According to a2zgov, Bolivia is a landlocked country located in the heart of South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Peru to the west, Chile to the south-west, and Argentina and Paraguay to the south. Bolivia covers an area of 1,098,581 km2 (424,164 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 11 million people. The country’s capital is Sucre while its largest city is La Paz.

The terrain of Bolivia is quite varied with highlands in the west and lowlands in the east. The Andes mountain range runs through the western part of Bolivia dividing it into two distinct regions: The Altiplano (or high plains) and La Paz (the lower plains). In addition to these two large regions there are also several smaller regions such as the Amazon Basin in eastern Bolivia and Lake Titicaca in southern Bolivia.

Bolivia has a diverse climate ranging from tropical rainforest in areas near the Amazon Basin to temperate climates in parts of La Paz. In terms of geography, Bolivia has three main mountain ranges: The Cordillera Real which includes Mount Illimani; The Cordillera Oriental which includes Mount Sajama; and The Yungas which includes Mount Chacaltaya.

Bolivia has a rich culture that reflects its indigenous heritage as well as influences from Spanish colonization. Its language is Spanish but various indigenous languages are also spoken including Aymara, Quechua, Guarani and Chiquitano among others. Bolivian cuisine combines traditional ingredients from native cultures with Spanish influence resulting in dishes such as pique macho (spicy beef stew), salteñas (pastry pockets filled with meat or vegetables) or chicharrón (fried pork).

In terms of economy, Bolivia’s main industries are mining, agriculture, fishing and tourism. Mining accounts for around 10% of GDP while agriculture accounts for around 15%. Fishing contributes around 4% while tourism contributes around 2%. Other important industries include manufacturing, textiles and wood products.

In terms of government structure Bolivia follows a presidential system where executive power lies with a president who is elected by popular vote every five years for a maximum two-term limit. Legislative power lies with a bicameral congress composed of a Senate and Chamber of Deputies both elected by popular vote every five years for four-year terms. Judicial power lies with Supreme Court justices appointed by Congress for life terms subject to periodic parliamentary review.

Agriculture in Bolivia

Agriculture is an important part of the Bolivian economy, accounting for 15% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Bolivia has a large and diverse agricultural sector that produces a wide range of crops. The main products are cattle, potatoes, corn, soybeans, sugarcane, and wheat. These products are mainly grown in the lowlands and valleys located in the eastern parts of the country.

The Bolivian government is actively encouraging farmers to modernize their production methods and to adopt more sustainable practices such as crop rotation and conservation agriculture. This is being done through various initiatives such as providing subsidies for agricultural inputs, technical assistance for farmers, and training programs for rural communities. The government also provides tax incentives for investments in agribusinesses.

In addition to traditional farming practices Bolivia has also adopted some innovative approaches to agriculture. For example, some areas have adopted a system known as “agroforestry” which involves intercropping trees with other crops such as maize or cassava to increase soil fertility while also providing shade for animals or crops that need it.

Bolivia’s main export markets for agricultural products include Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Europe. The country has also been developing its organic farming sector in recent years with some success; organic certification is now available in many areas of Bolivia allowing producers to access more lucrative export markets including North America and Europe.

Overall, Bolivia’s agricultural sector is growing steadily due to increased investment from both domestic and international sources. The government has been actively promoting sustainable agriculture practices which should ensure long-term growth in this sector while also helping to protect the environment from further degradation due to unsustainable farming methods.

Fishing in Bolivia

Fishing is an important economic activity in Bolivia, contributing significantly to the country’s GDP and providing employment for thousands of people. The Bolivian fishing industry is largely based on the waters of Lake Titicaca, which is one of the largest freshwater lakes in South America. In addition to Lake Titicaca, Bolivia has a number of other inland waterways including rivers, lagoons, and reservoirs that are teeming with fish.

The most common species caught in Bolivian waters include trout, catfish, piranha, and pacu. Other species such as carp and tilapia have been introduced from other countries and are becoming increasingly popular among fishermen. The main methods used for fishing in Bolivia are trolling with lures or baited lines as well as netting from boats or along the shoreline.

In recent years there has been a push from the Bolivian government to promote sustainable fishing practices in order to protect the fragile aquatic ecosystems and ensure that fish populations remain healthy for generations to come. This includes encouraging responsible fisheries management through regulations such as catch limits and closed seasons for certain species; protecting areas where spawning occurs; implementing gear restrictions; establishing no-take zones; and introducing aquaculture initiatives such as fish farming.

