BOLÍVAR, till 1908 a department of Colombia, bounded N. and W. by the Caribbean Sea, E. by the departments of Magdalena and Santander, S. by Antioquia and S.W. by Cauca. It has an area of 27,028 sq. m., composed in great part of low, alluvial plains, densely wooded, but slightly cultivated and unsuited for north European labour. The population, estimated at 323,097 in 1899, is composed largely of mixed races; in some localities the inhabitants of mixed race are estimated to constitute four-fifths of the population. The capital, Cartagena on the Caribbean coast, was once the principal commercial entrepôt of Colombia. Other important towns are Barranquilla and Mompox (8000), on the Magdalena river, and Corozal (9000) and Lorica (10,596 in 1902), near the western coast.
BOLÍVAR, an inland state of Venezuela, lying S. of the Orinoco and Apure, with the Yuruari territory on the E., the Caroni river forming the boundary, and the Amazonas territory and Brazil on the S. Frequent political changes in Venezuela have led to various modifications in the size and outlines of this state, which comprises large areas of uninhabited territory. It is a country of extensive plains (llanos) covered in the rainy season with nutritious grass which disappears completely in the dry season, and of great forests and numerous rivers. Its population was given in 1894 as 135,232, but its area has been largely reduced since then. The capital is Ciudad Bolívar, formerly called Angostura, which is situated on the right bank of the Orinoco about 240 m. above its mouth; pop. 11,686. Vessels of light draught easily ascend the Orinoco to this point, and a considerable trade is carried on, the exports being cocoa, sugar, cotton, hides, jerked beef and various forest products.
BOLIVIA, an inland republic of South America, once a part of the Spanish vice-royalty of Peru and known as the province of Charcas, or Upper Peru. It is the third largest political division of the continent, and extends, approximately, from 9° 44′ to 22° 50′ S. lat., and from 58° to 70° W. long. It is bounded N. and E. by Brazil, S. by Paraguay and Argentina, and W. by Chile and Peru. Estimates of area vary widely and have been considerably confused by repeated losses of territory in boundary disputes with neighbouring states, and no figures can be given which may not be changed to some extent by further revisions. Official estimates are 640,226 and 703,633 sq. m., but Supan (Die Bevolkerung der Erde, 1904) places it at 515,156 sq. m.
Boundaries.—The boundary line between Bolivia and Brazil has its origin in the limits between the Spanish and Portuguese colonies determined by the treaties of Madrid and San Ildefonso (1750 and 1777), which were modified by the treaties of 1867 and 1903. Beginning at the outlet of Bahia Negra into the Paraguay river, lat. 28° 08′ 35″ S., the line ascends the latter to a point on the west bank 9 kilometres below Fort Coimbra, thence inland 4 kilometres to a point in lat. 19° 45′ 36″ S. and long. 58° 04′ 12.7″ W., whence it follows an irregular course N. and E. of N. to Lakes Mandioré, Gaiba or Gahiba, and Uberaba, then up the San Matias river and N. along the Sierra Ricardo Franco to the headwaters of the Rio Verde, a tributary of the Guaporé. This part of the boundary was turned inland from the Paraguay to include, within Brazilian jurisdiction, Fort Coimbra, Corumbá and other settlements on the west bank, and was modified in 1903 by the recession of about 1158 sq. m. to Bolivia to provide better commercial facilities on the Paraguay. The line follows the Verde, Guaporé, Mamoré and Madeira rivers down to the mouth of the Abuna, in about lat. 9° 44′ S., as determined by the treaty of 1903. This is a part of the original colonial frontier, which extended down the Madeira to a point midway between the Beni and the Amazon, and then ran due W. to the Javary. The treaty of 1867 changed this starting-point to the mouth of the Beni, in lat. 10° 20′ S., and designated a straight line to the source of the Javary as the frontier, which gave to Brazil a large area of territory; but when the valuable rubber forests of the upper Purús became known the Brazilians invaded them and demanded another modification of the boundary