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
natural hazards: cold, thin air of high plateau is obstacle to
efficient fuel combustion, as well as to physical activity by those
unaccustomed to it from birth; flooding in the northeast (March to
April)
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands;
signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine
Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection
Note: landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest
navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru
@Bolivia:People
Population: 7,896,254 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 39% (female 1,542,931; male 1,565,624)
15-64 years: 57% (female 2,276,308; male 2,188,100)
65 years and over: 4% (female 174,419; male 148,872) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.25% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 31.61 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 8.12 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 70.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)