Bolivia is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. The capital is Sucre while the seat of government and financial center is located in La Paz. The largest city and principal industrial center is Santa Cruz de la Sierra, located on the Llanos Orientales (tropical lowlands), a mostly flat region in the east of the country.<\/p>\n
The sovereign state of Bolivia is a constitutionally unitary state, divided into nine departments. Its geography varies from the peaks of the Andes in the West, to the Eastern Lowlands, situated within the Amazon Basin. It is bordered to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by Argentina, to the southwest by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru. One-third of the country is within the Andean mountain range. With 424,164 square miles of area, Bolivia is the fifth largest country in South America, after Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Colombia (and alongside Paraguay, one of the only two landlocked countries in the Americas), the 27th largest in the world, the largest landlocked country in the Southern Hemisphere and the world’s sixth largest landlocked country, after Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Chad, Niger and Mali.<\/p>\n
The country’s population, estimated at 11 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, Europeans, Asians and Africans. The racial and social segregation that arose from Spanish colonialism has continued to the modern era. Spanish is the official and predominant language, although 36 indigenous languages also have official status, of which the most commonly spoken are Guarani, Aymara and Quechua languages.<\/p>\n
Before Spanish colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was part of the Inca Empire, while the northern and eastern lowlands were inhabited by independent tribes. Spanish conquistadors arriving from Cuzco and Asunci\u00f3n took control of the region in the 16th century. During the Spanish colonial period Bolivia was administered by the Royal Audiencia of Charcas. Spain built its empire in large part upon the silver that was extracted from Bolivia’s mines. After the first call for independence in 1809, 16 years of war followed before the establishment of the Republic, named for Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar. Over the course of the 19th and early 20th century Bolivia lost control of several peripheral territories to neighboring countries including the seizure of its coastline by Chile in 1879. Bolivia remained relatively politically stable until 1971, when Hugo Banzer led a coup d’\u00e9tat which replaced the socialist government of Juan Jos\u00e9 Torres with a military dictatorship headed by Banzer; Torres was murdered in Buenos Aires, Argentina by a right-wing death squad in 1976. Banzer’s regime cracked down on leftist and socialist opposition and other forms of dissent, resulting in the torture and deaths of a number of Bolivian citizens. Banzer was ousted in 1978 and later returned as the democratically elected president of Bolivia from 1997 to 2001.<\/p>\n
Modern Bolivia is a charter member of the UN, IMF, NAM, OAS, ACTO, Bank of the South, ALBA and USAN. For over a decade Bolivia has had one of the highest economic growth rates in Latin America; however, it remains the second poorest country in South America. It is a developing country, with a medium ranking in the Human Development Index, a poverty level of 38.6%, and one of the lowest crime rates in Latin America. Its main economic activities include agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and manufacturing goods such as textiles, clothing, refined metals, and refined petroleum. Bolivia is very rich in minerals, including tin, silver, and lithium.<\/p>\n
Bolivia is named after Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar, a Venezuelan leader in the Spanish American wars of independence. The leader of Venezuela, Antonio Jos\u00e9 de Sucre, had been given the option by Bol\u00edvar to either unite Charcas (present-day Bolivia) with the newly formed Republic of Peru, to unite with the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, or to formally declare its independence from Spain as a wholly independent state. Sucre opted to create a brand new state and on 6 August 1825, with local support, named it in honor of Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar.<\/p>\n
The original name was Republic of Bol\u00edvar. Some days later, congressman Manuel Mart\u00edn Cruz proposed: “If from Romulus comes Rome, then from Bol\u00edvar comes Bolivia.” In 2009, a new constitution changed the country’s official name to “Plurinational State of Bolivia” in recognition of the multi-ethnic nature of the country and the enhanced position of Bolivia’s indigenous peoples under the new constitution.<\/p>\n
The region now known as Bolivia had been occupied for over 2,500 years when the Aymara arrived. However, present-day Aymara associate themselves with the ancient civilization of the Tiwanaku culture which had its capital at Tiwanaku, in Western Bolivia. The capital city of Tiwanaku dates from as early as 1500 BC when it was a small, agriculturally based village.<\/p>\n
