(Source: CIA World Factbook, 2001, Bolivia)

• Population: 8.1 million

• Population growth: 2.3%

• Approximately 40% of Bolivia's population is under the age of 15.

• The average life expectancy in Bolivia is 62 years.

• The illiteracy rate in Bolivia is 8.3% for males and 21.4% for females.


• Bolivia has the largest proportion of indigenous people in South America. More than 60% of Bolivia's population is indigenous.

• The three main indigenous languages spoken in Bolivia are Quechua, Aymara and Guarani.

• According to the World Bank, 64% of Bolivia's indigenous population lives below the poverty line. Nearly 50% of its non-indigenous population also live in poverty.

• With a GNP per capita of $1010, Bolivia is regarded as the poorest country in Latin America and the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, after Haiti.

• In 2000, Bolivia had a foreign debt of $6.6 billion.

• Since 1964, the World Bank has approved assistance on over 90 lending projects to Bolivia. Most recently, in September of 2001, it approved supplemental credit on a national land administration project.

• In Bolivia, 79% of the total population in 2000 had access to improved drinking water sources - 55% in rural areas and 93% in urban areas; 66% of the total population in 2000 had access to improved sanitation facilities - 82% of Bolivia's urban population and 38% of its rural population.

• In Bolivia, 24% of the rural population has access to water services and 39% of the rural population has access to sewage disposal and sanitation services.

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