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 north-westerly 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 Concepción, lying among the west ranges of the Chiquitos mountains 952 ft. above sea-level.
The south-east drainage basin, which is smaller and economically less important than that of the Madeira, discharges into the Paraguay and extends from the Sierras de Chiquitos south to the Argentine frontier, and from the Cordillera Oriental east to the Paraguay. It possesses only one large river in Bolivia, the Pilcomayo, which rises on the east slopes of the Cordillera Oriental opposite the south end of Lake Pampa Aullaguas and flows east and south-east through the sierra region to the Bolivian Chaco. It flows through a nearly level country with so sluggish a current that its channels are greatly obstructed. Nothing definite is known of its tributaries in the Chaco, but in the sierra region it possesses a number of small tributaries, the largest of which are the Cachimayo, Mataca and Pílaya or Camblaya, the latter formed by the Cotagaita and San Juan. The Bermejo, which is an Argentine river, receives one large tributary from the Bolivian uplands, the Tarija or Rio Grande, which drains a small district south-east of the Santa Victoria sierra. The Bolivian tributaries of the upper Paraguay are small and unimportant. The Otuquis, the most southern of the group, is formed by the San Rafael and Tucabaca, which drain both slopes of the Cerro Cochii range; but is lost in some great marshes 50 m. from the Paraguay. Another considerable stream of this region, which is lost in the great marshy districts of the Bolivian plain, is the Parapiti, which rises on the eastern slopes of the Sierra de Misiones and flows north-east through a low plain for about 150 m. until lost.
The third drainage basin is that of the great central plateau, or alta-planicie. This is one of the most elevated lacustrine basins in the world, and though it once drained eastward, now has no surface outlet. Lake Titicaca receives the waters of several short streams from the neighbouring heights and discharges through the Desaguadero, a sluggish river flowing south for 184 m. with a gradually diminishing depth to Lake Pampa Aullaguas or Poopo. The Desaguadero is navigable for small craft, and has two or three small tributaries from the west. Two small streams empty into Lake Pampa Aullaguas, which has a small outlet in the Lacahahuira flowing west for 60 m. to the Cienegas de (salt-swamps of) Coipasa. The drainage of this extensive district seems to be wholly absorbed by the dry soil of the desert and by evaporation. In the extreme south the Rio Grande de Lipez is absorbed in the same way.
Few of the Bolivian lakes are at all well known. The great lacustrine basin between the Beni and the Mamoré contains several lakes and lagoons, two of them of large size. These are Lake Rogagua whose waters find their way into the Beni through Rio Negro, and the Roguaguado lagoon and marshes which cover a large area of territory near the Mamoré. The latter has an elevation little, if any, above the level of the Mamoré, which apparently drains this region, and its area has been estimated at about 580 sq. m. Lake Concepción, in the Chiquitos mountains, belongs to this same hydrographic area. In the south-east there are several large shallow lakes whose character and size change with the season. They fill slight depressions and are caused by defective drainage. Near the Paraguay there are several of these lakes, partly caused by obstructed outlets, such as Bahia Negra, Cáceres, Mandioré, Gaiba and Uberaba, some of them of sufficient depth to be navigable by small craft. Above the latter are the great Xarayes swamps, sometimes described as a lake. This region, like that of the north, is subject to periodical inundations in the summer months (November–March or even May), when extensive areas of level country are flooded and traffic is possible only by the use of boats. The two principal lakes of the plateau region are Titicaca and Pampa Aullaguas or Poopo. The former lies near the north end of the great Bolivian alta-planicie, 12,644 ft. above sea-level, being one of the most elevated lakes of the world. It is indented with numerous bays and coves; its greatest length is 138 m., and its greatest breadth 69 m. According to a survey made by Dr M. Neveau-Lemaire (La Geographie, ix. p. 409, Paris, 1904), its water surface, excluding islands and peninsulas, is 1969 sq. m., and its greatest depth is 892 ft. The level of the lake rises about 5 in. in summer; the loss in winter is even greater. The lake belongs to both Bolivia and Peru, and is navigated by steamers running between Bolivian ports and the Peruvian railway port of Puno. The outlet of the lake is through the Desaguadero river. It has several islands, the largest of which bears the same name and contains highly interesting archaeological monuments of a prehistoric civilization usually attributed to the Incas. Lake Pampa Aullaguas or Poopo is about 180 m. south-east of Titicaca, and is fed principally by its outflow. It lies 505 ft. below the level of Titicaca, which gives an average fall for the Desaguadero of very nearly 234 ft. per mile. The Pampa Aullaguas has an estimated area of 386 sq. m., and has one large inhabited island. The lake is shallow and the district about it is sparsely populated. Its outlet is through the Lacahahuira river into the Coipasa swamp, and it is estimated that the outflow is much less than the inflow, showing a considerable loss by evaporation and earth absorption.
Having no sea-coast, Bolivia has no seaport except what may be granted in usufruct by Chile.
Geology.—The eastern ranges of the Bolivian Andes are formed of Palaeozoic rocks with granitic and other intrusions; the Western Cordillera consists chiefly of Jurassic and Cretaceous beds, together with the lavas and ashes of the great volcanoes; while the intervening plateau is covered by freshwater and terrestrial deposits through which rise ridges of Palaeozoic rock and of a series of red sandstones and gypsiferous marls of somewhat uncertain age (probably, in part at least, Cretaceous). The Palaeozoic beds have yielded fossils of Cambrian, Ordovician, Devonian and Carboniferous age. In southern Bolivia Cambrian and Ordovician beds form the greater part of the eastern Andes, but farther north the Devonian and Carboniferous are extensively developed, especially in the north-eastern ranges. The hills, known as the Chiquitos, which rise from the plains of eastern Bolivia, are composed of ancient sedimentary rocks of unknown age. The Palaeozoic beds are directly overlaid by a series of red sandstones and gypsiferous marls, similar to the formacion petrolifera of Argentina and Brazil. At the base there is frequently a conglomerate or tuff of porphyritic rocks. Marine fossils found by Gustav Steinmann in the middle of the series are said to indicate an age not earlier than the Jurassic, and Steinmann refers them to the Lower Cretaceous. It is, however, not improbable that the series may represent more than one geological system. No later marine deposits have been found either in the eastern Andes or in the plains of Bolivia, but freshwater beds of Tertiary and later date occupy a wide area. The recent deposits, which cover so large a part of the depression between the Eastern and the Western Cordillera, appear to be partly of torrential origin, like the talus-fans at the foot of mountain ranges in other dry regions; but Lakes Titicaca and Pampa Aullaguas (Poopo) were undoubtedly at one time rather more extensive than they are to-day. The volcanoes of Bolivia lie almost entirely in the Western Cordillera—the great summits of the eastern range, such as Illimani and Sorata, being formed of Palaeozoic rocks with granitic and other intrusions. The gold, silver and tin of Bolivia occur chiefly in the Palaeozoic rocks of the eastern ranges. The copper belongs mostly to the red sandstone series.
Climate.—Bolivia lies wholly within the torrid zone, and variations in temperature are therefore due to elevation, mountain barriers and prevailing winds. The country possesses every gradation of temperature, from that of the tropical lowlands to the Arctic cold of the snow-capped peaks directly above. This vertical arrangement of climatic zones is modified to some extent (less than in Argentina) by varying rainfall conditions, which are governed by the high mountain ranges crossing one corner of the republic, and also by the prevailing winds. The trade winds give to S. Bolivia a wet and dry season similar to that of N. Argentina. Farther north, and east of the Cordillera Oriental, rains fall throughout the year, though the summer months (November–March) are usually described as the rainy season. On the west side of the Cordillera, which extracts the moisture from the prevailing easterly winds, the elevated plateaus have a limited rainfall in the north, which diminishes toward the south until the surface becomes absolutely barren. Brief and furious rain-storms sometimes sweep the northern plateau, but these are not frequent and occur during a short season only. Electrical wind storms are frequent in these high altitudes.