Overall, fishing in Bolivia provides a valuable source of income for local people while also helping to conserve natural resources for future generations. With proper management it can be an important part of a sustainable economy while also providing recreational opportunities for tourists and locals alike.

Forestry in Bolivia

Forests are an important part of the Bolivian landscape, covering over 60% of the country’s total land area. The forests provide habitat for a wide variety of species and are home to some of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. They also provide a number of important economic benefits, including timber for construction, fuelwood for cooking and heating, and non-timber forest products such as medicinal plants, fruits, and nuts.

Bolivia has two main types of forests: tropical rainforests in the eastern lowlands and temperate forests in the Andean highlands. The most extensive areas of forest cover are found in the departments of Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, Tarija, Chuquisaca and La Paz. These forests are composed mainly of broadleaf evergreen trees such as mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), cedar (Cedrela odorata), balsa (Ochroma pyramidale) and rubber (Hevea brasiliensis).

In recent years there has been an increasing focus on sustainable forestry management practices in Bolivia with a view to protecting these valuable natural resources while also generating income from timber production. This includes initiatives such as reforestation programs; establishing protected areas; setting up community forestry projects; introducing certification schemes; and promoting responsible harvesting techniques.

In addition to providing economic benefits through timber production, Bolivia’s forests also play an important role in mitigating climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it as biomass. Furthermore, they provide numerous other ecosystem services such as water regulation, soil conservation and erosion control which help to maintain healthy watersheds for local communities.

All in all, Bolivian forests offer multiple benefits that go beyond just timber production. With proper stewardship they can be managed sustainably to ensure that these valuable resources remain available for future generations to enjoy.

On July 10, 1825, in Chuquisaca, in the ancient seat of the Audiencia de Charcas, the general assembly of independent Upper Peru was inaugurated: forty-eight representatives, the majority of whom were doctors from the Colonial University. The proposals for annexation to the territory of the Argentine or the Peruvian Republic were discussed and rejected on 6 August, the Assembly proclaimed independence on the same day; and on the 13th he sanctioned the form of government of the new state constituted in a unitary republic, with a representative system, and with the separation of the three powers: legislative, executive and judicial. By law of the 14th of the same month, the republic was given the glorious name of the liberator Simone Bolívar, then changed to Bolivia, and arrangements were made for Bolívar himself to hold the supreme executive power of the republic as long as he resided within its limits. The same law determined that “the capital of the republic, with its department (Chuquisaca) would be called in the future Sucre “.

The first Bolivian political constitution was discussed in the assembly of 1826, on the project drawn up by Bolívar, and was promulgated by law on November 19. It stipulated the creation of three chambers: that of the censors who were to exercise a mission similar to that of the Athenian Areopagus, appoint the high dignitaries, organize the administration, watch over the fulfillment of the constitution and treaties; that of the senators who drafted the codes and supervised the courts; and that of the tribunes, who had the initiative of the laws, were concerned with peace and war and controlled the executive power.

Since independence, Bolivia has had 26 presidents: 11 of them have been ousted by revolutions and eight have been assassinated. This gives an idea of ​​the turbulent political life. The first president appointed by the assembly was Simone Bolívar, who resigned from the post. Then Sucre was appointed who, due to his extreme youth and lack of political skills, was unable to lead the public life of the brand new republic. Therefore, embittered by the internal strife, he in turn resigned and indicated as suitable candidates to succeed him the generals Andrés Santa Cruz and José Miguel de Velazco.

But due to the infighting and the simultaneous invasion of Bolivia by the Peruvian army, led by President Magarra, the will of the Sucre was not carried out; and the Convention that stipulated the treaty of Piquiza with Petù (6 July 1828), accepting the impositions of Magarra, designated Pedro Blanco as president. After only five days from his exaltation, he was exonerated: he died murdered, in prison, the following January 1st. In order to dominate the uprisings, the assembly then appointed General Andrés Santa Cruz, who dictated a provisional statute, followed by a reform of the Constitution of 1826: the Chamber of Tribunes was suppressed and the other two were called Deputies and Senators (1831). Santa Cruz was also concerned with perfecting the Bolivian legislation, promulgating various codes, of an administrative and private nature, which earned Bolivia the primacy, in general, of all the Spanish-American legislations; he ordered public finances and organized taxes; at the same time he promoted industrial interests and encouraged agriculture with considerable concessions to immigrants; entered into a commercial treaty with Peru. Under his government, which lasted a decade (1829-1839), the prosperity, prestige and power of Bolivia grew so that Santa Cruz could conceive and almost carry out the ambitious plan to subjugate Peru and rebuild (with both states united under his rule) the ancient viceroyalty of Lima. He himself placed himself at the head of the invasion troops who, defeated the Peruvian army in Cuzco (1835), they ousted the president of the Peruvian republic, Magarra. In attempting to carry out his project, the Santa Cruz unified the fundamental laws of the two countries, which nevertheless had to preserve their respective administration and autonomy in internal politics; and he had himself proclaimed (with the nickname of protector) head of this Peruvian-Bolivian confederation (1836). But his attitude provoked the simultaneous uprisings of Magarra in Peru and Velazco in Bolivia; and when, won by Magarra at Jungay (1839), the Santa Cruz returned to Bolivia, Velazco had replaced it, albeit with a provisional character.

