BOLIVIA

Official name: REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA

Short name: Bolivia

Date of membership: 7 June 1976

Capital: La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital and seat of judiciary)

Government

Administrative divisions: 9 departments (departamentos, singular- departamento); Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija.

Independence: 6 August 1825 (from Spain)

Constitution: 7 February 2009

Suffrage: 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single).

Executive branch: Chief of state: President Juan Evo Morales Ayma (since 22 January 2015); Vice President Álvaro Marcelo García Linera (since 22 January 2015).
Note: The president is both chief of state and head of government.

Legislative branch: Bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; 68 are directly elected from their districts and 62 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms).

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).

Internet code: .bo

Web Official Portal: https://bolivia.gob.bo/

Geography

Location: Central South America, southwest of Brazil

Area: 1,098,580 sq km

Land boundaries: 6,940 km

Border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,423 km, Chile 860 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 1,075 km.

Natural resources: Natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower.

Environment - international agreements: Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94.

 Economic indicators