Bolivia has a wide range of temperature between places of the same latitude. The natives designate the Bolivian climatic zones as yungas, valle or medio yungas, cabezera de valle, puna and puna brava. The yungas comprises all the lowlands and the mountain valleys up to an elevation of 5000 ft. The temperature is tropical, winter is unknown and the atmosphere is exceedingly humid. The mean temperature, according to official estimates, is 70° F., but this probably represents the average between the higher elevations and the low country. The valle zone includes the deep valleys from 5000 to 9500 ft., has a warm climate with moderate variations in temperature and no cold weather, is sub-tropical in character and productions, and is sometimes described as a region of perpetual summer. The cabezera de valle, as the name indicates, includes the heads of the deep valleys above the valle zone, with elevations ranging from 9500 to 11,000 ft.; its climate is temperate, is divided into regular seasons, and is favourable to the production of cereals and vegetables. The puna, which lies between 11,000 and 12,500 ft., includes the great central plateau of Bolivia. It has but two seasons, a cold summer or autumn and winter. The air is cold and dry, and the warmer season is too short for the production of anything but potatoes and barley. The mean temperature is officially estimated as 54° F. The puna brava extends from 12,500 ft. up to the snow limit (about 17,500 ft.), and covers a bleak, inhospitable territory, inhabited only by shepherds and miners. Above this is the region of eternal snow, an Arctic zone within the tropics. In general, the sub-tropical (valle) and temperate (cabezera de valle) regions of Bolivia are healthy and agreeable, have a plentiful rainfall, moderate temperature in the shade, and varied and abundant products. There is a high rate of mortality among the natives, due to unsanitary habits and diet, and not to the climate. In the tropical yungas the ground is covered with decaying vegetation, and malaria and fevers are common. There are localities in the open country and on exposed elevations where healthy conditions prevail, but the greater part of this region is considered unhealthy. The prevailing winds are easterly, bringing moisture across Brazil from the Atlantic, but eastern Bolivia is also exposed to hot, oppressive winds from the north, and to violent cold winds (surazos) from the Argentine plains, which have been known to cause a fall of temperature of 36° within a few hours. According to the Sinópsis Estadistica y Geográfica de la República de Bolivia (La Paz, 1903), the average mean temperature and the annual rainfall in eastern Bolivia are as follows: 10° S. lat., 90.8° F. and 31.5 in. rainfall; 15° S. lat., 86° F. and 30.7 in. rainfall; 20° S. lat., 81° F. and 30 in. rainfall; and 25° S. lat., 76.8° F. and 29.3 in. rainfall.
Fauna.—The indigenous fauna of Bolivia corresponds closely to that of the neighbouring districts of Argentina, Brazil and Peru. Numerous species of monkeys inhabit the forests of the tropical region, together with the puma, jaguar, wildcat, coati, tapir or anta, sloth, ant-bear, paca (Coelogenys paca) and capybara. A rare species of bear, the Ursus ornatus (spectacled bear) is found among the wooded Andean foothills. The chinchilla (C. laniger), also found in northern Argentina and Chile, inhabits the colder plateau regions and is prized for its fur. The plateau species of the viscacha (Lagidium cuvieri) and the widely distributed South American otter (Lutra paranensis) are also hunted for their skins. The peccary, which prefers a partially open country, ranges from the Chaco to the densely wooded districts of the north. There are two or three species of deer, the most common being the large marsh deer of the Chaco; but the deer are not numerous. The armadillo, opossum, ferret and skunk are widely distributed. The amphibia are well represented throughout the lower tropical districts. Alligators are found in the tributaries of the Paraguay and their lagoons, lizards and turtles are numerous, and the batrachians are represented by several species. Snakes are also numerous, including rattlesnakes and the great boa-constrictors of the Amazon region.
The most interesting of all the Bolivian animals, however, are the guanaco (Auchenia huanaco) and its congeners, the llama (A. llama), alpaca (A. pacos) and vicuña (A. vicugna), belonging to the Camelidae, with the structure and habits of the African camel, but smaller, having no hump, and inhabiting a mountainous and not a level sandy region. They are able to go without food and drink for long periods, and inhabit the arid and semi-arid plateaus of the Andes and the steppes of Patagonia. The guanaco is supposed to be the original type, is the largest of the four, and has the greatest range from Peru to Tierra del Fuego. The llama and alpaca were domesticated long before the discovery of America, but the guanaco and vicuña are found in a wild state only. The llama is used as a pack animal in Bolivia and Peru, and its coarse wool is used in the making of garments for the natives. The alpaca is highly prized for its fine wool, which is a staple export from Bolivia, but the animal is reared with difficulty and the product cannot be largely increased. The vicuña also is celebrated for its wool, which the natives weave into beautiful and costly ponchos (blanket cloaks) and other wearing apparel. The guanaco is hunted for its skin, which, when dressed, makes an attractive rug or robe. The slaughter of the guanaco and vicuña is rapidly diminishing their number. The rearing of llamas and alpacas is a recognized industry in the Bolivian highlands and is wholly in the hands of the Indians, who alone seem to understand the habits and peculiarities of these interesting animals.
Of birds and insects the genera and species are very numerous and interesting. The high sierras are frequented by condors and eagles of the largest size, and the whole country by the common vulture, while the American ostrich (Rhea americanus) and a species of large stork (the bata or jaburú, Mycteria americana; maximum height, 8 ft.; spread of wings, 8 ft. 6 in.) inhabit the tropical plains and valleys. Waterfowl are numerous and the forests of the warm valleys are filled with song-birds and birds of beautiful plumage. Many species of humming-birds are found even far up in the mountains, and great numbers of parrots, araras and toucans, beautiful of feather but harsh of voice, enliven the forests of the lowlands.
Like other South American states, Bolivia benefited greatly from the introduction of European animals. Horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine and poultry were introduced, and are now sources of food and wealth to a large part of the population. Mules are used to a large extent as pack animals, but they are imported from Argentina. Silkworms have been bred with success in some departments, and the cochineal insect is found wherever the conditions are favourable for the cactus.
Flora.—Owing to the diversities in altitude the flora of Bolivia represents every climatic zone, from the scanty Arctic vegetation of the lofty Cordilleras to the luxuriant tropical forests of the Amazon basin. Between these extremes the diversity in vegetable life is as great as that of climate and soil. The flora of Bolivia has been studied less than the flora of the neighbouring republics, however, because of the inaccessibility of these inland regions. Among the more important productions, the potato, oca (Oxalis tuberosa), quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and some coarse grasses characterize the puna region, while barley, an exotic, is widely grown for fodder. Indian corn was cultivated in the temperate and warm regions long before the advent of Europeans, who introduced wheat, rye, oats, beans, pease and the fruits and vegetables of the Old World, for each of which a favourable soil and climate was easily found. In the sub-tropical and tropical zones the indigenous plants are the sweet potato, cassava (Manihot utilissima and M. aipi), peanuts, pineapple, guava, chirimoya (Anona cherimolia), pawpaw (Carica papaya), ipecacuanha (Cephaelis), sarsaparilla, vanilla, false jalap (Mirabilis jalapa), copaiba, tolu (Myroxylon toluiferum), rubber-producing trees, dyewoods, cotton and a great number of beautiful hardwoods, such as jacarandá, mahogany, rosewood, quebracho, colo, cedar, walnut, &c. Among the fruits many of the most common are exotics, as the orange, lemon, lime, fig, date, grape, &c., while others, as the banana, cajū or cashew (Anacardium occidentale) and aguacate avocado or alligator pear, have a disputed origin. Coca, one of the most important plants of the country, is cultivated on the eastern slopes of the Andes at an altitude of 5000 to 6000 ft., where the temperature is uniform and frosts are unknown. Quina or calisaya is a natural product of the eastern Andes, and is found at an altitude of 3000 to 9000 ft. above sea-level. The calisaya trees of Bolivia rank among the best, and their bark forms an important item in her foreign trade. The destructive methods of collecting the bark are steadily diminishing the natural sources of supply, and experiments in cinchona cultivation were undertaken during the last quarter of the 19th century, with fair prospects of success. The most important of the indigenous forest products, however, is rubber, derived principally from the Hevea guayanensis (var. brasiliensis), growing along the river courses in the yungas regions of the north, though Maniçoba rubber is also obtained from Manihot Glaziovii on the drier uplands. Among the exotics, sugar-cane, rice and tobacco are cultivated in the warm districts.
