Bolivia - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Bolivia. note 1: landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru
note 2: the southern regions of Peru and the extreme northwestern part of Bolivia are considered to be the place of origin for the common potato, while southeast Bolivia and northwest Argentina seem to be the original development site for peanuts. Mother's mean age at first birth is 21.1 years (2008 est.) (Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 161 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Geographical data of Bolivia
| Location | Central South America, southwest of Brazil |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 17 00 S, 65 00 W |
| Map references | South America |
| Tarrain | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin |
| Natural Resources | lithium, tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower |
| Natural Hazards | flooding in the northeast (March to April) volcanism: volcanic activity in Andes Mountains on the border with Chile; historically active volcanoes in this region are Irruputuncu (5,163 m), which last erupted in 1995, and the Olca-Paruma volcanic complex (5,762 m to 5,167 m) |
| Irrigated Land | 2,972 sq km (2017) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | |
| Major aquifers | Amazon Basin |
| Land Boundaries | 7,252 km |
| Border Countries | Argentina 942 km; Brazil 3,403 km; Chile 942 km; Paraguay 753 km; Peru 1,212 km |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Climate | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 1,083,301 sq km |
| Water Area | 15,280 sq km |
| comparative Area | slightly less than three times the size of Montana |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
| Lowest point | Rio Paraguay 90 m |
| Mean elevation | 1,192 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 34.3% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 3.6% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0.2% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 30.5% (2018 est.) |
| Forest | 52.5% (2018 est.) |
| Other | 13.2% (2018 est.) |
Population Distribution
A high altitude plain in the west between two cordillera of the Andes, known as the Altiplano, is the focal area for most of the population; a dense settlement pattern is also found in and around the city of Santa Cruz, located on the eastern side of the Andes
People and Society
In Bolivia, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Mestizo (mixed White and Indigenous ancestry) 68%, Indigenous 20%, White 5%, Cholo/Chola 2%, African descent 1%, other 1%, unspecified 3%; 44% other Indigenous group, predominantly Quechua or Aymara (2009 est.)
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 1% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 17.6 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 6.6 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | 7.9% of GDP (2020) |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 1.3 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
| Total fertility rate | 2.2 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 1.07 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 66.5% (2016) |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 57.1% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
| Education expenditures | 9.8% of GDP (2020 est.) |
| Net Migration rate | -1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Bolivian | Bolivian(s) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 65%, Protestant 19.6% (Evangelical (non-specific) 11.9%, Evangelical Baptist 2.1%, Evangelical Pentecostal 1.8%, Evangelical Methodist 0.7%, Adventist 2.8%, Protestant (non-specific) 0.3%), Believer (not belonging to the church) 0.9%, other 4.8%, atheist 1.7%, agnostic 0.6%, none 6.1%, unspecified 1.3% (2023 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 28.5% (male 1,792,803/female 1,718,081) |
| 15-64 years | 64.5% (male 4,002,587/female 3,937,953) |
| 65 years and over | 7% (2024 est.) (male 397,384/female 463,166) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 56.3 |
| Youth dependency ratio | 48.7 |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 12 |
| Potential support ratio | 8.3 (2021 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 26.6 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 26.2 years |
| Female | 27 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 71.2% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 1.87% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 1.936 million LA PAZ (capital), 1.820 million Santa Cruz, 1.400 million Cochabamba (2022); 278,000 Sucre (constitutional capital) (2018). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.04 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 1.02 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.86 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 1.01 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 22.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 24.5 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 20 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 72.5 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 71 years |
| Female | 74 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99.2% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 80.2% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 93.5% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.8% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 19.8% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 6.5% of population (2020 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 97.8% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 48.4% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 83.1% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 2.2% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 51.6% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 16.9% of population (2020 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 2.98 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 2.22 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 0.14 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 0.54 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0.08 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 12.7% (2020 est.) |
| Male | 20.5% (2020 est.) |
| Female | 4.8% (2020 est.) |
| Child marriage | |
| Women married by age 15 | 3.4% |
| Women married by age 18 | 19.7% |
| Men married by age 18 | 5.2% (2016 est.) |
Demographic profile
Bolivia ranks at or near the bottom among Latin American countries in several areas of health and development, including poverty, education, fertility, malnutrition, mortality, and life expectancy. On the positive side, more children are being vaccinated and more pregnant women are getting prenatal care and having skilled health practitioners attend their births.
Bolivia’s income inequality is the highest in Latin America and one of the highest in the world. Public education is of poor quality, and educational opportunities are among the most unevenly distributed in Latin America, with girls and indigenous and rural children less likely to be literate or to complete primary school. The lack of access to education and family planning services helps to sustain Bolivia’s high fertility rate—approximately three children per woman. Bolivia’s lack of clean water and basic sanitation, especially in rural areas, contributes to health problems.
Between 7% and 16% of Bolivia’s population lives abroad (estimates vary in part because of illegal migration). Emigrants primarily seek jobs and better wages in Argentina (the principal destination), the US, and Spain. In recent years, more restrictive immigration policies in Europe and the US have increased the flow of Bolivian emigrants to neighboring countries. Fewer Bolivians migrated to Brazil in 2015 and 2016 because of its recession; increasing numbers have been going to Chile, mainly to work as miners.
All Important Facts about Bolivia
Want to know more about Bolivia? Check all different factbooks for Bolivia below.
