that he won in the presidential election to 67%, a victory made all the more emphatic by a large turnout. Thanks to the Economist and the CIA Factbook
 * Bolivia**
 * History**
 * Population **
 * Economy **
 * Government **
 * // 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
 * //elections//**//:// president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010)
 * Military **
 * International Disputes **
 * Drugs **
 * New Constitution- As reported by The Economist on Jan. 22, 2008 **