Virtual Tours Bolivia

Visit Bolivia, the landlocked South American country home to the highest navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca. Learn about the history and culture of this fascinating country, and of the difficult conditions endured by much of its population. You will also read about how Freedom from Hunger and a local partner organization, CRECER, are working to provide crucial services through Credit with Education to those most marginalized Bolivians.
Man on Donkey
  • Population: 8.15 million
  • Area: 428,446 sq. mi. (1,109,669 sq. km.)
  • Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist)
  • Infant Mortality rate: 66 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Average life expectancy at birth: 64 years
  • Languages: Spanish, Quechua, Aymará; composite dialects of Spanish-Aymaráand Spanish-Quechua are also widely spoken
  • Fertility Rate: 4.36 children born/woman
  • Gross Domestic Product per capita: US $1,010
  • Population Below Poverty Line: 70 percent

Begin Your Journey to Bolivia

Richness of culture must be Bolivia's greatest asset. The isolated Latin American country is the most indigenous in South America, with over half of the population maintaining traditional values, beliefs, language and dress. Only about 60 percent of the population speaks Bolivia's official language, Spanish, and the remainder speak the languages of the Inca and pre-Inca civilizations that resided in the Altiplano.

Bolivia is a landlocked country located in the center of South America, with a total population just over eight million. It is the fifth largest country on the continent, about the size of France and Spain combined, and shares control of Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake at 11,500 feet above sea level, with Peru.

The landscape of Bolivia is as vibrant as its culture. The five geographical regions of the country include the highly populated Altiplano, an 11,480-foot plateau that stretches from the Peruvian border north of Lake Titicaca southwards to the Argentine border; the highland valleys, which lie to the south and east of the Altiplano; the Yungas, which form the transition zone between the mountainous Andes and the Amazonian forest; the Chaco, a dry and uninhabited plain along the Paraguayan and Argentine borders; and the Amazonian Basin, occupying much of the north and east of the country.

Named after independence fighter Simon Bolivar, Bolivia broke away from Spanish rule in 1825. Its subsequent history consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and counter-coups until democratic rule was established in the 1980s. The richness of the ancient Aymará and Quechua traditions permeate the culture.

Bolivia continues to face the problems of intense and widespread poverty, social unrest, and drug production, and many Bolivians struggle daily for survival. The average life span is just 64 years and 18 percent of the population is not expected to survive to age 40. The under-five mortality rate in 1998 was a tragic 85 deaths per 1,000 live births (compared to 8 deaths per 1,000 live births in the US), a number actually believed to be significantly higher in the rural areas. Close to 80 percent of Bolivia's rural population live in poverty and only 56 percent of the rural population has access to safe water.

In 1990, Freedom from Hunger created CRECER, a Bolivian organization focused on providing microcredit and educational services to communities overlooked by other development organizations because they are rural and even remote. CRECER has since become an independent organization and a strong partner of Freedom from Hunger. Learn more about CRECER.