Area Total | 1,098,581 sq km |
Climate | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid |
Natural Resources | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower |
Imports | $8.601 billion (2017 est.) partners: China 21.7%, Brazil 16.8%, Argentina 12.6%, US 8.4%, Peru 6.5% (2017) |
Exports | $7.746 billion (2017 est.) partners: Brazil 17.9%, Argentina 16%, US 7.8%, Japan 7.3%, India 6.6%, South Korea 6.3%, Colombia 5.8% (2017) |
Government | presidential republic |
Capital | La Paz |
Population | 11.3 million (July 2018 est.) |
Ethnicity | mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 68%, indigenous 20%, white 5%, cholo/chola 2%, black 1%, other 1%, unspecified 3% (2009 est.) |
Language | Spanish (official) 60.7%, Quechua (official) 21.2%, Aymara (official) 14.6%, foreign languages 2.4%, Guarani (official) 0.6%, other native languages 0.4%, none 0.1% (2001 est.) |
News about Bolivia
- Pantanal waterway project would destroy a ‘paradise on Earth’, scientists warnby Phoebe Weston on August 12, 2024
The South American wetland, which falls within Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, would be vulnerable to biome loss and increased wildfires‘Losing Noah’s Ark’: Brazil’s plan to turn the Pantanal into waterway threatens world’s biggest wetlandDozens of scientists are sounding the alarm that carving a commercial waterway through the world’s largest […]
- Outbreak of Oropouche virus in Brazil should be a ‘wake-up call’, say expertsby Kat Lay Global health correspondent and Tiago Rogero South America correspondent on August 2, 2024
The disease, spread by midges and mosquitoes, has been linked to two deaths as cases surge in previously unaffected areasThe deaths of two young women, miscarriages and birth defects in Brazil have been linked to Oropouche virus, a little-known disease spread by midges and mosquitoes.A surge in cases has been recorded in the country this year – 7,284, up […]
- Still waters run deep: Latin American Foto festival – in picturesby Guardian Staff on July 10, 2024
From Quechua rappers to Peruvian ballet dancers, these images showcase the talents of emerging and established photographers from the region Continue reading...
- Argentina’s president butts heads with South American leftist leadersby Tom Phillips, Latin America correspondent, and Facundo Iglesia in Buenos Aires on July 2, 2024
Turning from his ferocious attacks on domestic opponents, Javier Milei aims his scorn at the heads of Brazil and BoliviaOn the campaign trail, Argentina’s showman president, Javier Milei, brandished a chainsaw to highlight plans for ferocious spending cuts. In office, the rightwinger has apparently decided to take the power tool to foreign relations as […]
- Bolivia’s president accused of plotting coup against himself to boost popularityby Dan Collyns in La Paz on June 29, 2024
Opponents say abortive raid on palace by angry ex-army chief was a stunt to bolster support It was the armoured vehicles circling the Plaza Murillo - the normally tranquil central square in historic downtown La Paz – that initially set Bolivians on edge on Wednesday afternoon. By the time a phalanx of troops had marched on the presidential palace, the […]
- Bolivia coup attempt: ex-army chief given six months ‘preventive detention’, says prosecutorby Guardian staff and agencies on June 29, 2024
Juan José Zúñiga Macías has been handed charges of terrorism and armed uprising, says prosecutor, as president again rejects claims of ‘self-coup’ to boost popularity A Bolivian former army chief accused of leading a failed coup attempt has been given six months “preventive detention”, a top prosecutor said on Friday, as the president again […]
- Former heads of Bolivia’s army and navy arrested over failed coupby Tom Phillips and Dan Collyns in La Paz on June 27, 2024
Minister says alleged putschists will be charged with crimes after apparent mutiny in volatile countryThe former heads of Bolivia’s army and navy are among 17 people so far arrested for their alleged roles in a seemingly bungled military coup designed to topple the South American country’s leftwing president, Luis Arce.Speaking on Thursday morning, just […]
- Bolivia’s president sees off attempted coup after urging citizens to take to streetsby Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent on June 26, 2024
Luis Arce said the country’s democracy was at stake after army troops seized control of La Paz’s political heart and military police storm palaceBolivia’s President Luis Arce appears to have seen off an attempt to topple his leftwing government after a dramatic afternoon in which heavily armed troops, seemingly commanded by a top army general, stormed […]
- Power to the people? Bolivia’s hunt for gas targets national parks – and divides communitiesby Thomas Graham in Tariquía, Bolivia on April 10, 2024
Fossil fuel exports were meant to fund a revolutionary leftist agenda. But the state’s move to drill in Tariquía reserve has led to bitter conflict and diminishing returns• Photographs by Marcelo Pérez del CarpioIn the far southeast of Bolivia, the cloud forest of the Tariquía reserve is accessible only by a few dirt paths that quickly become […]
- Taiwan earthquake: over 600 people remain stranded days after disasterby Guardian staff and agencies on April 6, 2024
‘I kept praying and praying’, says rescued woman as search for four people missing from hiking trail set to resume following Wednesday’s quakeRescuers in Taiwan planned to bring in heavy equipment on Saturday to try to recover two bodies buried on a hiking trail, while more than 600 people remained stranded in various locations, three days after the […]
- Cracking geysers: the world’s most thrilling hot springs – in picturesby Guardian Staff on April 3, 2024
They can be sacred, space-like, healing or heart-shaped – and anywhere on Earth. Even war can’t get between people and natural springs, as Greta Rybus shows in her latest photobook Continue reading...
- 'Paddington' bears spotted in Bolivian forest raise hopes for species' survival – videoon March 22, 2024
A Bolivian conservation programme has identified at least 60 'Paddington' bears in areas where they had not been spotted before. The animal is the inspiration behind the beloved fictional character Paddington, who travels to London, is adopted by a family and eats lashings of marmalade. In 2017, Chester zoo’s Andean carnivore conservation programme […]
- ‘Holy grail of shipwrecks’: recovery of 18th-century Spanish ship could begin in Aprilby Luke Taylor in Bogotá on March 18, 2024
The San José, sunk in 1708, has been at the center of a dispute over who has rights to the wreck, including $17bn in bootySince the Colombian navy discovered the final resting place of the Spanish galleon San José in 2015, its location has remained a state secret, the wreck – and its precious cargo – left deep under the waters of the Caribbean.Efforts […]
- Floods submerge cities in central South America after extreme rainfall – videoon February 27, 2024
Bolivia, Brazil and Peru have been badly affected by severe floods that have displaced citizens, destroyed buildings and isolated entire cities.Drone video shows water swamping the ground floor of city buildings and submerging roads and railway tracks, with boats escorting people to safety.The mayor of Machu Picchu said this kind of disaster had not been […]
- Construction worker saves dog from raging Bolivian river after flooding – videoon February 22, 2024
A dog trapped in the roaring waters of Bolivia's Orkojahuira River was rescued by a construction worker hanging from a crane.The Orkojahuira is one of several rivers in the country's capital city of La Paz that have flooded due to recent rain. Heavy rain has triggered several landslides in western Bolivia over the past week, resulting in casualties and […]