Key Facts

GDP (ppp) per CAPITA

$4,500 (2008 est.)

Inflation Rate

14% (2008 est.)

Population

9,775,246 (July 2009 est.)

Country Risk Ratings

D

Ease of Doing Business

150/181

Global Competitiveness

118/134

Country Map

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Bolivia : Introduction

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. However, since taking office, his controversial strategies have exacerbated racial and economic tensions between the Amerindian populations of the Andean west and the non-indigenous communities of the eastern lowlands.

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Sources:
CIA World Factbook (September 2009)
U.S. Dept. of State Country Background Notes (May 2008)