The community grew to urban proportions between CE 600 and CE 800, becoming an important regional power in the southern Andes. According to early estimates, the city covered approximately 2.5 square miles at its maximum extent and had between 15,000 and 30,000 inhabitants. In 1996 satellite imaging was used to map the extent of fossilized suka kollus (flooded raised fields) across the three primary valleys of Tiwanaku, arriving at population-carrying capacity estimates of anywhere between 285,000 and 1,482,000 people.<\/p>\n
Around AD 400, Tiwanaku went from being a locally dominant force to a predatory state. Tiwanaku expanded its reaches into the Yungas and brought its culture and way of life to many other cultures in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. Tiwanaku was not a violent culture in many respects. In order to expand its reach, Tiwanaku exercised great political astuteness, creating colonies, fostering trade agreements (which made the other cultures rather dependent), and instituting state cults. Tiwanaku continued to absorb cultures rather than eradicate them. Archaeologists note a dramatic adoption of Tiwanaku ceramics into the cultures which became part of the Tiwanaku empire. Tiwanaku’s power was further solidified through the trade it implemented among the cities within its empire.<\/p>\n
Tiwanaku power continued to grow until about AD 950. At this time a dramatic shift in climate occurred, causing a significant drop in precipitation in the Titicaca Basin, believed by archaeologists to have been on the scale of a major drought.<\/p>\n
As the rainfall decreased, many of the cities farther away from Lake Titicaca began to tender fewer foodstuffs to the elites. As the surplus of food decreased, and thus the amount available to underpin their power, the control of the elites began to falter. The capital city became the last place viable for food production due to the resiliency of the raised field method of agriculture. Tiwanaku disappeared around AD 1000 because food production, the main source of the elites’ power, dried up. The area remained uninhabited for centuries thereafter.<\/p>\n
Between 1438 and 1527, the Inca empire, during its expansion from its capital at Cuzco, Peru. It gained control over much of what is now Andean Bolivia and extended its control into the fringes of the Amazon basin.<\/p>\n
The Spanish conquest of the Inca empire began in 1524, and was mostly completed by 1533. The territory now called Bolivia was known as Charcas, and was under the authority of the Viceroy of Lima. Local government came from the Audiencia de Charcas located in Chuquisaca (La Plata\u2014modern Sucre). Founded in 1545 as a mining town, Potos\u00ed soon produced fabulous wealth, becoming the largest city in the New World with a population exceeding 150,000 people.<\/p>\n
By the late 16th century, Bolivian silver was an important source of revenue for the Spanish Empire. A steady stream of natives served as labor force under the brutal, slave conditions of the Spanish version of the pre-Columbian draft system called the mita. Charcas was transferred to the Viceroyalty of the R\u00edo de la Plata in 1776 and the people from Buenos Aires, the capital of the Viceroyalty, coined the term “Upper Peru” as a popular reference to the Royal Audiencia of Charcas. T\u00fapac Katari led the indigenous rebellion that laid siege to La Paz in March 1781, during which 20,000 people died. As Spanish royal authority weakened during the Napoleonic wars, sentiment against colonial rule grew.<\/p>\n
The struggle for independence started in the city of Sucre on 25 May 1809 and the Chuquisaca Revolution (Chuquisaca was then the name of the city) is known as the first cry of Freedom in Latin America. That revolution was followed by the La Paz revolution on 16 July 1809. The La Paz revolution marked a complete split with the Spanish government, while the Chuquisaca Revolution established a local independent junta in the name of the Spanish King deposed by Napoleon Bonaparte. Both revolutions were short-lived and defeated by the Spanish authorities in the Viceroyalty of the Rio de La Plata, but the following year the Spanish American wars of independence raged across the continent.<\/p>\n
Bolivia was captured and recaptured many times during the war by the royalists and patriots. Buenos Aires sent three military campaigns, all of which were defeated, and eventually limited itself to protecting the national borders at Salta. Bolivia was finally freed of Royalist dominion by Marshal Antonio Jos\u00e9 de Sucre, with a military campaign coming from the North in support of the campaign of Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar. After 16 years of war the Republic was proclaimed on 6 August 1825.<\/p>\n
In 1836, Bolivia, under the rule of Marshal Andr\u00e9s de Santa Cruz, invaded Peru to reinstall the deposed president, General Luis Jos\u00e9 de Orbegoso. Peru and Bolivia formed the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, with de Santa Cruz as the Supreme Protector. Following tension between the Confederation and Chile, Chile declared war on 28 December 1836. Argentina separately declared war on the Confederation on 9 May 1837. The Peruvian-Bolivian forces achieved several major victories during the War of the Confederation: the defeat of the Argentine expedition and the defeat of the first Chilean expedition on the fields of Paucarpata near the city of Arequipa.<\/p>\n
