Weather
Varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid.
Terrain
Rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin.
Currency
Boliviano (BOB)
Languages
Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official)
Religion
Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist)
Ethnic groups
Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15%
History
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 1982, 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, resolving disputes with coca growers over Bolivia's counterdrug efforts, and waging an anticorruption campaign.
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