references:

South America

Area:

total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km
water: 14,190 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly less than three times the size of Montana

Land boundaries:

total: 6,940 km
border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,423 km, Chile 860 km,
Paraguay 750 km, Peru 1,075 km

Coastline:

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:

none (landlocked)

Climate:

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

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m

Natural resources:

tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron,
lead, gold, timber, hydropower

Land use:

arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.19%
other: 97.03% (2005)

Irrigated land:

1,320 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

622.5 cu km (2000)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 1.44 cu km/yr (13%/7%/81%)
per capita: 157 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

flooding in the northeast (March-April)

Environment - current issues:

the clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the international
demand for tropical timber are contributing to deforestation; soil
erosion from overgrazing and poor cultivation methods (including
slash-and-burn agriculture); desertification; loss of biodiversity;
industrial pollution of water supplies used for drinking and
irrigation

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life
Conservation

Geography - note:

landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest
navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru

People
Bolivia

Population:

9,247,816 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 33.5% (male 1,580,887/female 1,519,960)
15-64 years: 61.8% (male 2,800,457/female 2,912,375)
65 years and over: 4.7% (male 192,701/female 241,436) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 22.6 years
male: 21.9 years
female: 23.3 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate: