Geology and Minerals

Bolivia

Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. Its geography primarily consists of an Andean region to the west and tropical lowlands to the east and north. The country has a diverse environment, including the vast Amazonian plain, the Gran Chaco, temperate valleys, the high-altitude Altiplano plateau, snow-capped peaks, and mountains, encompassing a wide range of climates and biomes across its regions and cities. It includes part of the Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland in the world, along its eastern border. Bolivia is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay to the southeast, Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the west. The seat of government is La Paz, which contains the executive, legislative, and electoral branches of government, while the constitutional capital is Sucre, the seat of the judiciary. While most population and urban centers lie in the Andean region, the largest city and principal industrial center is Santa Cruz de la Sierra, located in the eastern tropical lowlands. Bolivia is a constitutionally unitary state divided into nine departments. Its geographic Andean-lowland divide is matched by economic and cultural differences such as those associated with the camba and colla demonyms. One-third of the country is within the Andean mountain range. With an area of 1,098,581 square kilometers (424,164 sq mi), Bolivia is the fifth-largest country in South America and, alongside Paraguay, is one of two landlocked countries in the Americas. It is the largest landlocked country in the Southern Hemisphere; it has inland ports accessing the Atlantic Ocean through two river systems: Acre-Purus-Amazon and Paraguay-Paraná. Bolivia had a population of 11.4 million as of the latest census in 2024. It is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, and the descendants of Europeans and Africans. Spanish is the official and predominant language, although 36 indigenous languages also have official status, of which the most commonly spoken are Guaraní, Aymara, and Quechua. Centuries prior to Spanish colonization, the region formed part of the Tiwanaku polity, which collapsed around 1000 AD. The Colla–Inca War of the 1440s marked the beginning of Inca rule in western Bolivia.

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See also

• ▸Grotto
• ▸Chinese Singaporeans
• ▸Deep Navigation Colliery

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