Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 25%
forest and woodland: 52%
other: 20%
Irrigated land: 1,650 sq km (1989 est.)
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-April)
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Tropical
Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified -
Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection
Geographic note: landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca,
world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru
People ———
Population: 7,165,257 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 39% (male 1,422,313; female 1,390,885)
15-64 years: 56% (male 1,959,989; female 2,042,135)
65 years and over: 5% (male 153,111; female 196,824) (July 1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.82% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 32.37 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate: 10.75 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)