line. This was finally settled in 1903 by the treaty of Petropolis, which provided that the line should ascend the Abuna river to lat. 10° 20′ S., thence along that parallel W. to the Rapirran river which is followed to its principal source, thence due W. to the Ituxy river which is followed W. to its source, thence to the source of Bahia Creek which is followed to the Acré or Aquiry river, thence up the latter to its source, whence if east of the 69th meridian it runs direct to the 11th parallel which will form the boundary line to the Peruvian frontier. This frontier gave about 60,000 sq. m. of territory to Brazil, for which the latter gave an indemnity of £2,000,000 and about 1158 sq. m. of territory on the Matto Grosso frontier. The boundary with Paraguay is unsettled, but an unratified treaty of the 23rd of November 1894 provides that the line shall start from a point on the Paraguay river 3 m. north of Fort Olimpo and run south-west in a straight line to an intersection with the Pilcomayo in long. 61° 28′ W., where it unites with the Argentine boundary. The boundary with Chile was greatly modified by the results of the war of 1879-83, as determined by the treaties of 1884, 1886 and 1895, Bolivia losing her department of the littoral on the Pacific and all access to the coast except by the grace of the conqueror. Provisions were made in 1895 for the cession of the port of Mejillones del Norte and a right of way across the province of Tarapacá, but Peru protested, and negotiations followed for the cession of Cobija, in the province of Antofagasta. These negotiations proved fruitless, and in 1904 Bolivia accepted a pecuniary indemnity in lieu of territory. The new boundary line starts from the summit of the Sapaleri (or Zapalegui), where the Argentine, Bolivian and Chilean boundaries converge, and runs west to Licancaur, thence north to the most southern source of Lake Ascotán which it follows to and across this lake in the direction of the Oyahua volcano, and thence in a straight line to the Tua volcano, on the frontier of the province of Tarapacá. From this point the line follows the summits of the Cordillera Silillica north to the Cerro Paquiza, on the Tacna frontier, and to the Nevado Pomarape, near the frontier of Peru. Thence it continues north to an intersection with the Desaguadero, in about 16° 45′ S. lat., follows that river to the Winamarca lagoon and Lake Titicaca, and crosses the latter diagonally to Huaicho on the north shore. From this point the line crosses the Cordillera Real through the valley of the San Juan del Oro to Suches Lake, follows the Cololo and Apolobamba ranges to the headwaters of the Sina river, and thence down that stream to the Inambari. Thence the line either follows the latter to its confluence with the Madre de Dios, or the water-parting between that river and the Tambopata or Pando, to the valley of the Madre de Dios, from which point it runs due north to 12° 40′ S. lat., and north-west to the new Brazilian frontier. The N.W. angle on the map represents the Bolivian claim until the settlement of 1909, which gave the territory to Peru.
Physiography.—Roughly calculated, two-fifths of the total area of Bolivia is comprised within the Andean cordilleras which cross its south-west corner and project east toward the Brazilian highlands in the form of a great obtuse angle. The Cordilleras, divided into two great parallel chains, with flanking ranges and spurs to the east, reach their greatest breadth at this point and form the massif of the Andean system. It is made up of a number of parallel ranges enclosing great elevated plateaus broken by transverse ranges and deep ravines. North-east of Lake Titicaca there is a confused mass or knot (the Nudo de Apolobamba) of lofty intersecting ridges which include some of the highest peaks in South America. Below this mountainous area the ranges open out and enclose extensive plateaus. The western range, the Cordillera Occidental, a part of the boundary between Bolivia and the northern provinces of Chile, closely follows the coast outline and forms the western rampart of the great Bolivian tableland or alta-planicie, which extends from the Vilcanota knot in Peru, south to the Serrania de Lipez on