Population.—The population of Bolivia is composed of Indians, Caucasians of European origin, and a mixture of the two races, generally described as mestizos. There is also a very small percentage of Africans, descendants of the negro slaves introduced in colonial times. A roughly-taken census of 1900 gives the total population as 1,816,271, including the Litoral department, now belonging to Chile (49,820), and estimates the number of wild Indians of the forest regions at 91,000. Of this total, 50.7% were classed as Indians, 12.8% as whites, 26.8% as mestizos, 0.3% as negroes, and 9.4% as unknown. In 1904 an official estimate made the population 2,181,415, also including the Litoral (59,784), but of course all census returns and estimates in such a country are subject to many allowances. The Indian population (920,860) is largely composed of the so-called civilized tribes of the Andes, which once formed part of the nationality ruled by the Incas, and of those of the Mojos and Chiquitos regions, which were organized into industrial communities by the Jesuits in the 17th century. The former, which are chiefly Aymarás south of the latitude of Lake Titicaca, attained a considerable degree of civilization before the discovery of America and have been in closer contact with Europeans than the other tribes of Bolivia. It is doubtful, however, whether their condition has been improved under these influences. The Mojos and Chiquitos tribes, also, have been less prosperous since the expulsion of the Jesuits, but they have remained together in organized communities, and have followed the industries and preserved the religion taught them as well as circumstances permitted. Both these groups of Indians are peaceable and industrious, and form an important labouring element. They are addicted to the excessive use of chica (a native beer made from Indian corn), and have little or no ambition to improve their condition, but this may be attributed in part to their profound ignorance and to the state of peonage in which they are held. Inhabiting the southern part of the Bolivian plain are the Chiriguanos, a detached tribe of the Guarani race which drifted westward to the vicinity of the Andes long ago. They are of a superior physical and mental type, and have made noteworthy progress toward civilization. They are agriculturists and stock-raisers and have the reputation of being peaceable and industrious. The remaining native tribes under the supervision of the state have made little progress, and their number is said to be decreasing (notwithstanding the favourable climatic conditions under which most of them live) because of unsanitary and intemperate habits, and for other causes not well understood, one being the custom noticed by early travellers among some of the tribes of the La Plata region of avoiding the rearing of children. (See Southey’s History of Brazil, iii. pp. 402, 673.) Of the wild Indians very little is known in regard to either numbers or customs.
The white population (231,088) is descended in great part from the early Spanish adventurers who entered the country in search of mineral wealth. To these have been added a small number of Spanish Americans from neighbouring republics and some Portuguese Americans from Brazil. There has been no direct immigration from Europe, though Europeans of various nationalities have found their way into the country and settled there as miners or traders. The percentage of whites therefore does not increase as in Argentina and Brazil, and cannot until means are found to promote European immigration.
The mestizos (486,018) are less numerous than the Indians, but outnumber the whites by more than two to one. It has been said of the mestizos elsewhere that they inherit the vices of both races and the virtues of neither. Yet, with a decreasing Indian population, and with a white population wanting in energy, barely able to hold its own and comprising only one-eighth of the total, the future of Bolivia mainly depends on them. As a rule they are ignorant, unprogressive and apathetic, intensely superstitious, cruel and intemperate, though individual strong characters have been produced. It may be that education and experience will develop the mestizos into a vigorous progressive nationality, but the first century of self-government can hardly be said to have given much promise of such a result.
Divisions and Towns.—The republic is divided into eight departments and one territory, and these are subdivided into 54 provinces, 415 cantons, 232 vice-cantons, 18 missions and one colony. The names, areas and populations of the departments, with their capitals, according to the census of 1900, to which corrections must be made on account of the loss of territory to Brazil in 1903, are as follows:—
| Department. | Area sq. m. from Official Sources. |
Population 1900.[1] |
Capitals. | Population 1900. |
| La Paz | 53,777 | 445,616 | La Paz | 54,713 |
| El Beni | 102,111 | 32,180 | Trinidad | 2,556 |
| Oruro | 19,127 | 86,081 | Oruro | 13,575 |
| Cochabamba | 23,328 | 328,163 | Cochabamba | 21,886 |
| Santa Cruz | 141,368 | 209,592 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 15,874 |
| Potosi | 48,801 | 325,615 | Potosi | 20,910 |
| Chuquisaca | 26,418 | 204,434 | Sucré | 20,967 |
| Tarija | 33,036 | 102,887 | Tarija | 6,980 |
| Nat. Territory | 192,260 | 31,883 | ||
| 640,226 | 1,766,451 |
The total area according to Gotha computations, with corrections for loss of territory to Brazil in 1903, is 515,156 sq. m.
There are no populous towns other than the provincial capitals above enumerated. Four of these capitals—Sucré or Chuquisaca, La Paz, Cochabamba and Oruro—have served as the national capital, and Sucré was chosen, but after the revolution of 1898 the capital was at La Paz, which is the commercial metropolis and is more accessible than Sucré. Among the smaller towns prominent because of an industry or commercial position, may be mentioned the Huanchaca mining centre of Pulacayo (pop. 6512), where 3200 men are employed in the mines and surface works of this great silver mining company; Uyuni (pop. 1587), the junction of the Pulacayo branch with the Antofagasta and Oruro railway, and also the converging point for several important highways and projected railways; and Tupiza (pop. 1644), a commercial and mining centre near the Argentine frontier, and the terminus of the Argentine railway extension into Bolivia. All these towns are in the department of Potosi. Viacha (pop. 1670), a small station on the railway from Guaqui to Alto de La Paz, 14 m. from the latter, is the starting point of an important projected railway to Oruro. In the department of Cochabamba, their condition has been improved under these influences. The total area according to Gotha computations, with correc The Mojos and Chiquitos tribes, also, have been less pros- tions for loss of territory to Brazil in 1903, is 515,156 sq m. perous since the expulsion of the Jesuits, but they have remained together in organized communities, and have followed the industries and preserved the religion taught them as well as circumstances permitted. Both these groups of Indians are peaceable and industrious, and form an important labouring element. They are addicted to the excessive use of chica (a native beer made from Indian corn), and have little or no ambition to improve their condition, but this may be attributed in part to their profound ignorance and to the state of peonage in which they are held. Inhabiting the southern part of the Bolivian plain are the Chiriguanos, a detached tribe of the Guarani race which drifted westward to the vicinity of the Andes long ago. They are of a superior physical and mental type, and have made noteworthy progress toward civilization. They are agriculturists and stock-raisers and have the reputation of being peaceable and industrious The remaining native tribes under the supervision of the state have made little progress, and their number is said to be decreasing (notwithstanding the favourable climatic conditions under which most of them live) because of unsanitary and intemperate habits, and for other causes not well understood, one being the custom
There are no populous towns other than the provincial capitals above enumerated. Four of these capitals-~Sucré or Chuquisaca, La Paz, Cochabamba and Oruro-have served as the national capital, and Sucré was chosen, but after the revolution of 1898 the capital was at La Paz, which is the commercial metropolis and is more accessible than Sucre. Among the smaller towns prominent because of an industry or commercial position, may be mentioned the Huanchaca mining centre of Pulacayo (pop. 6512), where 3200 men are employed in the mines and surface works of this great silver mining company, Uyuni (pop. 1587), the junction of the Pulacayo branch with the Antofagasta and Oruro railway, and also the converging point for several important highways and projected railways; and Tupiza (pop. 1644), a commercial and mining centre near the Argentine frontier, and the terminus of the Argentine railway extension into Bolivia. All these towns are in the department of Potosi. Viacha (pop. 1670), a small station on the railway from Guaqui to Alto de La Paz, 14 m. from the latter, is the starting point of an important projected railway to Oruro. In the department of Cochabamba, Tarata (4681) and Totora (3501) are two important trading centres, and in the department of Santa Cruz, Ascensión (pop. 4784) is a large mission station in the Chiquitos hills.
