Bolivia, along with Paraguay, is one of two landlocked countries in South America. It sits between Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru, and while only 42 km/ 25.2 mi from the Pacific Ocean at its closest point, this is across the Andes Mountains, as strong a natural barrier as anywhere on earth, physically as well as climatically. Bolivia covers 1,098,581 km2/424,164 mi2 and has approximately 11 million people, featuring groups of indigenous, European, Asian and African descent–a highly mixed population. Its capital is the city of Sucre.
Political map of South America.
Physical map of Bolivia.
Bolivia, named for Venezuelan freedom fighter Simón Bolivar, has been inhabited for more than 6,000 years. By 1500 BCE the Aymara had established a capital at Tiwanaku, which between 600-800 CE had anywhere from 15,000 to 30,000 residents. Around 950 CE a severe, extended drought brought the Aymara society to its knees, to be replaced in the late 1400’s by the invading Incas, who dominated the region all the way to the Amazon basin. In 1524 the Spanish began their invasion of Inca territory, and the conquest was complete by 1533. Bolivia, known as Charcas in the Spanish Empire, was a major source of silver.
It remained under Spanish control until the 1800’s, when a series of rebellions not only in Bolivia but elsewhere in South America disrupted Spanish control and set many of the local populations against each other. Independence fighters in Bolivia fought several wars not only against the Spanish but against local powers in Peru, Chile and elsewhere, losing quite a bit of territory, especially throughout the 20th century This most especially included a 400 km/250 mile stretch of Pacific coast taken by Chile. Bolivia’s governance has been quite turbulent, and included a US-backed military junta formed in the 60’s. In 1993 Bolivia returned to democracy, if at times highly unstable.
Sucre, capital city.
Bolivia is in the central region of South America, between 57°26'–69°38'W and 9°38'–22°53'S, making it entirely tropical, though its western Andean elevations include cold regions quite different from the Amazon basin rainforest in the northeast. The mountainous region, 28% of the country’s territory, is composed of two chains, the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Central, between which is the Altiplano and the salt flats which are a commercially important source of lithium. South America’s largest lake, Titicaca, is in the Cordillera Central. East of the mountains is the Sub-Andean region, 13% of the country’s territory, a temperate zone featuring a large amount of agriculture. The remaining 59% to the east and north is the tropical, forested Llanos region.
The Altiplano.
Tomorrow: Bolivia and climate change.
Be brave, and be well.
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