the Argentine frontier, is 500 m. long, and about 80 m. broad, and contains about 40,000 sq. m. The northern part of this plateau is commonly called the puna; the southern part, the “desert of Lipez,” in character and appearance is part of the great Puna de Atacama. This plateau has an average elevation of about 12,650 ft. near Lake Titicaca, but descends about 1000 ft. toward its southern extremity. It is a great lacustrine basin where once existed an inland sea having an outlet to the east through the La Paz gorge. The plateau is bleak and inhospitable in the north, barren and arid toward the south, containing great saline depressions covered with water in the rainy season, and broken by ridges and peaks, the highest being the Cerro de Tahua, 17,454 ft. Overlooking the plateau from the west are the snow-clad peaks of Pomarape (20,505 ft.), Parinacota (20,918 ft.), Sajama (21,047), Huallatiri (21,654), Lirima (19,128), and the three volcanic peaks, Oyahua (19,226), San Pedro y Pablo (19,423) and Licancaur (19,685). The eastern rampart of this great plateau is formed by the Cordillera Oriental, which extends north-west into Peru under the name of Carabaya, and south to the frontier in broken ranges, one of which trends south-east in the vicinity of Sucré. The main part of this great range, known as the Cordillera Real, and one of the most imposing mountain masses of the world, extends from the Peruvian border south-east to the 18th parallel and exhibits a series of snow-crowned peaks, notably the triple-crested Illampu or Sorata (21,490 ft.), Illimani (Conway, 21,204), Cacaaca (20,571) and Chachacomani (21,434). Of the ranges extending south from the Cordillera Real and branching out between the 18th and 19th parallels, the more prominent are the Frailes which forms the eastern rampart of the great central plateau and which is celebrated for its mineral deposits, the Chichas which runs south from the vicinity of Potosi to the Argentine frontier, and the Livichuco which turns south-east and forms the watershed between the Cachimayo and Pilcomayo. The more prominent peaks in and between these ranges are the Asanaque (16,857), Michaga (17,389), Cuzco (17,930), Potosi (15,381), Chorolque (18,480) and Tuluma (15,584). At the southern extremity of the great plateau is the transverse Serrania de Lipez, the culminating crest of which stands 16,404 ft. above sea-level. The eastern rampart of the Bolivian highlands comprises two distinct chains—the Sierra de Cochabamba on the north-east and the Sierra de Misiones on the east. Between these and the Cordillera Oriental is an apparently confused mass of broken, intersecting ranges, which on closer examination are found to conform more or less closely to the two outside ranges. These have been deeply cut by rivers, especially on the north-east, where the rainfall is heavier. The region enclosed by these ranges is extremely rugged in character, but it is esteemed highly for its fertile valleys and its fine climate, and is called the “Bolivian Switzerland.” Lying wholly within the tropics, these mountain masses form one of the most interesting as well as one of the most imposing and difficult regions of the world. At their feet and in their lower valleys the heat is intense and the vegetation is tropical. Above these are cool, temperate slopes and valleys, and high above these, bleak, wind-swept passes and snow-clad peaks. West of the Cordillera Oriental, where special conditions prevail, a great desert plateau stretches entirely across one corner of the republic. Apart from the Andean system there is a group of low, broken, gneiss ranges stretching along the east side of Bolivia among the upper affluents of the Mamoré and Guaporé, which appear to belong to the older Brazilian orographic system, from which they have been separated by the erosive action of water. They are known as the Sierras de Chiquitos, and are geologically interesting because of their proximity to the eastern projection of the Andes. Their culminating point is Cerro Cochii, 3894 ft. above sea-level, but for the most part they are but little more than ranges of low wooded hills, having in general a north-west and south-east direction between the 15th and 19th parallels.
