Bolivia

Bolivia, sometimes known as the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a country in the western-central part of South America that is completely surrounded by land. It is bounded to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by Argentina, to the southwest by Chile, and to the west by Peru. La Paz serves as both the capital of the executive branch and the seat of government, while Sucre is considered to be the constitutional capital. Santa Cruz de la Sierra, situated in the Llanos Orientales (also known as the tropical lowlands), which is a generally flat area in the east of the nation, is the country's most important industrial hub as well as its biggest city.

The independent nation of Bolivia is a unitary state that is governed by its constitution. The country is broken up into nine different departments. Its topography ranges from the snow-capped mountains of the Andes in the west to the lowlands of the Amazon basin in the east. The Andes Mountains take up around one-third of the land area of this nation. Bolivia is the biggest landlocked nation in the Southern Hemisphere and the seventh largest in the world after Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Chad, Niger, Mali, and Ethiopia. It ranks fifth in size among South American countries after Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia. The entire land area of Bolivia is 1,098,581 km2 (424,164 sq mi).

The population of the nation, which is believed to be 12 million, is made up of people from a variety of different ethnic groups, including Amerindians, Mestizos, Europeans, Asians, and Africans. While Spanish is the official language and the major language, 36 indigenous languages also have official status. The indigenous languages Guarani, Aymara, and Quechua are the most widely spoken of these indigenous languages.

Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, the area of Bolivia that is now known as the Andes was a part of the Inca Empire, while the northern and eastern lowlands were occupied by separate tribes. Conquistadors of the Spanish empire who had arrived from Cusco and Asunción in the 16th century established control of the area. During the time when Bolivia was under Spanish colonial rule, its government was overseen by the Real Audiencia of Charcas. The silver that was mined from Bolivia's mines played a significant factor in Spain's rise to power and the expansion of its empire. Following the first declaration of independence in 1809, the country was at war for the next 16 years until it was finally renamed after Simón Bolvar and declared a republic. Throughout the course of the 19th century and into the early 20th century, Bolivia gave up sovereignty of a number of regions that were located on its periphery to nations that were located nearby. This included the takeover of Bolivia's coastline by Chile in 1879. Hugo Banzer conducted a coup d'état in 1971 that was aided by the CIA that overthrew the socialist government of Juan José Torres and installed a military dictatorship that was commanded by Banzer. Before to this event, Bolivia had seen a fair amount of political stability. A number of Bolivian civilians were tortured and killed as a direct consequence of the repressive measures used by the administration of Banzer against left-wing and socialist opposition, as well as various types of protest. Banzer was removed from power in 1978, but he was then re-elected as president of Bolivia by democratic means and served from 1997 to 2001. Evo Morales served as president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019, during which time the nation had tremendous economic development and political stability.

Modern Bolivia was one of the first countries to join the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, North American Organization, Organization of American States, Organization for South American Unity, South American Development Bank, and United South American Network. Bolivia is still the second poorest nation in South America, despite having significantly reduced its poverty rate and having the fastest expanding economy in the region (in terms of GDP). It is considered a developing nation. The primary contributors to its economy include agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining, as well as the production of manufactured products such as textiles, clothes, refined metals, and refined petroleum. Tin, silver, lithium, and copper are just few of the minerals that are found in abundance in Bolivia.