BOLIVIA

BOLIVIA, named after independence fighter Simón BOLÍVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825.

Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982.

AREA: 1,100,000 sq km

POPULATION: 11,700,000

NATURAL RESOURCES: tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower, lithium.

LANGUAGES: Spanish 60.7%, Quechua 21.2%, Aymara 14.6%, other native languages 1.0%

DEMOGRAPHICS: Bolivia ranks low among Latin American countries, for poverty, education, fertility, malnutrition, mortality, and life expectancy.

PUBLIC EDUCATION: with the construction of rural schools, indigenous and rural children get more opportunity to be literate and to complete primary school.

CAPITAL CITY: Sucre, legislative and judicial capital.

Nuestra Señora de La Paz, administrative capital. At 3,650 m above sea level, La Paz's elevation makes it the highest capital city in the world.

ECONOMY: Bolivia is a resource rich country with strong growth attributed to natural gas exports to Brazil and Argentina.

GDP growth 2019: 4.2% annually

GDP per capita: $ 7,600

Canada: $ 64,00, a factor 8.5 more.

AGRICULTURE: soybean, quinoa, coffee, sugarcane, corn, rice, potatoes, coca

POVERTY: Population below the poverty line: 38%, based on percent of population living on less than the international standard of $2/day.

CURRENCY

1 BOB = 0.20 CAD; 1 BOB = 0.15 USD