Facts

Land and People
Bolivia presents a sharp contrast between high, bleak mountains and plateaus in the west and lush, tropical rain forests in the east. In the southeast it merges into the semiarid plains of the Gran Chaco. The Andes mountain system reaches its greatest width in Bolivia. Two cordilleras, the western one tracing the border with Chile and the eastern running north and south across the center of the country, are divided by a high plateau (altiplano), most of it 12,000 ft (3,660 m) above sea level barren, windswept, and segmented by mountain spurs. Despite the harsh conditions the altiplano is the population center of Bolivia. Many sections for want of drainage have brackish lakes and salt beds, notably the extensive Salar de Uyuni in the south. In the north are Lake Titicaca, which Bolivia shares with Peru, and Lake Poopó. This region, world famous for its breathtaking scenery, was the home of one of the great pre-Columbian civilizations. Well known are the ruins of Tiahuanaco.

The eastern mountains, consisting of three major ranges, rise to the cold, forbidding heights of the Puna plateau (as high as 16,000 ft/4,880 m) and in the north to the snowcapped peaks of Illimani (21,184 ft/6,457 m) and Illampú (21,276 ft/6,485 m). In these mountains lies the source of the exploited wealth of Bolivia its minerals. Tin is by far the most important product, but silver was once the chief metal, and tungsten, copper, wolframite, bismuth, antimony, zinc, lead, iron, and gold are also mined. The names of some mining towns, notably Potosí and Oruro, are world famous.
From the mountains, headstreams cut eastward, carving deep gorges and fingerlike valleys. In these valleys are some of Bolivia's garden spots—Sucre, Cochabamba, and Tarija. Santa Cruz de la Sierra and La Paz are the two main cities of tropical Bolivia. In the eastern foothills headstreams gather to form the Beni, the Guaiporé, and the Mamoré (tributaries of the Madeira, in Brazil), which flow through the torrid, humid yungas, covered with dense rain forests, and inhabited mainly by indigenous South Americans. The region is the most fertile in the country, yielding cacao, coffee, and tropical fruits, and in the early 20th cent. was a major source of wild rubber and quinine. Some of the more accessible valleys, with luxuriant scenery and a pleasantly warm climate, have become popular Bolivian resort areas. More than half the population is indigenous, although the citizens of European descent (some 5% to 15% of the people) or mixed European and native ancestry (about 25% to 30% of the population) maintain economic, political, and social hegemony. The predominant native languages are Quechua and Aymara; they and Spanish are Bolivia's official languages. A few indigenous groups have remained isolated from European culture. Most of the population is Roman Catholic, although many people of indigenous descent retain the substance of their pre-Christian beliefs. A small but extremely active Protestant minority also exists. There are eight universities in the country.

Environment
Bolivia is sandwiched between Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Chile in central outh America. It is the fifth-largest country on the continent, measuring roughly the size of France and Spain combined. There are five geographical regions: the highly populated Altiplano, a 3500m (11,480ft) plateau that stretches from the Peruvian border north of Lake Titicaca southwards to the Argentine border; the highland valleys, which lie to the south and east of the Altiplano and which boast near optimum climatic conditions and fertile soils; the Yungas, which form the transition zone between the icy peaks of the Andes and the steamy Amazonian forest ; the Chaco, a hot, dry, impenetrable and uninhabited plain along the Paraguayan and Argentine borders; and the underdeveloped swamps, savannas, scrub and rainforest of the Amazonian Basin, which occupies much of the north and east of the country.
Due to its relatively sparse population, lack of development and diverse geography, Bolivia is one of the best places on the continent to see South American wildlife. Fauna include the rare spectacled bear, jaguar, vicuña, llama, alpaca, anteater, tapir, capybara, turtle, alligator, rhea and condor. Although Bolivia has a fairly good national park system, encroachment into the lowlands of the Amazonian Basin by settlers is increasing, and the huge fortunes awaiting those prepared to exploit the area's mineral, agricultural and timber resources have made environmentalism a less convenient posture for the government to adopt.
Because of the extreme geographical variations, Bolivia has a wide range of climatic patterns. Generally, temperatures are cool, with the rainy period extending from November to March in most of the country. The cities of La Paz and Potosí often experience very cold temperatures and sometimes snow, while the Altiplano region is prone to severe flooding. During the dry period the climate is pleasant, though clear skies can cause nighttime temperatures to drop. In the lowlands, the weather is hot and sunny, with the occasional cloudburst helping to cool things down.

Economy
Despite the importance of its mines and its large reserves of natural gas and crude oil, Bolivia is one of the poorest nations in Latin America and still lives by a subsistence economy. A large part of the population makes its living from the illegal growing of coca, the source of cocaine; a government eradication begun in the late 1990s has depressed the economy in those areas where coca-growing was important. Coffee, cotton, soybeans, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes, and wheat are the other major crops; timber is also important. Industry is limited to processing (largely smelting and petroleum refining) and small-scale manufacturing. Although Bolivia has much hydroelectric potential, it is underutilized.

Bolivia's mineral wealth furnishes the bulk of its exports, although natural gas, soybeans, and jewelry are also important. Chemicals, petroleum, and consumer goods are imported. The tin industry, which is a major component of the economy, has received increasing competition from SE Asia, and as a result several tin mines have closed. The United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Brazil are the chief trading partners. Bolivia became an associate member of the Southern Cone Common Market in 1996.

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