At the outset of the war, the Chilean and Peruvian rebel army surrendered unconditionally and signed the Paucarpata Treaty. The treaty stipulated that Chile would withdraw from Peru-Bolivia, Chile would return captured Confederate ships, economic relations would be normalized, and the Confederation would pay Peruvian debt to Chile. In Chile, the government and public rejected the peace treaty. Chile organized a second attack on the Confederation and defeated it in the Battle of Yungay. After this defeat, Santa Cruz resigned and went to exile in Ecuador and then Paris, and the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation was dissolved.<\/p>\n
Following the renewed independence of Peru, Peruvian president General Agust\u00edn Gamarra invaded Bolivia on november 18 1841, the battle de Ingavi took place, in which the Bolivian Army defeated the Peruvian troops of Gamarra. After the victory, Bolivia invades Per\u00fa, several fronts of struggle are opened in the Peruvian south. The eviction of the Bolivian troops in the south of Peru would be achieved by the greater availability of material and human resources of Peru, the Bolivian Army did not have enough troops to maintain the occupation. At the end of the war, the Treaty of Puno was signed on June 7, 1842. However, the climate of tension between Lima and La Paz would continue until 1847, when the signing of a Peace and Trade Treaty became effective.<\/p>\n
A period of political and economic instability in the early-to-mid-19th century weakened Bolivia. In addition, during the War of the Pacific (1879\u201383), Chile occupied vast territories rich in natural resources south west of Bolivia, including the Bolivian coast. Chile took control of today’s Chuquicamata area, the adjoining rich salitre (saltpeter) fields, and the port of Antofagasta among other Bolivian territories.<\/p>\n
Thus, since independence, Bolivia has lost over half of its territory to neighboring countries. Through diplomatic channels in 1909, it lost the basin of the Madre de Dios River and the territory of the Purus in the Amazon, yielding 250,000 km\u00b2 to Peru. It also lost the state of Acre, in the Acre War, important because this region was known for its production of rubber. Peasants and the Bolivian army fought briefly but after a few victories, and facing the prospect of a total war against Brazil, it was forced to sign the Treaty of Petr\u00f3polis in 1903, in which Bolivia lost this rich territory. Popular myth has it that Bolivian president Mariano Melgarejo (1864\u201371) traded the land for what he called “a magnificent white horse” and Acre was subsequently flooded by Brazilians, which ultimately led to confrontation and fear of war with Brazil. In the late 19th century, an increase in the world price of silver brought Bolivia relative prosperity and political stability.<\/p>\n
During the early 20th century, tin replaced silver as the country’s most important source of wealth. A succession of governments controlled by the economic and social elite followed laissez-faire capitalist policies through the first 30 years of the 20th century.<\/p>\n
Living conditions of the native people, who constitute most of the population, remained deplorable. With work opportunities limited to primitive conditions in the mines and in large estates having nearly feudal status, they had no access to education, economic opportunity, and political participation. Bolivia’s defeat by Paraguay in the Chaco War (1932\u201335), where Bolivia lost a great part of the Gran Chaco region in dispute, marked a turning-point.<\/p>\n
The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR), the most historic political party, emerged as a broad-based party. Denied its victory in the 1951 presidential elections, the MNR led a successful revolution in 1952. Under President V\u00edctor Paz Estenssoro, the MNR, having strong popular pressure, introduced universal suffrage into his political platform and carried out a sweeping land-reform promoting rural education and nationalization of the country’s largest tin mines.<\/p>\n
Twelve years of tumultuous rule left the MNR divided. In 1964, a military junta overthrew President Estenssoro at the outset of his third term. The 1969 death of President Ren\u00e9 Barrientos Ortu\u00f1o, a former member of the junta who was elected president in 1966, led to a succession of weak governments. Alarmed by the rising Popular Assembly and the increase in the popularity of President Juan Jos\u00e9 Torres, the military, the MNR, and others installed Colonel (later General) Hugo Banzer Su\u00e1rez as president in 1971. He returned to the presidency in 1997 through 2001.<\/p>\n