The presidency of General José Ballivián, called “el Grande” followed, to whom the victory of Ingavi over the troops of the Peruvian president, who had again invaded the province of La Paz (1841), earned him the supreme power. The campaign against Peru continued under him: defeated and Magarra died in Viacha, peace was signed in 1842 on the basis of the statu quo ante bellum. Ballivián dictated the fourth republican constitution called the Military Ordinance (1843); and under him the economic progress of the country continued: the exploitation of the riverbed of the Pilcomayo river, in the Chaco Boreal was begun, the exploration of the tributaries of the Amazon River was ordered in order to establish a fluvial communications network. Ballivián fell from power due to the revolt led by the ex-president Josè Miguel de Velazco (1848-1849); he too was ousted by the uprising directed by Manuel Isidoro Belzú, who had already formed part of a government triumvirate with Velazco and Olañeta and which remained in power for six years. Six years of continuous struggles: more than fifty rebellions, persecutions and political reprisals en masse, under the auspices of the restored Constitution of 1839, harassment of a kind of bandit communism. Followed by the governments of the son-in-law of Belzú, Jorge Córdova (1855-1857), of the energetic José María de Linares, imitator of Belzú, who was absolute dictator, and of José María de Acha. The government of the latter, although marred by continuous revolutions in the early days (1861-1864), was nevertheless very beneficial to the nation: public services were reorganized, new impetus was given to mining industry and agriculture, reduced to a miserable situation under the predecessors, trade was favored with international treaties; a temporary remedy was also taken (1866) to the ancient quarrel between Bolivia and Chile for the possession of the neighboring district of Mejillones; one of the richest on the coast for its saltpeter deposits and guano deposits. But Acha also fell for a revolution, which imposed the presidency of Mariano Melgarejo; and then (1864-1871) a series of events unfavorable to the nation followed one another. A heavy treaty granted Chilean companies the monopoly on the exploitation of the whole province, then Bolivian, of Antofagasta, with its rich deposits of saltpetre, with its boraciferous fumaroles and with its silver and copper mines.

Things went better under Agustín Morales (1871-72), who promoted the construction of railways, territorially organized the districts of Mamoré and Gran Chaco and the exploitation of the magnificent natural resources of the latter. On his death and after a government of Tomás Frias’s passing, Adolfo Ballivián, son of José, was elected (1873). The same year of his election, Ballivián signs a defensive alliance with Peru, which will be the origin of the conflict with Chile. For Bolivia 2017, please check mathgeneral.com.

The conflict that had been preparing for some time, over the question of the Antofagasta fields, was delayed by the ratification of the privileges granted in 1866 to the Chilean companies of Antofagasta, ratified by the Frias, once again in power, in 1874; but it broke out during the presidency of Hilarión Daza (1876-1879). The latter had come to power following a revolution, and had been confirmed by the congress of La Paz which, too, had promulgated the number ten constitution of the many that were in force in Bolivia (1877). Abusing its quasi-sovereign prerogatives and under pressure from allied Peru, the Daza revoked the Chileno-Bolivian treaties of 1866 and 1874, causing conflict, known as the war of the Pacific (the pretext was offered by the refusal of the Atacama saltpeter companies to accept the new taxes on exploitation). In a few days of war, Chile occupied the province and seized the port of Antofagasta (April 14, 1879). Belatedly, Bolivia, aided by the Peruvian army, rushed to defend the southern coast; the allied armies were defeated so quickly that they were forced to ask Chile for an armistice. This he granted (1880) and retained Antofagasta in his possession, claiming that he did nothing but claim ancient rights, which he had renounced only to find a basis for agreement for the 1866 treaty. The armistice was then ratified in 1884:

