Bolivia

F

Health and Welfare

Health conditions are poor in Bolivia. In 2004 the country had 1 physician for every 1,364 inhabitants. The infant mortality rate is among the highest in South America; malaria, dysentery, and tuberculosis are common. Cases of yellow fever also occur in low-lying areas. Medical services and hospitals are particularly inadequate in rural areas. Bolivia has a comprehensive social insurance plan, but it covers less than half the working population.

VI

History

Civilized cultures have lived in what is now Bolivia for more than 1,000 years. The ancient Tiwanaku civilization developed along the shores of Lake Titicaca around ad 600 and left impressive stone monuments. However, little is known about the origins of this group. In about 1300 the Quechua-speaking Incas, who came across the lake from present-day Peru, overran Tiwanaku. When the Spaniards arrived in South America in the early 16th century, the Inca Empire, of which Bolivia was a part, was divided by civil strife, with two rival nobles claiming the throne. The Spanish took advantage of this strife to conquer the empire.

A

Colonial Rule

The territory of Bolivia was conquered in 1538 by Spanish conquistador Hernando Pizarro, younger brother of Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro. The elder Pizarro had subdued Peru, which was the heart of the Inca Empire. Within the next 40 years, Spanish settlements were formed at Chuquisaca (present-day Sucre), Potosí, La Paz, and Cochabamba.

The region was first called the province of Charcas and later Alto Perú (Upper Peru). It was governed by an audiencia (a judicial body with executive powers) under the viceroyalty of Peru. In 1776 Spain transferred Bolivia to the newly created viceroyalty of the Río de La Plata, which administered Bolivia from what is now Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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Throughout the three centuries of the colonial period, Bolivia was important to Spain because of its rich silver mines located at Potosí, which until the 18th century was the largest city in colonial America. Bolivia’s silver mines produced several hundred million dollars’ worth of silver, extracted from the mines by Native Americans. They worked under the dreaded mita, or obligatory service system, which required Native Americans to work a specified number of hours in the mines each year. This forced-labor system led to many uprisings by Native Americans who worked the mines.

For centuries the production of minerals for export was Bolivia’s most important economic activity, and other areas of the economy were neglected. From early colonial times, Bolivia imported food and most manufactured goods to supplement the meager output of its farms and rudimentary local industries. Mining began to decline in the 18th century, and by the end of the century the industry had stagnated.

B

Independence

Bolivia was one of the first countries in the Spanish Empire to attempt a break from Spain, but it was one of the last to succeed. The Spanish suppressed the first critical rebellion at Chuquisaca in May 1809. Fifteen years later a revolutionary army under General Antonio José de Sucre liberated Bolivia after defeating Spanish forces at the Battle of Ayacucho in Peru on December 9, 1824. Bolivia declared its independence from Spain on August 6, 1825, and took the name Bolivia in honor of South American independence leader Simón Bolívar. In 1826 a congress at Chuquisaca adopted a constitution drafted by Bolívar. It vested supreme authority in a president, who was chosen for a life term.

From the beginning of its national existence, Bolivia was plunged into a state of nearly chronic revolution and civil war. The first president, General Antonio José de Sucre, was expelled from the country after holding office for only two years. During the next half century, interludes of political tranquility were brief and infrequent. Between 1836 and 1839 Bolivia was in a confederation with Peru, but a Chilean invasion brought an effective end to it, increasing the turbulence. Short wars and disputes with both Peru and Chile followed.

B

1

Boundary Disputes

Bolivia became involved in a number of border disputes between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. One of the earliest disputes involved the ill-defined borders with Peru and Chile along the Pacific Coast in the region of the Atacama Desert. The disputed area became the center of controversy following the discovery of rich deposits of nitrate, a mineral used in fertilizer production. In treaties made in 1866 and 1874, Bolivia and Chile adopted the 24th parallel of south latitude as the boundary line in that region. In addition, the treaty granted to Chile various customs and mining concessions in Bolivia’s portion of the Atacama. Disputes arose between the two countries over the latter provisions, and in 1879 Chile seized the Bolivian port of Antofagasta. In the resulting struggle, called the War of the Pacific, Chile defeated Bolivia and its ally Peru. Bolivia lost its one seacoast possession, becoming a landlocked country. A treaty ratified in December 1904 recognized the perpetual dominion of Chile over the disputed territory but granted Bolivia free access to the sea. A dispute with Brazil concerning the possession of the Acre region was settled in 1903. The agreement ceded about 180,000 sq km (about 70,000 sq mi) to Brazil in return for a money indemnity and small territorial compensations elsewhere.

In the first two decades of the 20th century, Bolivia enjoyed the longest period of peace and progress in its history. The exploitation of tin resources, begun in 1899, made Bolivia one of the world’s major tin suppliers. Several Bolivians, later known as the tin barons, made large fortunes from tin mining. British and U.S. investors became interested in the industry in its early stages, and they invested a considerable amount of capital.

This boom in the tin-mining industry coincided with Liberal Party administrations. The government helped the industry by only lightly taxing the new mining interests and by expanding the country’s existing rail system. The Republican Union Party overthrew the Liberal Party in 1920 and remained in power for the following 15 years. Under the new administration, relatively little changed in economic policy. During this period the first important manufacturing industries were established.

The Bolivian government subsequently became involved in boundary disputes with Argentina, Peru, and Paraguay. Bolivia reached a peaceful solution to the dispute with Argentina in 1925. In the 1930s Peru and Bolivia appointed a joint commission that decided the border disputes over the peninsula of Copacabana.

The Paraguay-Bolivia boundary dispute arose over the Chaco Boreal, a low region to the north of the Pilcomayo River, to the west of the Paraguay River, and extending to the undisputed boundary of Bolivia. Both Bolivia and Paraguay claimed the entire territory, which was believed to contain large reserves of petroleum. In July 1932 an undeclared war broke out (see Chaco War). As in every other international conflict in which the country had been involved, Bolivia lost this bloody struggle. A peace treaty ended the conflict in July 1938 and awarded most of the territory to Paraguay.

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