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 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.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 9,119,152 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 34.3% (male 1,593,509/female 1,532,155) 15-64 years: 61.1% (male 2,730,359/female 2,841,872) 65 years and over: 4.6% (male 187,123/female 234,134) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 22.2 years male: 21.5 years female: 22.9 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 1.42% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 22.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 7.44 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: -1.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.961 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.799 male(s)/female total population: 0.979 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 50.43 deaths/1,000 live births male: 53.93 deaths/1,000 live births female: 46.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 66.19 years male: 63.53 years female: 68.97 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 2.76 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 4,900 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 500 (2003 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Bolivian(s) adjective: Bolivian

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Ethnic groups: Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15%

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Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5%

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Languages: Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 86.7% male: 93.1% female: 80.7% (2001 census)

Bolivia, long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries, reformed its economy after suffering a disastrous economic crisis in the early 1980s. The reforms spurred real GDP growth, which averaged 4% in the 1990s, and poverty rates fell. Economic growth, however, lagged again beginning in 1999 because of a global slowdown and homegrown factors such as political turmoil, civil unrest, and soaring fiscal deficits, all of which hurt investor confidence. In 2003, violent protests against the pro-foreign investment economic policies of ex-President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA led to his resignation and the cancellation of plans to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005, the government passed a controversial natural gas law that imposed significantly higher taxes on the oil and gas firms and required production firms to sign new operating contracts, which were completed in October 2006. Bolivian officials are in the process of revamping the defunct state-owned oil company and acquiring majority ownership of five gas production, transportation, refining, and storage companies. The MORALES administration plans to increase state control over other sectors as well, including mining, electricity, telecommunications, transportation, and forestry. Real GDP growth in 2003-06 - helped by increased demand for natural gas in neighboring Brazil - was positive, but still below the levels seen during the 1990s. Bolivia's fiscal position has improved in recent years, and the country had a record 6% fiscal surplus for 2006. In 2005, the G8 announced a $2 billion debt-forgiveness plan over the next few decades. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank forgave a total of approximately $1.8 billion of Bolivian debt in 2006 that has helped reduce fiscal pressures on the government.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $27.87 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $10.33 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 4.5% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $3,100 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 12.8% industry: 36.1% services: 51.2% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 4.3 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%

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Unemployment rate: 7.8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 64% (2004 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.3% highest 10%: 32% (1999)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 60.6 (2002)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.3% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 12.4% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $4.153 billion expenditures: $3.619 billion; including capital expenditures of $741 million (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber

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Industries: mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing

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Industrial production growth rate: 5.7% (2004 est.)

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Electricity - production: 4.472 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 4.168 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 9 million kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 42,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 47,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 440.5 million bbl (1 January 2005)

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Natural gas - production: 10.05 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 2.14 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 7.91 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 679.6 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

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Current account balance: $688 million (2006 est.)

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Exports: $3.668 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin

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Exports - partners: Brazil 42.7%, US 12%, Argentina 10.6%, Colombia 7.5%, Japan 6.1%, Peru 4.7% (2006)

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Imports: $2.934 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans

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Imports - partners: Brazil 24.6%, Argentina 18.8%, Chile 12.2%, US 9.2%, Peru 7.3% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $3.303 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $5.916 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $221 million (2005 est.)

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Currency (code): boliviano (BOB)

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Exchange rates: bolivianos per US dollar - 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003), 7.17 (2002)

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Fiscal year: calendar year