Communications.—Under a treaty with Brazil in 1903 and with Chile in 1904 (ratified 1905) provisions were made for railway construction in Bolivia to bring this isolated region into more effective communication with the outside world. Brazil agreed to construct a railway around the falls of the Madeira (about 180 m. long) to give north-eastern Bolivia access to the Amazon, and paid down £2,000,000 in cash which Bolivia was to expend on railway construction within her own territory. Chile also agreed to construct a railway from Arica to La Paz, 295 m. (the Bolivian section becoming the property of Bolivia fifteen years after completion), and to pay the interest (not over 5%) which Bolivia might guarantee on the capital invested in certain interior railways if constructed within thirty years, providing these interest payments should not exceed £100,000 a year, nor exceed £1,600,000 in the aggregate. Argentina had already undertaken to extend her northern railway from Jujuy to the Bolivian frontier town of Tupiza, and the Peruvian Corporation had constructed for the Bolivian government a short line (54 m. long) from Guaqui, on Lake Titicaca, to Alto de La Paz, which is connected with the city of La Paz, 1493 ft. below, by an electric line 5 m. long. This line gives La Paz access to the Peruvian port of Mollendo, 496 m. distant, and promises in time to give it railway communication with Cuzco. Rivalry for the control of her trade, therefore, promises to give Bolivia the railways needed for the development of her resources. Up to 1903 the only railways in Bolivia were the Antofagasta and Oruro line, with a total length of 574 m., of which 350 m. are within Bolivian territory, a private branch of that line (26 m. long) running to the Pulacayo mines, and the line (54 m. long) from Guaqui to Alto de La Paz—a total of only 430 m. As a result of her war with Chile in 1878–81, the railways (282 m. long) of her Litoral department passed under Chilean control. Lines were in 1907 projected from La Paz to the navigable waters of the Beni, from La Paz to Cochabamba, from Viacha to Oruro, from Uyuni to Potosi and Sucré, from Uyuni to Tupiza, and from Arica to La Paz via Corocoro. The central northern line of the Argentine government was completed to the Bolivian frontier in 1908, and this line was designed to extend to Tupiza. The undertaking of the Arica-La Paz line by the Chilean government, also, was an important step towards the improvement of the economic situation in Bolivia. Both these lines offer the country new outlets for its products.
Public highways have been constructed between the large cities and to some points on the frontiers, and subsidized stage coaches are run on some of them. The roads are rough and at times almost impassable, however, and the river crossings difficult and dangerous. The large cities are connected with one another by telegraph lines and are in communication with the outside world through Argentina, Chile and Peru. Telegraph service dates from 1880, and in 1904 there were 3115 m. in operation, of which 1936 belonged to the state and 1179 to private corporations. The latter includes the lines belonging to the Antofagasta and Oruro railway, which are partly within Chilean territory. Bolivia is a member of the International Postal Union, and has parcel and money order conventions with some foreign countries. Special agreements have been made, also, with Argentina, Chile and Peru for the transmission of the Bolivian foreign mails.
The loss of her maritime department has left Bolivia with no other ports than those of Lake Titicaca (especially Guaqui, or Huaqui, which trades with the Peruvian port of Puno), and those of the Madeira and Paraguay rivers and their affluents. As none of these can be reached without transhipment in foreign territory, the cost of transport is increased, and her neighbours are enabled to exclude Bolivia from direct commercial intercourse with other nations. An exception formerly existed at Puerto Acré, on the Acré river, to which ocean-going steamers could ascend from Pará, but Brazil first closed the Purús and Acré rivers to foreign vessels seeking this port, and then under a treaty of 1903 acquired possession of the port and adjacent territory. Since then Bolivia’s outlet to the Amazon is restricted to the Madeira river, the navigation of which is interrupted by a series of falls before Bolivian territory is reached. The Bolivian port of entry for this trade, Villa Bella, is situated above the falls of the Madeira at the confluence of the Beni and Mamoré, and is reached from the lower river by a long and costly portage. It is also shut off from the navigable rivers above by the falls of the Beni and Mamoré. The railway to be built by Brazil will remedy this unfavourable situation, will afford a better outlet for north-eastern Bolivia, and should promote a more rapid development of that region, which is covered with an admirable system of navigable rivers above the falls of the Beni and Mamoré. Connected with the upper Paraguay are Puerto Pacheco on Bahia Negra, Puerto Suarez (about 1600 m. from Buenos Aires by river), on Lake Cáceres, through which passes the bulk of Bolivian trade in that direction, and Puerto Quijarro, on Lake Gaiba, a projected port said to be more accessible than any other in this region. Whenever the trade of southern Bolivia becomes important enough to warrant the expense of opening a navigable channel in the Pilcomayo, direct river communication with Buenos Aires and Montevideo will be possible.
Industries.—Stock-raising was one of the earliest industries of the country after that of mining. Horses, formerly successfully raised in certain parts of the north, have not flourished there since the introduction of a peste from Brazil, but some are now raised in La Paz and other departments of the temperate region. The Jesuit founders of the Mojos missions took cattle with them when they entered that region to labour among the Indians, with the result that the Mojos and Chiquitos llanos were soon well stocked, and have since afforded an unfailing supply of beef for the neighbouring inland markets. Their inaccessibility and the costs of transportation have prevented a development of the industry and a consequent improvement in stock, but the persistency of the industry under conditions so unfavourable is evidence that the soil and climate are suited to its requirements. Farther south the llanos of Chuquisaca and Tarija also sustain large herds of cattle on the more elevated districts, and on the well-watered plains of the Chaco. There are small districts in La Paz, Potosi and Cochabamba, also, where cattle are raised. Apart from the cattle driven into the mining districts for consumption, a number of saladeros are employed in preparing (usually salting and sun-drying) beef for the home markets. The hides are exported. Goats are raised in the warm and temperate regions, and sheep for their wool in the latter. On the higher and colder plateaus much attention is given to the breeding of llamas and alpacas. Another industry of a different character is that of breeding the fur-bearing chinchilla (C. laniger), which is a native of the higher plateaus. The Bolivian government has prohibited the exportation of the live animals and is encouraging their production.
