Administrative divisions: 9 departments (departamentos, singular-departamento); Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija
Independence: 6 August 1825 (from Spain)
National holiday: Independence Day, 6 August (1825)
Constitution: 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994
Legal system: based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single)
Executive branch: chief of state: President Hugo BANZER Suarez (since 6 August 1997); Vice President Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez (since 6 August 1997); note-the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Hugo BANZER Suarez (since 6 August 1997); Vice President Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez (since 6 August 1997); note-the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from a panel of candidates proposed by the Senate elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held June 2002) election results: Hugo BANZER Suarez elected president; percent of vote-Hugo BANZER Suarez (ADN) 22%; Jaime PAZ Zamora (MIR) 17%, Juan Carlos DURAN (MNR) 18%, Ivo KULJIS (UCS) 16%, Remedios LOZA (CONDEPA) 17%; no candidate received a majority of the popular vote; Hugo BANZER Suarez won a congressional runoff election on 5 August 1997 after forming a "megacoalition" with MIR, UCS, CONDEPA, NFR and PCD
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies-last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held June 2002) election results: Chamber of Senators-percent of vote by party-NA; seats by party - ADN 11, MIR 7, MNR 4, CONDEPA 3, UCS 2; Chamber of Deputies-percent of vote by party-NA; seats by party-ADN 32, MNR 26, MIR 23, UCS 21, CONDEPA 19, MBL 5, IU 4
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema), judges appointed for a 10-year term by National Congress
Political parties and leaders:
Left Parties: Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Antonio ARANIBAR];
Patriotic Axis of Convergence or EJE-P [Ramiro BARRANECHEA]; April 9
Revolutionary Vanguard or VR-9 [Carlos SERRATE]; Alternative of
Democratic Socialism or ASD [Jerjes JUSTINIANO]; Revolutionary Front
of the Left or FRI [Oscar ZAMORA]; Bolivian Communist Party or PCB
[Marcos DOMIC]; United Left or IU [Marcos DOMIC]; Front of National
Salvation or FSN [Manual MORALES Davila]; Socialist Party One or PS-1;
Bolivian Socialist Falange or FSB; Socialist Unzaguista Movement or
MAS
Center-Left Parties: Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR [Oscar
EID]; Christian Democrat or PDC [Benjamin MIGUEL]; New Youth Force
[Alfonso SAAVEDRA Bruno]
Center Party: Nationalist Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Gonzalo
SANCHEZ DE LOZADA]
Center-Right Parties: Nationalist Democratic Action or ADN [Enrique
TORO]; New Republican Force or NFR [Manfred REYES VILLA]
Populist Parties: Civic Solidarity Union or UCS [Johnny FERNANDEZ];
Conscience of the Fatherland or CONDEPA [Remedios LOZA Alvarado];
Solidarity and Democracy or SYD; Unity and Progress Movement or MUP
[Ivo KULJIS]; Popular Patriotic Movement or MPP [Julio MANTILLA]
Evangelical Party: Bolivian Renovating Alliance or ARBOL [Marcelo
FERNANDEZ, Hugo VILLEGAS]
Indigenous Parties: Tupac Katari Revolutionary Liberation Movement or
MRTK-L [Victor Hugo CARDENAS Conde]; Nationalist Katarista Movement or
MKN [Fernando UNTOJA]; Front of Katarista Unity or FULKA [Genaro
FLORES]; Katarismo National Unity or KND [Filepe KITTELSON]