Bolivia (2001) | Libya (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija | 25 municipalities (baladiyat, singular - baladiyah); Ajdabiya, Al 'Aziziyah, Al Fatih, Al Jabal al Akhdar, Al Jufrah, Al Khums, Al Kufrah, An Nuqat al Khams, Ash Shati', Awbari, Az Zawiyah, Banghazi, Darnah, Ghadamis, Gharyan, Misratah, Murzuq, Sabha, Sawfajjin, Surt, Tarabulus, Tarhunah, Tubruq, Yafran, Zlitan; note - the 25 municipalities may have been replaced by 13 regions |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
38.46% (male 1,626,698; female 1,565,748) 15-64 years: 57.07% (male 2,315,098; female 2,421,987) 65 years and over: 4.47% (male 166,986; female 203,946) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 33.9% (male 997,364/female 955,272)
15-64 years: 62% (male 1,842,775/female 1,729,235) 65 years and over: 4.2% (male 117,967/female 122,950) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber | wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus, vegetables, peanuts, soybeans; cattle |
Airports | 1,093 (2000 est.) | 139 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
13 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 59
over 3,047 m: 23 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 23 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
1,080 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 65 914 to 1,523 m: 212 under 914 m: 800 (2000 est.) |
total: 80
over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 41 under 914 m: 18 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
1,098,580 sq km land: 1,084,390 sq km water: 14,190 sq km |
total: 1,759,540 sq km
land: 1,759,540 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Montana | slightly larger than Alaska |
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 counter-coups. Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in the 1980s, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and drug production. Current goals include attracting foreign investment, strengthening the educational system, continuing the privatization program, and waging an anti-corruption campaign. | From the earliest days of his rule following his 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI has espoused his own political system, the Third Universal Theory. The system is a combination of socialism and Islam derived in part from tribal practices and is supposed to be implemented by the Libyan people themselves in a unique form of "direct democracy." QADHAFI has always seen himself as a revolutionary and visionary leader. He used oil funds during the 1970s and 1980s to promote his ideology outside Libya, supporting subversives and terrorists abroad to hasten the end of Marxism and capitalism. In addition, beginning in 1973, he engaged in military operations in northern Chad's Aozou Strip - to gain access to minerals and to use as a base of influence in Chadian politics - but was forced to retreat in 1987. UN sanctions in 1992 isolated QADHAFI politically following the downing of Pan AM Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Libyan support for terrorism appeared to have decreased after the imposition of sanctions. During the 1990s, QADHAFI also began to rebuild his relationships with Europe. UN sanctions were suspended in April 1999 and finally lifted in September 2003 after Libya resolved the Lockerbie case. In December 2003, Libya announced that it had agreed to reveal and end its programs to develop weapons of mass destruction, and QADHAFI has made significant strides in normalizing relations with western nations since then. He has received various Western European leaders as well as many working-level and commercial delegations, and made his first trip to Western Europe in 15 years when he traveled to Brussels in April 2004. QADHAFI also finally resolved in 2004 several outstanding cases against his government for terrorist activities in the 1980s by paying compensation to the families of victims of the UTA and La Belle disco bombings. |
Birth rate | 27.27 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 26.82 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$2.7 billion expenditures: $2.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998) |
revenues: $13.52 billion
expenditures: $12.23 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.6 billion (2004 est.) |
Capital | La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital and seat of judiciary) | Tripoli |
Climate | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid | Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 1,770 km |
Constitution | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994 | 11 December 1969; amended 2 March 1977 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Bolivia conventional short form: Bolivia local long form: Republica de Bolivia local short form: Bolivia |
conventional long form: Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
conventional short form: Libya local long form: Al Jumahiriyah al Arabiyah al Libiyah ash Shabiyah al Ishtirakiyah al Uzma local short form: none |
Currency | boliviano (BOB) | - |
Death rate | 8.2 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 3.48 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $6.6 billion (2000) | $4.069 billion (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador V. Manuel ROCHA embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, San Jorge, La Paz mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032 telephone: [591] (2) 432254 FAX: [591] (2) 433854 |