The agricultural resources of the republic are varied and of great value, but their development has been slow and hesitating. The cultivation of cereals, fruits and vegetables in the temperate and warm valleys of the Andes followed closely the mining settlements. Sugar-cane also was introduced at an early date, but as the demand for sugar was limited the product was devoted chiefly to the manufacture of rum, which is the principal object of cane cultivation in Bolivia to-day. The climatic conditions are highly favourable for this product in eastern Bolivia, but it is heavily taxed and is restricted to a small home market. Rice is another exotic grown in the tropical districts of eastern Bolivia, but the quantity produced is far from sufficient to meet local requirements. Tobacco of a fair quality is produced in the warm regions of the east, including the yungas valleys of La Paz and Cochabamba; cacáo of a superior grade is grown in the department of Beni, where large orchards were planted at the missions, and also in the warm Andean valleys of La Paz and Cochabamba; and coffee of the best flavour is grown in some of the warmer districts of the eastern Andes. The two indigenous products which receive most attention, perhaps, are those of quinoa and coca. Quinoa is grown in large quantities, and is a staple article of food among the natives. Coca is highly esteemed by the natives, who masticate the leaf, and is also an article of export for medicinal purposes. It is extensively cultivated in the departments of Cochabamba and La Paz, especially in the province of Yungas.
In the exploitation of her forest products, however, are to be found the industries that yield the greatest immediate profit to Bolivia. The most prominent and profitable of these is that of rubber-collecting, which was begun in Bolivia between 1880 and 1890, and which reached a registered annual output of nearly 3500 metric tons just before Bolivia’s best rubber forests were transferred to Brazil in 1903. There still remain extensive areas of forest on the Beni and Madre de Dios in which the rubber-producing Hevea is to be found. Although representing less value in the aggregate, the collecting of cinchona bark is one of the oldest forest industries of Bolivia, which is said still to have large areas of virgin forest to draw upon. The Bolivian product is of the best because of the high percentage of quinine sulphate which it yields. The industry is destructive in method, and the area of cinchona forests is steadily diminishing. Many other Bolivian plants are commercially valuable, and organized industry and trade in them will certainly be profitable.
The industrial activities of the Bolivian people are still of a very primitive character. An act was passed in 1894 authorizing the government to offer premiums and grant advantageous concessions for the development of manufacturing industries, especially in sugar production, but conditions have not been favourable and the results have been disappointing. Spinning and weaving are carried on among the people as a household occupation, and fabrics are made of an exceptionally substantial character. It is not uncommon to see the natives busily twirling their rude spindles as they follow their troops of pack animals over rough mountain roads, and the yarn produced is woven into cloth in their own houses on rough Spanish looms of colonial patterns. Not only is coarse cloth for their own garments made in this manner from the fleece of the llama, but cotton and woollen goods of a serviceable character are manufactured, and still finer fabrics are woven from the wool of the alpaca and vicuña, sometimes mixed with silk or lamb’s wool. The Indian women are expert weavers, and their handiwork often commands high prices. In the Mojos and Chiquitos districts the natives were taught by the Jesuit missionaries to weave an excellent cotton cloth, and the industry still exists. Cashmere, baize, waterproof ponchos of fine wool and silk, and many other fabrics are made by the Indians of the Andean departments. They are skilled in the use of dyes, and the Indian women pride themselves on a large number of finely-woven, brilliantly-coloured petticoats. Tanning and saddlery are carried on by the natives with primitive methods, but with excellent results. They are skilful in the preparation of lap robes and rugs from the skins of the alpaca and vicuña. The home markets are supplied, by native industry, with cigars and cigarettes, soap, candles, hats, gloves, starch, cheese and pottery. Sugar is still made in the old way, and there is a small production of wine and silk in certain districts. No country is better supplied with water power, and electric lighting and electric power plants have been established at La Paz.
Commerce.—The foreign trade of Bolivia is comparatively unimportant, but the statistical returns are incomplete and unsatisfactory; the imports of 1904 aggregated only £1,734,551 in value, and the exports only £1,851,758. The imports consisted of cottons, woollens, live-stock, provisions, hardware and machinery, wines, spirits and clothing. The principal exports were (in 1903) silver and its ores (£636,743), tin and its ores (£1,039,298), copper ores (£157,609), bismuth (£16,354), other minerals (£20,948), rubber (£260,559), coca (£28,907), and cinchona (£9197)—total exports, £2,453,638. These figures, however, do not correctly represent the aggregates of Bolivian trade, as her imports and exports passing through Antofagasta, Arica and Mollendo are to a large extent credited to Chile and Peru. The import trade of Bolivia is restricted by the poverty of the people. The geographical position limits the exports to mineral, forest and some pastoral products, owing to cost of transportation and the tariffs of neighbouring countries.
Government.—The government of Bolivia is a “unitarian” or centralized republic, representative in form, but autocratic in some important particulars. The constitution in force (1908) was adopted on the 28th of October 1880, and is a model in form and profession. The executive branch of the government is presided over by a president and two vice-presidents, who are elected by direct popular vote for a period of four years, and are not eligible for re-election for the next succeeding term. The president is assisted by a cabinet of five ministers of state, viz.: foreign relations and worship; finance and industry; interior and fomento; justice and public instruction; war and colonization. Every executive act must be countersigned by a minister of state, who is held responsible for its character and enforcement, and may be prosecuted before the supreme court for its illegality and effects. The legislative branch is represented by a national congress of two houses—a Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The Senate is composed of 16 members, two from each department, who are elected by direct popular vote for a period of six years, one-third retiring every two years. The Chamber of Deputies is composed of 72 members, who are elected for a period of four years, one-half retiring every two years. In impeachment trials the Chamber prosecutes and the Senate sits as a court, as in the United States. One of the duties of the Chamber is to elect the justices of the supreme court. Congress meets annually and its sessions are for sixty days, which may be extended to ninety days. The chambers have separate and concurrent powers defined by the constitution. The right of suffrage is exercised by all male citizens, twenty-one years of age, or over, if single, and eighteen years, or over, if married, who can read and write, and own real estate or have an income of 200 bolivianos a year, said income not to be compensation for services as a servant. The electoral body is therefore small, and is under the control of a political oligarchy which practically rules the country, no matter which party is in power.
The Bolivian judiciary consists of a national supreme court, eight superior district courts, lower district courts, and juzgados de instrucción for the investigation and preparation of cases. The corregidores and alcaldes also exercise the functions of a justice of the peace in the cantons and rural districts. The supreme court is composed of seven justices elected by the Chamber of Deputies from lists of three names for each seat sent in by the Senate. A justice can be removed only by impeachment proceedings before the Senate.
The supreme administration in each department is vested in a prefect appointed by and responsible solely to the president. As the prefect has the appointment of subordinate department officials, including the alcaldes, the authority of the national executive reaches every hamlet in the republic, and may easily become autocratic. There are no legislative assemblies in the departments, and their government rests with the national executive and congress. Subordinate to the prefects are the sub-prefects in the provinces, the corregidores in the cantons and the alcaldes in the rural districts—all appointed officials. The national territory adjacent to Brazil and Peru is governed by two delegados nacionales, appointees of the president. The department capitals are provided with municipal councils which have jurisdiction over certain local affairs, and over the construction and maintenance of some of the highways.
Army.—The military forces of the republic in 1905 included 2890 regulars and an enrolled force of 80,000 men, divided into a first reserve of 30,000, a second reserve of 40,000, and 10,000 territorial guards. The enrolled force is, however, both unorganized and unarmed. The strength of the army is fixed in each year’s budget. That for 1903 consisted of 2933 officers and men, of which 275 were commissioned and 558 non-commissioned officers, 181 musicians, and only 1906 rank and file. A conscription law of 1894 provides for a compulsory military service between the ages of twenty-one and fifty years, with two years’ actual service in the regulars for those between twenty-one and twenty-five, but the law is practically a dead letter. There is a military school with 60 cadets, and an arsenal at La Paz.
