Bolivia - Tourism and Travel

The Republic of Bolivia is a landlocked country in central South America.

It has an area of 424,164 square miles (1,098,581 square kilometers).

Western Bolivia is located in the Andes Mountains.

The Altiplano, in western Bolivia, is a high plateau in the Andes. It lies between between the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Oriental ranges. The Altiplano reaches a height of 12,500 feet (3,800 meters.) There are many spurs and alluvial fans at the margins of the Altiplano.

The highest mountain in the Bolivian Andes, Illampu, contains two peaks - Nevada de Illampu, which is 21,275 feet (6,485 meters) high and Nevado de Ancohuma, which is 21,490 feet (6,550 meters) high.

The Oriente, a lowland area in the northeast, has low alluvial plains known as llanos. Here there are tropical rainforests, swamps, savannahs and flooded bottomlands. The Oriente makes up more than two thirds of Bolivia.

Southeastern Bolivia has low-lying semi-arid grasslands.

Lake Titicaca lies on the border with Peru, in the west. It is South America's largest lake, with an area of 3,220 squares miles (8,340 square kilometers). At 12,507 feet (3,812 meters) above sea level, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world.

La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia. It is located in the Altiplano and, at 11,975 feet (3,650 meters) high, is the highest capital in the world.

Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia.

9,863,000 people live in Bolivia. Most of them live on the Altiplano.

37% of the people are Quecha, 32% are Aymara, 10% are European and 13% are mixed race.

Official languages are Spanish, Quecha and Aymara.

93% of the people are Roman Catholic.

Bolivia has large reserves of silver, gold, tin, zinc.

Silver has been mind in the Potosí region for thousands of years.

About half of export income comes from the sale of minerals.

Other exports include soy beans, timber and natural gas.

Economic progress is discouraged by trade in illegal drugs and the corruption that goes with it. Coca, which is used for cocaine, is the most profitable of all the crops that are grown in the Oriente. Coca is easy to grow and to transport.

Bolivia has a presidential system of government.

The military has a strong influence on government.

The official currency is the Boliviano, which is equal to 100 centavos.