The United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been active in providing finances and training to the Bolivian military dictatorship in the 1960s. The revolutionary leader Che Guevara was killed by a team of CIA officers and members of the Bolivian Army on 9 October 1967, in Bolivia. F\u00e9lix Rodr\u00edguez was a CIA officer on the team with the Bolivian Army that captured and shot Guevara. Rodriguez said that after he received a Bolivian presidential execution order, he told “the soldier who pulled the trigger to aim carefully, to remain consistent with the Bolivian government’s story that Che had been killed in action during a clash with the Bolivian army.” Rodriguez said the US government had wanted Che in Panama, and “I could have tried to falsify the command to the troops, and got Che to Panama as the US government said they had wanted”, but that he had chosen to “let history run its course” as desired by Bolivia.<\/p>\n
Elections in 1979 and 1981 were inconclusive and marked by fraud. There were coups d’\u00e9tat, counter-coups, and caretaker governments. In 1980, General Luis Garc\u00eda Meza Tejada carried out a ruthless and violent coup d’\u00e9tat that did not have popular support. He pacified the people by promising to remain in power only for one year. At the end of the year, he staged a televised rally to claim popular support.” After a military rebellion forced out Meza in 1981, three other military governments in 14 months struggled with Bolivia’s growing problems. Unrest forced the military to convoke the Congress, elected in 1980, and allow it to choose a new chief executive. In October 1982, Hern\u00e1n Siles Zuazo again became president, 22 years after the end of his first term of office (1956\u201360).<\/p>\n
Gonzalo S\u00e1nchez de Lozada pursued an aggressive economic and social reform agenda. The most dramatic reform was privatization under the “capitalization” program, under which investors, typically foreign, acquired 50% ownership and management control of public enterprises in return for agreed upon capital investments.<\/p>\n
In 1993, Gonzalo S\u00e1nchez de Lozada ran for president in alliance with the Tupac Katari Revolutionary Liberation Movement, which inspired indigenous-sensitive and multicultural-aware policies. In 1993, Sanchez de Lozada introduced the Plan de Todos, which led to the decentralization of government, introduction of intercultural bilingual education, implementation of agrarian legislation, and privatization of state owned businesses. The plan explicitly stated that Bolivian citizens would own a minimum of 51% of enterprises; under the plan, most state-owned enterprises (SOEs), though not mines, were sold.<\/p>\n
The Law of Popular Participation dumped upon municipalities the responsibility of maintaining various infrastructures (and offering services): health, education, systems of irrigation, without support from the state. The reforms and economic restructuring were strongly opposed by certain segments of society, which instigated frequent and sometimes violent protests, particularly in La Paz and the Chapare coca-growing region, from 1994 through 1996. The indigenous population of the Andean region was not able to benefit from government reforms. During this time, the umbrella labor-organization of Bolivia, the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), became increasingly unable to effectively challenge government policy. A teachers’ strike in 1995 was defeated because the COB could not marshal the support of many of its members, including construction and factory workers.<\/p>\n
In the 1997 elections, General Hugo Banzer, leader of the Nationalist Democratic Action party (ADN) and former dictator (1971\u201378), won 22% of the vote, while the MNR candidate won 18%. At the outset of his government, President Banzer launched a policy of using special police-units to eradicate physically the illegal coca of the Chapare region. The MIR of Jaime Paz Zamora remained a coalition-partner throughout the Banzer government, supporting this policy (called the Dignity Plan). The Banzer government basically continued the free-market and privatization-policies of its predecessor. The relatively robust economic growth of the mid-1990s continued until about the third year of its term in office. After that, regional, global and domestic factors contributed to a decline in economic growth. Financial crises in Argentina and Brazil, lower world prices for export commodities, and reduced employment in the coca sector depressed the Bolivian economy. The public also perceived a significant amount of public sector corruption. These factors contributed to increasing social protests during the second half of Banzer’s term.<\/p>\n
Between January 1999 and April 2000, large-scale protests erupted in Cochabamba, Bolivia’s third largest city, in response to the privatisation of water resources by foreign companies and a subsequent doubling of water prices. On 6 August 2001, Banzer resigned from office after being diagnosed with cancer. He died less than a year later. Vice President Jorge Fernando Quiroga Ram\u00edrez completed the final year of his term.<\/p>\n
In the June 2002 national elections, former President Gonzalo S\u00e1nchez de Lozada (MNR) placed first with 22.5% of the vote, followed by coca-advocate and native peasant-leader Evo Morales (Movement Toward Socialism, MAS) with 20.9%.<\/p>\n