Education.—Although Bolivia has a free and compulsory school system, education and the provision for education have made little progress. Only a small percentage of the people can read and write. Although Spanish is the language of the dominant minority, Quichua, Aymará and Guarani are the languages of the natives, who form a majority of the population. A considerable percentage of the Indians do not understand Spanish at all, and they even resist every effort to force it upon them. Even the cholos (mestizos) are more familiar with the native idioms than with Spanish, as is the case in some parts of Argentina and Paraguay. According to official estimates for 1901, the total number of primary schools in the republic was 733, with 938 teachers and 41,587 pupils—the total cost of their maintenance being estimated at 585,365 bolivianos, or only 14.07 bolivianos per pupil (about £1: 4: 6). The school enrolment was only one in 43.7 of population, compared with one in 10 for Argentina. The schools are largely under the control of the municipalities, though nearly half of them are maintained by the national government, by the Church and by private means. There were in the same year 13 institutions of secondary and 14 of superior instruction. The latter include so-called universities at Sucré (Chuquisaca), La Paz, Cochabamba, Tarija, Potosi, Santa Cruz and Oruro—all of which give instruction in law, the first three in medicine and the first four in theology. The university at Sucré, which dates from colonial times, and that at La Paz, are the only ones on the list sufficiently well equipped to merit the title. Secondary instruction is under the control of the universities, and public instruction in general is under the direction of a cabinet minister. All educational matters, however, are practically under the supervision of the Church. The total appropriation for educational purposes in 1901 was 756,943 bolivianos, or £66,232: 6s. There are a military academy at La Paz, an agricultural school at Umala in the department of La Paz, a mining and civil engineering school at Oruro, commercial schools at Sucré and Trinidad, and several mission schools under the direction of religious orders.
Religion.—The constitution of Bolivia, art. 2, defines the attitude of the republic toward the Church in the following words:—“The state recognizes and supports the Roman Apostolic Catholic religion, the public exercise of any other worship being prohibited, except in the colonies where it is tolerated.” This toleration is tacitly extended to resident foreigners belonging to other religious sects. The census of 1900 enumerated the Roman Catholic population at 1,609,365, and that of other creeds at 24,245, which gives the former 985 and the latter 15 in every thousand. The domesticated Indians profess the Roman Catholic faith, but it is tinged with the superstitions of their ancestors. They hold the clergy in great fear and reverence, however, and are deeply influenced by the forms and ceremonies of the church, which have changed little since the first Spanish settlements. Bolivia is divided into an archbishopric and three bishoprics. The first includes the departments of Chuquisaca, Oruro, Potosi, Tarija and the Chilean province of Antofagasta, with its seat at Sucré, and is known as the archbishopric of La Plata. The sees of the three bishoprics are La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. Mission work among the Indians is entrusted to the Propaganda Fide, which has five colleges and a large number of missions, and receives a small subvention from the state. It is estimated that these missions have charge of fully 20,000 Indians. The annual appropriation for the Church is about £17,150. The religious orders, which have never been suppressed in Bolivia, maintain several convents.
Finance.—No itemized returns of receipts and expenditures are ever published, and the estimates presented to congress by the cabinet ministers furnish the only source from which information can be drawn. The expenditures are not large, and taxation is not considered heavy. The estimated revenues and expenditures for 1904 and 1905 at 21 pence per boliviano, were as follows: 1904, revenue £632,773: 15s., expenditure £748,571: 10s.; 1905, revenue £693,763: 17: 6, expenditure £828,937: 19: 9. The revenues are derived principally from duties and fees on imports, excise taxes on spirits, wines, tobacco and sugar, general, mining taxes and export duties on minerals (except silver), export duties on rubber and coca, taxes on the profits of stock companies, fees for licences and patents, stamp taxes, and postal and telegraph revenues. Nominally, the import duties are moderate, so much so that Bolivia is sometimes called a “free-trade country,” but this is a misnomer, for in addition to the schedule rates of 10 to 40% ad valorem on imports, there are a consular fee of 112% for the registration of invoices exceeding 200 bolivianos, a consumption tax of 10 centavos per quintal (46 kilogrammes), fees for viséing certificates to accompany merchandise in transit, special “octroi” taxes on certain kinds of merchandise controlled by monopolies (spirits, tobacco, &c.), and the import and consumption taxes levied by the departments and municipalities. The expenditures are chiefly for official salaries, subsidies, public works, church and mission support, justice, public instruction, military expenses, and interest on the public debt. The appropriations for 1905 were as follows: war, 2,081,119 bolivianos; finance and industry, 1,462,259; government and fomento, 2,021,428; justice and public instruction, 1,878,941.
The acknowledged public debt of the country is comparatively small. At the close of the war with Chile there was an indemnity debt due to citizens of that republic of 6,550,830 bolivianos, which had been nearly liquidated in 1904 when Chile took over the unpaid balance. This was Bolivia’s only foreign debt. In 1905 her internal debt, including 1,998,500 bolivianos of treasury bills, amounted to 6,243,270 bolivianos (£546,286). The government in 1903 authorized the issue of treasury notes for the department of Beni and the National Territory to the amount of one million bolivianos (£87,500), for the redemption of which 10% of the customs receipts of the two districts is set apart. The paper currency of the republic consists of bank-notes issued by four private banks, and is therefore no part of the public debt. The amount in circulation on the 30th of June 1903 was officially estimated at 9,144,254 bolivianos (£800,122), issued on a par with silver. The coinage of the country is of silver, nickel and copper. The silver coins are of the denominations of 1 boliviano, or 100 centavos, 50, 20, 10 and 5 centavos, and the issue of these coins from the Potosi mint is said to be about 1,500,000 bolivianos a year. The silver mining companies are required by law to send to the mint 20% of their product. The silver boliviano, however, is rarely seen in circulation because of the cheaper paper currency. To check the exportation of silver coin, the fractional denominations have been slightly debased. The nickel coins are of 5 and 10 centavos, and the copper 1 and 2 centavos.
The departmental revenues, which are derived from excise and land taxes, mining grants, tithes, inheritance taxes, tolls, stamp taxes, subsidies from the national treasury and other small taxes, were estimated at 2,296,172 bolivianos in 1903, and the expenditures at 2,295,791 bolivianos. The expenditures were chiefly for justice, police, public works, public instruction and the Church. The municipal revenues aggregated 2,317,670 bolivianos in 1902, and the expenditures 61,510 bolivianos in excess of that sum. These revenues are derived from a lighting tax, leases and ground rents, cemetery fees, consumption and market taxes, licences, tolls, taxes on hides and skins, personal and various minor taxes. There is a multiplication of taxes in trade which recalls the old colonial alcabala tax, and it serves to restrict commerce and augment the cost of goods in much the same way, if not to the same degree.