The popular conception of Bolivia is that of an extremely rugged mountainous country, although fully three-fifths of it, including the Chiquitos region, is composed of low alluvial plains, great swamps and flooded bottomlands, and gently undulating forest regions. In the extreme south are the Bolivian Chaco and the llanos (open grassy plains) of Manzo, while above these in eastern Chuquisaca and southern Santa Cruz are extensive swamps and low-lying plains, subject to periodical inundations and of little value for agricultural and pastoral purposes. There are considerable areas in this part of Bolivia, however, which lie above the floods and afford rich grazing lands. The great drawback to this region is defective drainage; the streams have too sluggish a current to carry off the water in the rainy season. Between the Chiquitos sierras and the Andes are the Llanos de Chiquitos, which have a higher general elevation and a more diversified surface. North of this elevation, which formed the southern shore of the ancient Mojos Lake, are the llanos of Guarayos and Mojos, occupying an extensive region traversed by the Guaporé, San Miguel, Guapay, Mamoré, Yacuma, Beni and Madre de Dios rivers and their numerous tributaries. It was once covered by the great Mojos Lake, and still contains large undrained areas, like that of Lake Rojoagua (or Roguaguado). It contains rich agricultural districts and extensive open plains where cattle-raising has been successfully followed since the days of the Jesuit missions in that region. The lower slopes of the Andes, especially toward the north-west, where the country is traversed by the Beni and Madre de Dios, are covered with heavy forests. This is one of the richest districts of Bolivia and is capable of sustaining a large population.
The river-systems of Bolivia fall naturally into three distinct regions—the Amazon, La Plata and Central Plateau. The first includes the rivers flowing directly and indirectly into the Madeira, one of the great tributaries of the Amazon, together with some small tributaries of the Acré and Purús in the north, all of which form a drainage basin covering more than one-half of the republic. The two principal rivers of this system are the Mamoré and Beni, which unite in lat. 10° 20′ S. to form the Madeira. The Mamoré, the upper part of which is called the Chimoré, rises on the north-east slopes of the Sierra de Cochabamba a little south of the 17th parallel, and follows a northerly serpentine course to its confluence with the Beni, the greater part of which course is between the 65th and 66th meridians. The river has a length of about 600 m., fully three-fourths of which, from Chimoré (925 ft. above sea level) to the rapids near its mouth, passes across a level plain and is navigable. The principal Bolivian tributary of the Mamoré, the Guapay or Grande, which is larger and longer than the former above their confluence and should be considered the main stream, rises in the Cordillera Oriental east of Lake Pampa Aullaguas, and flows east to the north extremity of the Sierra de Misiones, where it emerges upon the Bolivian lowlands. Turning to the north in a magnificent curve, it passes around the south-east extremity of the Sierra de Cochabamba, skirts the Llanos de Chiquitos, and, turning to the north-west, unites with the Mamoré at Junta de los Rios in about 15° 20′ S. lat. and 64° 40′ W. long. It has a tortuous course of over 700 m., which is described as not navigable. The principal tributaries of the Guapay are the Mizque, Piray or Sará and Yapacani, the last rising on the east slopes of the Cordillera Real, flowing east by Cochabamba to the sierras of that name where it breaks through with a great bend to the north. The other large Bolivian tributaries of the Mamoré, all rising on the north-east flanks of the Andes, are the Chaparé, Sécure, Manique or Aperé and Yacuma, the last draining a region of lakes and swamps north of the Sierra Chamaya. The Beni and its great affluent, the Madre de Dios, though of smaller volume and extent than the Mamoré, are of much greater economic importance, owing to their navigability, the fertility of the region they drain, and the great forests along their banks. North of the Beni, the Abuna flows into the Madeira. Several of its south tributaries belong to Bolivia. The Guaporé, or Itenez, an affluent of the Mamoré, is the third large river of this Bolivian drainage basin, but it rises in Brazil, on the south slopes of the Sierra dos Parecis, where it flows in a great bend to the south and then west of north to the Bolivian frontier in 14° S. lat. From this point to its junction with the Mamoré, a little north of the 12th parallel, it flows in a northwesterly direction and forms the boundary line between the two republics. Its Brazilian tributaries are comparatively unimportant, but from Bolivia it receives the Baures and the San Miguel, both rising in the Sierras de Chiquitos and flowing north-west across the llanos to the Guaporé. The Baures has one large tributary, the Blanco, and the Itonama (San Miguel) has its origin in Lake Conception, lying among the west ranges of the Chiquitos mountains 952 ft. above sea-level.