Bolivia
Facts and figures

General Info
• Officially “Plurinational State of Bolivia” (“Estado Plurinacional
de Bolivia”).
• Landlocked Bolivia is the highest and most isolated country in
South America.
• Though rich in mineral and energy resources, Bolivia is one of
South America's poorest countries.
• Neighbors: 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.

Background
• Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke
away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has
consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and countercoups.
• Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have
faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and
illegal drug production.
• In December 2005, Bolivians elected Movement Toward Socialism
leader Evo MORALES president - by the widest margin of any leader
since the restoration of civilian rule in 1982 - after he ran on a
promise to change the country's traditional political class and
empower the nation's poor, indigenous majority.
• In December 2009 and October 2014, President MORALES easily
won reelection.

Politics
• HDI 0.662/1; world rank: 119/188.
• Bolivia is a republic; the new constitution defines Bolivia as a
"Social Unitarian State”.
• President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006),
the president is both chief of state and head of government.

Economy
• GDP: $70.28 billion (2014 est.)
• GDP growth rate: 5.5% (2014 est.)
• GDP per capita: $6,200 (2014 est.), one of the lowest in Latin
America.
• Gas accounts for roughly 50% of Bolivia's total exports and will
fund more than half of its 2015 budget.
• GDP by sector of origin: - agriculture: 13.2%
- industry: 38.7%
- services: 48% (2014 est.)
• Population below poverty line: 45%
• Exchange rate: bolivianos (BOB) per US dollar - 6.91 (2014
est.)

Demographics
• Capital cities: La Paz (administrative capital); Sucre (constitutional
capital)
• Population: 10,800,882 (July 2015 est.)
• Population pyramid:
• Languages: Spanish (official) 60.7%, Quechua (official) 21.2%,
Aymara (official) 14.6%, foreign languages 2.4%, Guarani (official)
0.6%, other native languages 0.4%, none 0.1%
• Ethnic groups: mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 68%,
indigenous 20%, white 5%, cholo/chola 2%, black 1%, other 1%,
unspecified 3%.
• Bolivia's income inequality is the highest in Latin America and one of
the highest in the world.
• The lack of access to education and family planning services helps to
sustain Bolivia's high fertility rate - approximately three children per
woman.

Population pyramid

Access to health I
• 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.
• Maternal mortality rate: 206 deaths/100,000 live births (2015
est.)
• Infant mortality rate: 37.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2015
est.)
• Life expectancy: 68.86 years

Access to health II – Main
health issues and CPD
• Health expenditure: 6.1% of GDP (2013), one of the lowest in the
world.
• Physicians density: 0.47 physicians/1,000 population, again one of
the lowest rates among developing countries.
• Major infectious diseases:
- degree of risk: very high
- food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
- vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and yellow fever
• From its position as a member state in the Commission on
Population and Development at its forty-ninth session (11-15 April
2016) Bolivia will have the opportunity to promote the
strengthening of the “international community’s capacity to
effectively address current and emerging population issues and to
integrate the population dimensions into the international
development agenda.” (E/CN.9/2016/1)

Access to health III – Zika
virus infection in Bolivia
• Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes.
When pregnant women are infected it causes microcephaly in
newborns, shortening their life expectancy.
• On 16 January 2016, Ministry of Health of Bolivia notified WHO of
the first laboratory-confirmed cases of locally-acquired Zika virus
infection in the country.
• Health authorities in Bolivia are taking the following measures:
- intensifying surveillance activities,
- implementing vector control measures,
- educating the public about the risks associated with Zika virus and
encouraging them to take every precaution against mosquito bites.
• Bolivian Health authorities are currently addressing this issue. More
information on Bolivian main Newspapers (e.g. http://www.la-
razon.com/sociedad/Virus-OMS-alerta-expansion-explosiva-Bolivia-
medidas_0_2426757321.html)