A July agreement between the MNR and the fourth-place MIR, which had again been led in the election by former President Jaime Paz Zamora, virtually ensured the election of S\u00e1nchez de Lozada in the congressional run-off, and on 6 August he was sworn in for the second time. The MNR platform featured three overarching objectives: economic reactivation (and job creation), anti-corruption, and social inclusion.<\/p>\n
In 2003 the Bolivian gas conflict broke out. On 12 October 2003 the government imposed martial law in El Alto after 16 people were shot by the police and several dozen wounded in violent clashes. Faced with the option of resigning or more bloodshed, Sanchez de Lozada offered his resignation in a letter to an emergency session of Congress. After his resignation was accepted and his vice president, Carlos Mesa, invested, he left on a commercially scheduled flight for the United States.<\/p>\n
The country’s internal situation became unfavorable for such political action on the international stage. After a resurgence of gas protests in 2005, Carlos Mesa attempted to resign in January 2005, but his offer was refused by Congress. On 22 March 2005, after weeks of new street protests from organizations accusing Mesa of bowing to U.S. corporate interests, Mesa again offered his resignation to Congress, which was accepted on 10 June. The chief justice of the Supreme Court, Eduardo Rodr\u00edguez, was sworn as interim president to succeed the outgoing Carlos Mesa.<\/p>\n
Evo Morales won the 2005 presidential election with 53.7% of the votes, an absolute majority, unusual in Bolivian elections. On 1 May 2006, Morales caused controversy when he announced his intent to re-nationalize Bolivian hydrocarbon assets. Fulfilling a campaign promise, on 6 August 2006, Morales opened the Bolivian Constituent Assembly to begin writing a new constitution aimed at giving more power to the indigenous majority.<\/p>\n
In August 2007, more conflicts arose in Sucre, as the city demanded the discussion of the seat of government inside the assembly, hoping the executive and legislative branches could return to the city, but the assembly and the government said this demand was overwhelmingly impractical and politically undesirable. In May 2008, Evo Morales was a signatory to the UNASUR Constitutive Treaty of the Union of South American Nations. In the 2009 national general elections, Evo Morales was re-elected with 64.22% of the vote. His party, Movement for Socialism, also won a two-thirds majority in both houses of the National Congress.<\/p>\n
Bolivia is located in the central zone of South America. With an area of 424,164 square miles, Bolivia is the world’s 28th-largest country, and the fifth largest country in South America, extending from the Central Andes through part of the Gran Chaco, Pantanal and as far as the Amazon. The geographic center of the country is the so-called Puerto Estrella (“Star Port”) on the R\u00edo Grande, in \u00d1uflo de Ch\u00e1vez Province, Santa Cruz Department.<\/p>\n
The geography of the country exhibits a great variety of terrain and climates. Bolivia has a high level of biodiversity, considered one of the greatest in the world, as well as several ecoregions with ecological sub-units such as the Altiplano, tropical rainforests (including Amazon rainforest), dry valleys, and the Chiquitania, which is a tropical savanna. These areas feature enormous variations in altitude, from an elevation of 21,463 feet above sea level in Nevado Sajama to nearly 230 feet along the Paraguay River. Although a country of great geographic diversity, Bolivia has remained a landlocked country since the War of the Pacific. Puerto Su\u00e1rez, San Mat\u00edas and Puerto Quijarro are located in the Bolivian Pantanal.<\/p>\n
The Andean region in the southwest spans 28% of the national territory, extending over 118,766 square miles. This area is located above 9,800 foot altitude and is located between two big Andean chains, the Cordillera Occidental (“Western Range”) and the Cordillera Central (“Central Range”), with some of the highest spots in the Americas such as the Nevado Sajama, with an altitude of 21,463 feet, and the Illimani, at 21,201 feet. Also located in the Cordillera Central is Lake Titicaca, the highest commercially navigable lake in the world and the largest lake in South America; the lake is shared with Peru. Also in this region are the Altiplano and the Salar de Uyuni, which is the largest salt flat in the world and an important source of lithium.<\/p>\n
The Sub-Andean region in the center and south of the country is an intermediate region between the Altiplano and the eastern llanos (plain); this region comprises 13% of the territory of Bolivia, extending over 55,141 square miles, and encompassing the Bolivian valleys and the Yungas region. It is distinguished by its farming activities and its temperate climate.<\/p>\n
The Llanos region in the northeast comprises 59% of the territory, with 250,257 square miles. It is located to the north of the Cordillera Central and extends from the Andean foothills to the Paraguay River. It is a region of flat land and small plateaus, all covered by extensive rain forests containing enormous biodiversity. The region is below 1,300 foot above sea level.