the US suspended all embassy activities in Tripoli in May 1980, resumed embassy activities in February 2004 under the protective power of the US interests section of the Belgian Embassy in Tripoli, then opened a Liaison Office in Tripoli in June 2004 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Marlene FERNANDEZ del Granado chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410 FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco |
Libya does not have an embassy in the US but maintains an interest section under the protective power of the United Arab Emirates Embassy in the US |
Disputes - international | has wanted a sovereign corridor to the South Pacific Ocean since the Atacama area was lost to Chile in 1884; dispute with Chile over Rio Lauca water rights | Libya has claimed more than 32,000 sq km in southeastern Algeria and about 25,000 sq km in Niger in currently dormant disputes; various Chadian rebels from the Aozou region reside in southern Libya |
Economic aid - recipient | $588 million (1997) | $4.4 million ODA (2002) |
Economy - overview | Bolivia, long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries, has made considerable progress toward the development of a market-oriented economy. Successes under President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA (1993-97) included the signing of a free trade agreement with Mexico and joining the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur), as well as the privatization of the state airline, telephone company, railroad, electric power company, and oil company. His successor, Hugo BANZER Suarez has tried to further improve the country's investment climate with an anticorruption campaign. Growth slowed in 1999, in part due to tight government budget policies, which limited needed appropriations for anti-poverty programs, and the fallout from the Asian financial crisis. In 2000, major civil disturbances in April, and again in September and October, held down overall growth to 2.5%. | The Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which contribute practically all export earnings and about one-quarter of GDP. These oil revenues and a small population give Libya one of the highest per capita GDPs in Africa, but little of this income flows down to the lower orders of society. Libyan officials in the past four years have made progress on economic reforms as part of a broader campaign to reintegrate the country into the international fold. This effort picked up steam after UN sanctions were lifted in September 2003 and as Libya announced in December 2003 that it would abandon programs to build weapons of mass destruction. Almost all US unilateral sanctions against Libya were removed in April 2004. Libya faces a long road ahead in liberalizing the socialist-oriented economy, but initial steps - including applying for WTO membership, reducing some subsidies, and announcing plans for privatization - are laying the groundwork for a transition to a more market-based economy. The non-oil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for about 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of petrochemicals, iron, steel, and aluminum. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit agricultural output, and Libya imports about 75% of its food. |
Electricity - consumption | 3.377 billion kWh (1999) | 19.43 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 4 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 10 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 3.625 billion kWh (1999) | 20.89 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
56.61% hydro: 41.6% nuclear: 0% other: 1.79% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Rio Paraguay 90 m highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m
highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m |
Environment - current issues | the clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the international demand for tropical timber are contributing to deforestation; soil erosion from overgrazing and poor cultivation methods (including slash-and-burn agriculture); desertification; loss of biodiversity; industrial pollution of water supplies used for drinking and irrigation | desertification; very limited natural fresh water resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, is being built to bring water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | Quechua 30%, Aymara 25%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, white 15% | Berber and Arab 97%, Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, Tunisians |
Exchange rates | bolivianos per US dollar - 6.4071 (January 2001), 6.1835 (2000), 5.8124 (1999), 5.5101 (1998), 5.2543 (1997), 5.0746 (1996) | Libyan dinars per US dollar - 1.305 (2004), 1.2929 (2003), 1.2707 (2002), 0.6051 (2001), 0.5122 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Hugo BANZER Suarez (since 6 August 1997); Vice President Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez (since 6 August 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Hugo BANZER Suarez (since 6 August 1997); Vice President Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez (since 6 August 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held May or June 2002) election results: Hugo BANZER Suarez elected president; percent of vote - Hugo BANZER Suarez (ADN) 22%; Jaime PAZ Zamora (MIR) 17%, Juan Carlos DURAN (MNR) 18%, Ivo KULJIS (UCS) 16%, Remedios LOZA (CONDEPA) 17%; no candidate received a majority of the popular vote; Hugo BANZER Suarez won a congressional runoff election on 5 August 1997 after forming a "megacoalition" with MIR, UCS, CONDEPA, NFR, and PDC |
chief of state: Revolutionary Leader Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI (since 1 September 1969); note - holds no official title, but is de facto chief of state