Authorities.—M. V. Ballivián, Apuntes sobre la industria de goma elastica, &c. (La Paz, 1896); Noticia Politica, Geográfica, Industrial, y Estadistica de Bolivia (La Paz, 1900); Breves Indicaciones para el Inmigrante y el Viajero à Bolivia (La Paz, 1898); Monografias de la Industria Minera en Bolivia, three parts (La Paz, 1899–1900); Relaciones Geográficas de Bolivia existentes en el Archivo de la Oficina Nacional de Inmigración, &c. (La Paz, 1898); M. V. Ballivián and Eduardo Idiaquez, Diccionario Geográfico de la República de Bolivia (La Paz, 1900); André Bresson, Sept années d’explorations, de voyages et de séjours dans l’Amérique australe (Paris, 1886); Enrique Bolland, Exploraciones practicadas en el Alto Paraguay y en la Laguna Gaiba (Buenos Aires, 1901); G. E. Church The Route to Bolivia via the River Amazon (London, 1877); G. E. Church, “Bolivia by the Rio de la Plata Route,” Geogr. Jour. xix. pp. 64-73 (London, 1902); C. B. Cisneros and R. E. Garcia, Geografia Comercial de la America del Sur (Lima, 1898); Sir W. M. Conway, Climbing and Exploration in the Bolivian Andes (London, 1903); M. Dalence, Bosquejo estadistico de Bolivia (Chuquisaca, 1878); J. L. Moreno, Nociones de geografia de Bolivia (Sucré, 1889); Edward D. Mathews, Up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers, through Bolivia and Peru (London, 1879); Carlos Matzenauer, Bolivia in historischer, geographischer und cultureller Hinsicht (Vienna, 1897); M. F. Soldan, Narracion de Guerra de Chile contra Peru y Bolivia (La Paz, 1884); C. M. Pepper, Panama to Patagonia (Chicago, 1906); A. Petrocokino, Along the Andes, in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador (London, 1903); Comte C. d’Ursel, Sud Amérique: Séjours et voyages au Brésil, en Bolivie, &c. (Paris, 1879); Charles Wiener, Pérou et Bolivie (Paris, 1880); Bolivia, Geographical Sketch, Natural Resources, &c., Intern. Bur. of the American Republics (Washington, 1904); Boletin de la Oficina Nacional de Inmigración, Estadistica y Propaganda Geográfica (La Paz); Sinopsis estadistica y geográfica de la Republica de Bolivia (3 vols., La Paz, 1902–1904); G. de Crequi-Montfort, “Exploration en Bolivie,” in La Géographie, ix. pp. 79-86 (Paris, 1904); M. Neveau-Lemaire, “Le Titicaca et le Poopo,” &c., in La Géographie, ix. pp. 409-430 (Paris, 1904); British Foreign Office Diplomatic and Consular Reports (London); United States Consular Reports; Stanford’s Compendium of Geography and Travel, vol. i., South and Central America (London, 1904). For Geology see A. d’Orbigny, Voyage dans l’Amérique méridionale, vol. iii. pt. iii. (Paris, 1842); D. Forbes, “On the Geology of Bolivia and Peru,” Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xvii. (London, 1861), pp. 7-62, pls. i.-iii.; A. Ulrich, “Palaeozoische Versteinerungen aus Bolivien,” Neues Jahrb. f. Min. Band viii. (1893), pp. 5-116, pls. i.-v.; G. Steinmann, &c., “Geologie des südostlichen Boliviens,” Centralb. f. Min., Jahrg. (1904), pp. 1-4. (A. J. L.)
History
The country now forming the republic of Bolivia, named after the great liberator Simon Bolivar (q.v.), was in early days simply a portion of the empire of the Incas of Peru (q.v.). After the conquest of Peru by the Spaniards in the 16th century the natives were subjected to much tyranny and oppression, though it must in fairness be said that much of it was carried out in defiance of the efforts and the wishes of the Spanish home government, whose legislative efforts to protect the Indians from serfdom and ill-usage met with scant respect at the hands of the distant settlers and mine-owners, who bid defiance to the humane and protective regulations of the council of the Indies, and treated the unhappy natives little better than beasts of burden. The statement, moreover, that some eight millions of Indians perished through forced labour in the mines is a gross exaggeration. The annual diminution in the number of the Indian population was undoubtedly very great, but it was due far more to the result of European epidemics and to indulgence in alcohol than to hard work. The abortive insurrection of 1780–82, led by the Inca Tupac Amarú, was never a general rising, and was directed rather against Creole tyranny than against Spanish rule. The heavy losses sustained by the Indians during that outbreak, and their dislike and distrust of the colonial Spaniard, account for the comparative indifference with which they viewed the rise and progress of the 1814 colonial revolt against Spain, which gave the South American states their independence.
We are only concerned here with the War of Independence so far as it affected Upper Peru, the Bolivia of later days. When the patriots of Buenos Aires had succeeded in liberating from the dominion of Spain the interior provinces of the Rio de la Plata, they turned their arms against War of Independence.their enemies who held Upper Peru. An almost uninterrupted warfare followed, from July 1809 till August 1825, with alternate successes on the side of the Spanish or royalist and the South American or patriot forces,—the scene of action lying chiefly between the Argentine provinces of Salta and Jujuy and the shores of Lake Titicaca. The first movement of the war was the successful invasion of Upper Peru by the army of Buenos Aires, under General Balcarce, which, after twice defeating the Spanish troops, was able to celebrate the first anniversary of independence near Lake Titicaca, in May 1811. Soon, however, the patriot army, owing to the dissolute conduct and negligence of its leaders, became disorganized, and was attacked and defeated, in June 1811, by the Spanish army under Gey fol Goyeneche, and driven back into Jujuy. Four years of warfare, in which victory was alternately with the Spaniards and the patriots, was terminated in 1815 by the total rout of the latter in a battle which took place between Potosi and Oruro. To this succeeded a revolt of the Indians of the southern provinces of Peru, and the object being the independence of the whole country, it was joined by numerous Creoles. This insurrection was, however, speedily put down by the royalists. In 1816 the Spanish general Laserna, having been appointed commander-in-chief of Upper Peru, made an attempt to invade the Argentine provinces, intending to march on Buenos Aires, but he was completely foiled in this by the activity of the irregular gaucho troops of Salta and Jujuy, and was forced to retire. During this time and in the six succeeding years a guerrilla warfare was maintained by the patriots of Upper Peru, who had taken refuge in the mountains, chiefly of the province of Yungas, and who frequently harassed the royalist troops. In June 1823 the expedition of General Santa Cruz, prepared with great zeal and activity at Lima, marched in two divisions upon Upper Peru, and in the following months of July and August the whole country between La Paz and Oruro was occupied by his forces; but later, the indecision and want of judgment displayed by Santa Cruz allowed a retreat to be made before a smaller royalist army, and a severe storm converted their retreat into a precipitate flight, only a remnant of the expedition again reaching Lima. In 1824, after the great battle of Ayacucho in Lower Peru, General Sucre, whose valour had contributed so much to the patriot success of that day, marched with a part of the victorious army into Upper Peru. On the news of the victory a universal rising of the patriots took place, and before Sucre had reached Oruro and Puno, in February 1825, La Paz was already in their possession, and the royalist garrisons of several towns had gone over to their side. The Spanish general Olañeta, with a diminished army of 2000 men, was confined to the province of Potosi, where he held out till March 1825, when he was mortally wounded in an action with some of his own revolted troops.
General Sucre was now invested with the supreme command in Upper Peru, until the requisite measures could be taken to establish in that country a regular and constitutional government. Deputies from the various provinces to the number of fifty-four were assembled at Chuquisaca, the capital, to decide upon the question proposed to them on the part of the government of the Argentine provinces, whether they would or would not remain separate from that country. In August 1825 they decidedBolivia a nation. this question, declaring it to be the national will that Upper Peru should in future constitute a distinct and independent nation. This assembly continued their session, although the primary object of their meeting had thus been accomplished, and afterwards gave the name of Bolivia to the country,—issuing at the same time a formal declaration of independence.
The first general assembly of deputies of Bolivia dissolved itself on the 6th of October 1825, and a new congress was summoned and formally installed at Chuquisaca on the 25th of May 1826, to take into consideration the constitution prepared by Bolivar for the new republic. A favourable report was made to that body by a committee appointed to examine it, on which it was approved by the congress, and declared to be the constitution of the republic; and as such, it was sworn to by the people. General Sucre was chosen president for life, according to the constitution, but only accepted the appointment for the space of two years, and on the express condition that 2000 Colombian troops should be permitted to remain with him.