\nBolivia has three drainage basins:<\/p>\n
Despite a series of mostly political setbacks, between 2006 and 2009 the Morales administration has spurred growth higher than at any point in the preceding 30 years. A surplus budget of 1.7% (GDP) was obtained by 2012, the government runs surpluses since Morales administration reflecting a prudent economic management.<\/p>\n
A major blow to the Bolivian economy came with a drastic fall in the price of tin during the early 1980s, which impacted one of Bolivia’s main sources of income and one of its major mining industries. Since 1985, the government of Bolivia has implemented a far-reaching program of macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform aimed at maintaining price stability, creating conditions for sustained growth, and alleviating scarcity. A major reform of the customs service has significantly improved transparency in this area. Parallel legislative reforms have locked into place market-liberal policies, especially in the hydrocarbon and telecommunication sectors, that have encouraged private investment. Foreign investors are accorded national treatment.<\/p>\n
Bolivia has the second largest natural gas reserves in South America. The government has a long-term sales agreement to sell natural gas to Brazil through 2019.<\/p>\n
The US Geological Service estimates that Bolivia has 5.4 million cubic tonnes of lithium, which represent 50%\u201370% of world reserves. However, to mine for it would involve disturbing the country’s salt flats (called Salar de Uyuni), an important natural feature which boosts tourism in the region. The government does not want to destroy this unique natural landscape to meet the rising world demand for lithium. On the other hand, sustainable extraction of lithium is attempted by the government. This project is carried out by the public company “Recursos Evapor\u00edticos” subsidiary of COMIBOL.<\/p>\n
The income from tourism has become increasingly important. Bolivia’s tourist industry has grown gradually since about 1990.<\/p>\n
Boliviana de Aviaci\u00f3n (BoA) is a state-owned company and the country’s largest airline with links to South American, North America and Europe.<\/p>\n
Transporte A\u00e9reo Militar – TAM, the Bolivian Military Airline, is an airline based in La Paz, Bolivia. It is the civilian wing of the ‘Fuerza A\u00e9rea Boliviana’ (the Bolivian Air Force), operating passenger services to remote towns and communities in the North and Northeast of Bolivia.<\/p>\n
A similar airline serving the Beni Department with small planes is L\u00ednea A\u00e9rea Amaszonas, using smaller planes than TAM.<\/p>\n
TAB \u2013 Transportes A\u00e9reos Bolivianos, was created in 1977. TAB, a charter heavy cargo airline, links Bolivia with most countries of the Western Hemisphere; its inventory includes a fleet of Hercules C130 aircraft. TAB is headquartered adjacent to El Alto International Airport. TAB flies cargo flights to Miami and Houston, with a stop in Panama.<\/p>\n
The three largest, and main international airports in Bolivia are El Alto International Airport in La Paz, Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz, and Jorge Wilstermann International Airport in Cochabamba.<\/p>\n
Due to geographic and funding limitations, Bolivia’s road network is not well developed.\u00a0 There are a total of roughly 110 miles of 4 lane expressway in the nation.\u00a0 There are an additional 11 main national roads many of which link to roads in neighboring countries.<\/p>\n
Bolivia possesses an extensive but aged rail system consisting of two disconnected networks.<\/p>\n
The national flag of Bolivia was originally adopted in 1851. The state flag and ensign is a horizontal tricolor of red, yellow and green with the Bolivian coat of arms in the center. According to one source, the red stands for Bolivia’s brave soldiers, while the green symbolizes fertility and yellow the nation’s mineral deposits.<\/p>\n