head of government: Secretary of the General People's Committee (Prime Minister) Shukri Muhammad GHANIM (since 14 June 2003) cabinet: General People's Committee established by the General People's Congress elections: national elections are indirect through a hierarchy of people's committees; head of government elected by the General People's Congress; election last held 2 March 2000 (next to be held NA) election results: NA |
Exports | $1.26 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA |
Exports - commodities | soybeans, natural gas, zinc, gold, wood | crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas |
Exports - partners | UK 16%, US 12%, Peru 11%, Argentina 10%, Colombia 7% (1998) | Italy 37%, Germany 16.6%, Spain 11.9%, Turkey 7.1%, France 6.2% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band; similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band | plain green; green is the traditional color of Islam (the state religion) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $20.9 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
16% industry: 31% services: 53% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 8.7%
industry: 45.7% services: 45.6% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6,700 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2000 est.) | 4.9% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 17 00 S, 65 00 W | 25 00 N, 17 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru | more than 90% of the country is desert or semidesert |
Heliports | - | 1 (2004 est.) |
Highways | total:
49,400 km paved: 2,500 km (including 30 km of expressways) unpaved: 46,900 km (1996) |
total: 83,200 km
paved: 47,590 km unpaved: 35,610 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2.3% highest 10%: 31.7% (1990) |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru, a distant second) with an estimated 14,600 hectares under cultivation in 2000, a 33% decrease in overall cultivation of coca from 1999 levels; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported to or through Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to the US and other international drug markets; eradication and alternative crop programs have slashed illicit coca cultivation during the BANZER administration beginning in 1997 | - |
Imports | $1.86 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA |
Imports - commodities | capital goods, raw materials and semi-manufactures, chemicals, petroleum, food | machinery, transport equipment, semi-finished goods, food, consumer products (1999) |
Imports - partners | US 32%, Japan 24%, Brazil 12%, Argentina 12%, Chile 7%, Peru 4%, Germany 3%, other 6% (1998) | Italy 25.5%, Germany 11%, South Korea 6.1%, UK 5.4%, Tunisia 4.7%, Turkey 4.6% (2004) |
Independence | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) | 24 December 1951 (from Italy) |
Industrial production growth rate | 4% (1995 est.) | NA |
Industries | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing | petroleum, iron and steel, food processing, textiles, handicrafts, cement |
Infant mortality rate | 58.98 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 24.6 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 26.92 deaths/1,000 live births female: 22.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4.4% (2000 est.) | 2.9% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | CAN, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNTAET, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer), WToO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 9 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 1,750 sq km (1993 est.) | 4,700 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges appointed for 10-year terms by National Congress); District Courts (one in each department); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases) | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 2.5 million | 1.59 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% | agriculture 17%, industry 29%, services 54% (1997 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
6,743 km border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km |
total: 4,348 km
border countries: Algeria 982 km, Chad 1,055 km, Egypt 1,115 km, Niger 354 km, Sudan 383 km, Tunisia 459 km |
Land use | arable land:
2% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 24% forests and woodland: 53% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 1.03%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 98.78% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) | Arabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities |
Legal system | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on Italian civil law system and Islamic law; separate religious courts; no constitutional provision for judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - some members are drawn from party lists, thus not directly elected)
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held NA June 2002) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ADN 11, MIR 7, MNR 4, CONDEPA 3, UCS 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ADN 32, MNR 26, MIR 23, UCS 21, CONDEPA 19, MBL 5, IU 4 |
unicameral General People's Congress (NA seats; members elected indirectly through a hierarchy of people's committees) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
64.06 years male: 61.53 years female: 66.72 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 76.5 years
male: 74.29 years female: 78.82 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 83.1% male: 90.5% female: 76% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82.6% male: 92.4% female: 72% (2003 est.) |