Another serious problem arises for the first time in 1879: that of the borders between Bolivia and Paraguay, due to the possession of the Chaco Boreal, a district of 300,000 sq km, of great agricultural wealth. The Chaco Boreal had belonged, in the colonial period, to the Audiencia de Charcas whose complete limits were preserved in the territory of the republic of Bolivia. according to the uti possidetis juris, proclaimed by Simone Bolívar in 1810 to regulate the borders of the then nascent states. The Bolivian thesis was based precisely on this: Bolivia also invoked the need to obtain direct communication with the Atlantic, since it had lost that of the Pacific as a consequence of the war against Chile. But Paraguay alleged that the jurisdiction of the Audiencia de Charcas was merely judicial as regards the Chaco Boreal; this, on the other hand, depended on the bishopric and the Intendency of Paraguay, respectively for ecclesiastical and administrative matters. A first treaty on the Chaco Boreal was signed in 1887; the territory was divided into three parts, one for each of the two states and one, the central one, submitted to the arbitration of the king of Belgium.

Despite similar troubles, the Bolivian nation continued in its progressive development, especially from the presidency of Narciso Campero (1880). Telegraph networks were established; privileges were granted for the exploitation of the Chaco Boreal, credits and rewards for agriculture; the mining industries were favored and protected and commercial communications had an impulse. Campero also promulgated a new political constitution, which is the one still in force today.

Progress accelerates under the presidencies of Aniceto Arce and Mariano Baptista (who followed Campero’s successor, Gregorio Pando, 1884-88), during which many important public works were built, such as the strategic railway from Oruro to the port of Antofagasta, through which almost all of Bolivia’s foreign trade takes place; under that of Severo Fernández Alonso, author of reforms in public education; by General José Manuel Pandoche (1899-1904), the promoter of the first railway communication with Peru. In these first years of the twentieth century, discussions arose regarding the application of the Chileno-Bolivian pact of 1884, the one called peace and friendship was stipulated (20 October 1904), which established the limits in the disputed region; by virtue of it, Bolivia definitively renounced the department of Cobija with all its coastline from Punta Falsa in the south to Antofagasta, in whose port, as well as those of Arica and Mollendo, it nevertheless had the right to establish national customs; and Chile, on the other hand, undertook to continue the construction of the Bolivian part of the railway from Arica to La Paz and guaranteed that of other networks with 5% of the cost. It was a renunciation of any access to the sea; however, it seems not to be considered as definitive by Bolivia, which brought the question before the League of Nations and which refrained from participating in the fifth Pan-American Conference, celebrated in Santiago del Chile in 1923.

In 1903 disputes broke out over the possession of the Acre region on the Brazilian border. Already before, Bolivia had organized the “national delegation of the North-East” in order precisely to prevent any Brazilian usurpation on the border territories: now there was a small war, which, however, was soon ended with an agreement: 70,000 miles of the mining district were ceded to Brazil, in exchange for pecuniary indemnity and other territorial compensation. But this problem also seems to be recurring.

Ismael Montes (1904-09 and 1913-15) and Eliodoro Villazón (1909-1913) stepped up the construction of the railways to encourage the exploitation of national mines, pastoralism and agriculture. Villazón also followed the liberal policy initiated by Montes, establishing, among other things, civil marriage; and reorganized public finances by also establishing the Bank of the Bolivian nation. During the war, Bolivia first proclaimed its neutrality; it was not until April 13, 1917 that it broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.

José Gutierrez Guerra (1917-20) was succeeded by Battista Saavedra, imposed by the revolution of 1920 and appointed by the convention of the following year. Saavedra organized military aviation, built roads and railways of great importance such as the one from Atocha to Villazón (which is the first communication with Argentina), contributed to the revival of certain industries, provided Bolivia with provident laws social. In May 1925 José Galino Villanueva was elected; but the election was canceled in September by Congress, and in December Dr. Hernando Siles was elected. However, following an insurrectionary movement, he too had to leave the presidency in June 1930.

In recent years the dispute with Paraguay has risen over the possession of the Gran Chaco. The question, initially peaceably initiated, with the acceptance of arbitration by a commission, suddenly sharpened towards the end of 1928. In December, armed conflicts broke out on the border; the two states mobilized and for a moment war seemed inevitable. On December 17 and 18, however, first Paraguay and then Bolivia accepted the mediation of the International Conference of American States in Washington.