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General Information
Area: 1,098,581 sq km (424,164 sq miles).
Population: 8,328,700 (official estimate 2000).
Population Density: 7.6 per sq km.
Capital: Legal: Sucre. Population: 223,436 (official estimate 2000). Administrative: La Paz. Population: 1,004,440 (official estimate 2000).
GEOGRAPHY: Bolivia is a landlocked country bordered by Peru to the northwest, Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay to the southeast, Argentina to the south and Chile to the west. There are three main areas: the first is a high plateau known as the ‘Altiplano’, a largely barren region lying approximately 4000m (13,000ft) above sea level. It comprises ten per cent of the country’s area and contains 70 per cent of the population, nearly one-third of whom are urban dwellers. The second area is a fertile valley situated 1800m (5900ft) to 2700m (8850ft) above sea level. The third area comprises the lowland tropics which stretch down to the frontiers with Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, taking up some 70 per cent of the land area. Rainfall in this region is high, and the climate is hot.
Government: Republic. Gained independence from Spain in 1825. Head of State and Government: President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (2002).
Language: The official languages are Spanish, Quechua and Aymará. English is also spoken by a small number of officials and businessmen in commercial centres.
Religion: Roman Catholic with a Protestant minority.
Time: GMT - 4.
Electricity: 110/220 volts AC in La Paz, 220 volts AC, 50Hz in the rest of the country. Most houses and hotels have two-pin sockets for both electrical currents. Variations from this occur in some places.
Communications:
Telephone
IDD is available. Country code: 591. Outgoing international code: 00.
Mobile telephone
GSM 1900 network. Network operators include Entel SA (website: www.entelmovil.com.bo) and Nuevatel PCS de Bolivia SA (website: www.nuevatel.com).
Fax
Services available.
Internet
ISPs include Megalink (website: www.megalink.com). There are Internet cafes in main towns.
Telegram
Facilities are available from the West Coast of America Telegraph Company; head office at Edificio Electra, Calle Mercado 1150, La Paz.
Post
Airmail to Europe takes three to four days. A poste restante service is available.
Press
The Bolivian Times is published weekly in English. The main papers published in La Paz are La Razón, Hoy, Presencia, Ultima Hora and El Diario.
BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change.
BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice):
Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov):
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
Terms and Conditions apply.
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