Location | Central South America, southwest of Brazil | Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Tunisia |
Map references | South America | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
note: Gulf of Sidra closing line - 32 degrees, 30 minutes north |
Merchant marine | total:
42 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 141,017 GRT/211,058 DWT ships by type: bulk 5, cargo 20, chemical tanker 3, container 1, petroleum tanker 10, roll on/roll off 3 (2000 est.) |
total: 17 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 129,627 GRT/105,110 DWT
by type: cargo 7, liquefied gas 3, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 1 (Algeria 1) (2005) |
Military branches | Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Navy (Fuerza Naval Boliviana, includes Marines), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana), National Police Force (Policia Nacional de Bolivia) | Armed Peoples on Duty (Army), Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Command |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $147 million (FY99) | $1.3 billion (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.8% (FY99) | 3.9% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
2,005,660 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,306,452 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 19 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
90,120 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) | Revolution Day, 1 September (1969) |
Nationality | noun:
Bolivian(s) adjective: Bolivian |
noun: Libyan(s)
adjective: Libyan |
Natural hazards | flooding in the northeast (March-April) | hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms |
Natural resources | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower | petroleum, natural gas, gypsum |
Net migration rate | -1.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 1,800 km; petroleum products 580 km; natural gas 1,495 km | condensate 225 km; gas 3,611 km; oil 7,252 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Christian Democratic Party or PDC [leader NA]; Civic Solidarity Union or UCS [Johnny FERNANDEZ]; Conscience of the Fatherland or CONDEPA [Remedios LOZA Alvarado]; Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Antonio ARANIBAR]; Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR [Jaime PAZ Zamora]; Nationalist Democratic Action or ADN [Hugo BANZER Suarez]; Nationalist Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA]; New Republican Force or NFR [leader NA]; Pachacuti Indigenous Movement [Filipe QUISPE]; United Left or IU [Marcos DOMIC]
note: the ADN, MIR, and UCS comprise the ruling coalition |
none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Cocalero Groups; indigenous organizations; labor unions | various Arab nationalist movements with almost negligible memberships may be functioning clandestinely, as well as some Islamic elements; an anti-QADHAFI Libyan exile movement exists, primarily based in London, but has little influence |
Population | 8,300,463 (July 2001 est.) | 5,765,563
note: includes 166,510 non-nationals (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 70% (1999 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.76% (2001 est.) | 2.33% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none; however, Bolivia has free port privileges in maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay | As Sidrah, Az Zuwaytinah, Marsa al Burayqah, Ra's Lanuf, Tripoli, Zawiyah |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) | AM 16, FM 3, shortwave 3 (2002) |
Radios | 5.25 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
3,691 km (single track) narrow gauge: 3,652 km 1.000-m gauge; 39 km 0.760-m gauge (13 km electrified) (1995) |
0 km
note: Libya is working on 7 lines totaling 2,757 km of 1.435-m gauge track; it hopes to have trains running by 2008 (2004) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) | Sunni Muslim 97% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single) | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Telephone system | general assessment:
new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile cellular telephone use expanding rapidly domestic: primary trunk system, which is being expanded, employs digital microwave radio relay; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; mobile cellular systems are being expanded international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: telecommunications system is being modernized; mobile cellular telephone system became operational in 1996
domestic: microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, cellular, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations international: country code - 218; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat, NA Arabsat, and NA Intersputnik; submarine cables to France and Italy; microwave radio relay to Tunisia and Egypt; tropospheric scatter to Greece; participant in Medarabtel (1999) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 327,600 (1996) | 750,000 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 116,000 (1997) | 100,000 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 48 (1997) | 12 (plus one low-power repeater) (1999) |
Terrain | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin | mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions |
Total fertility rate | 3.51 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.34 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 11.4% (1997)
note: widespread underemployment |
30% (2004) |
Waterways | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) | - |