The independence of the country, so dearly bought, did not, however, secure for it a peaceful future. Repeated risings occurred, till in the end of 1827 General Sucre and his Colombian troops were driven from La Paz. A new congress was formed at Chuquisaca in April 1828, which modified the constitution given by Bolivar, and chose Marshal Santa Cruz for president; but only a year later a revolution, led by General Blanco, threw the country into disorder and for a time overturned the government. Quiet being again restored in 1831, Santa Cruz promulgated the code of laws which bore his name, and brought the financial affairs of the country into some order; he also concluded a treaty of commerce with Peru, and for several years Bolivia remained in peace. In 1835, when a struggle for the chief power had made two factions in the neighbouring republic of Peru, Santa Cruz was induced to take a part in the contest; he marched into that country, and after defeating General Gamarra, the leader of one of the opposing parties, completed the pacification of Peru in the spring of 1836, named himself its protector, and had in view a confederation of the two countries. At this juncture the government of Chile interfered actively, and espousing the cause of Gamarra, sent troops into Peru. Three years of fighting ensued till in a battle at Jungay in June 1839 Santa Cruz was defeated and exiled, Gamarra became president of Peru, and General Velasco provisional chief in Bolivia. The Santa Cruz party, however, remained strong in Bolivia, and soon revolted successfully against the new head of the government, ultimately installing General Ballivian in the chief power. Taking advantage of the disturbed condition of Bolivia, Gamarra made an attempt to annex the rich province of La Paz, invading it in August 1841 and besieging the capital; but in a battle with Ballivian his army was totally routed, and Gamarra himself was killed. The Bolivian general was now in turn to invade Peru, when Chile again interfered to prevent him. Ballivian remained in the presidency till 1848, when he retired to Valparaiso, and in the end of that year General Belzu, after leading a successful military revolution, took the chief power, and during his presidency endeavoured to promote agriculture, industry and trade. General Jorge Cordova succeeded him, but had not been long in office when a new revolt in September 1857, originating with the garrison of Oruro, spread over the land, and compelled him to quit the country. His place was taken by Dr José Maria Linares, the originator of the revolution, who, taking into his own hands all the powers of government, and acting with the greatest severity, caused himself to be proclaimed dictator in March 1858. Fresh disturbances led to the deposition of Linares in 1861, when Dr Maria de Acha was chosen president. In 1862 a treaty of peace and commerce with the United States was ratified, and in the following year a similar treaty was concluded with Belgium; but new causes of disagreement with Chile had arisen in the discovery of rich beds of guano on the eastern coast-land of the desert of Atacama, which threatened warfare, and were only set at rest by the treaty of August 1866, in which the 24th parallel of latitude was adopted as the boundary between the two republics. A new military revolution, led by Maria Melgarejo, broke out in 1865, and in February of that year the troops of President Acha were defeated in a battle near Potosi, when Melgarejo took the dominion of the country. After defeating two revolutions, in 1865 and 1866, the new president declared a political amnesty, and in 1869, after imposing a revised constitution on the country, he became its dictator.
In January 1871 President Melgarejo was in his turn deposed and driven from the country by a revolution headed by Colonel Augustin Morales. The latter, becoming president, was himself murdered in November 1872 and was succeeded by Colonel Adolfo Ballivian, who died inRecent history. 1874. Under this president Bolivia entered upon a secret agreement with Peru which was destined to have grave consequences for both countries. To understand the reasons that urged Bolivia to take this step it is necessary to go back to the above-mentioned treaty of 1866 between Chile and Bolivia. By this instrument Bolivia, besides conceding the 24th parallel as the boundary of Chilean territory, agreed that Chile should have a half share of the customs and full facilities for trading on the coast that lay between the 23rd and 24th parallels, Chile at that time being largely interested in the trade of that region. It was also agreed that Chile should be allowed to mine and export the products of this district without tax or hindrance on the part of Bolivia. In 1870, in further consideration of the sum of $10,000, Bolivia granted to an Anglo-Chilean company the right of working certain nitrate deposits north of the 24th parallel. The great wealth which was passing into Chilean hands owing to these compacts created no little discontent in Bolivia, nor was Peru any better pleased with the hold that Chilean capital was establishing in the rich district of Tarapacá. On 6th February 1873 Bolivia entered upon a secret agreement with Peru, the ostensible object of which was the preservation of their territorial integrity and their mutual defence against exterior aggression. There can be no doubt that the aggression contemplated as possible by both countries was a further encroachment on the part of Chile.
Upon the death of Adolfo Ballivian, immediately after the conclusion of this treaty with Peru, Dr Tomas Frias succeeded to the presidency. He signed yet another treaty with Chile, by which the latter agreed to withdraw her claim to half the duties levied in Bolivian ports on condition that all Chilean industries established in Bolivian territory should be free from duty for twenty-five years. This treaty was never ratified, and four years later General Hilarion Daza, who had succeeded Dr Frias as president in 1876, demanded as the price of Bolivia’s consent that a tax of 10 cents per quintal should be paid on all nitrates exported from the country, further declaring that, unless this levy was paid, nitrates in the hands of the exporters would be seized by the Bolivian government. As an answer to these demands, and in order to protect the property of Chilean subjects, the Chilean fleet was sent to blockade the ports of Antofagasta, Cobija and Tocapilla. On the 14th February 1879 the Chilean colonel Sotomayor occupied Antofagasta, and on 1st March, a fortnight later, the Bolivian government declared war.
An offer on the part of Peru to act as mediator met with no favour from Chile. The existence of the secret treaty, well known to the Chilean government, rendered the intervention of Peru more than questionable, and the law passed by the latter in 1875, which practically created a monopoly of the Tarapacá nitrate beds to the serious prejudice of Chilean enterprise, offered no guarantee of her good faith. Chile replied by curtly demanding the annulment of the secret treaty and an assurance of Peruvian neutrality. Both demands being refused, she declared war upon Peru.
The superiority of the Chileans at sea, though checked for some time by the heroic gallantry of the Peruvians, soon enabled them to land a sufficient number of troops to meet the allied forces which had concentrated at Arica and other points in the south. The Bolivian ports were already in Chilean hands, and a sea attack upon Pisagua surprised and routed the troops under the Peruvian general Buendia and opened the way into the southern territory of Peru. General Daza, who should have cooperated with Buendia, turned back, on receiving news of the Peruvian defeat, and led the Bolivian troops to Tacna in a hasty and somewhat disorderly retreat. The fall of San Francisco followed, and Iquique, which was evacuated by the allies without a struggle, was occupied. Severe fighting took place before Tarapacá surrendered, but the end of 1879 saw the Chileans in complete possession of the province.
Meanwhile a double revolution took place in Peru and Bolivia. In the former country General Prado was deposed and Colonel Pierola proclaimed dictator. The Bolivians followed the example of their allies. The troops at Tacna, indignant at the inglorious part they had been condemned to play by the incompetence or cowardice of their president, deprived him of their command and elected Colonel Camacho to lead them. At the same time a revolution in La Paz proclaimed General Narciso Campero president, and he was elected to that post in the following June by the ordinary procedure of the constitution. During 1880 the war was chiefly maintained at sea between Chile and Peru, Bolivia taking little or no part in the struggle. In January of 1881 were fought the battles of Chorillos and Miraflores, attended by heavy slaughter and savage excesses on the part of the Chilean troops. They were followed almost immediately by the surrender of Lima and Callao, which left the Chileans practically masters of Peru. In the interior, however, where the Peruvian admiral Montero had formed a provisional government, the war still lingered, and in September 1882 a conference took place between the latter and President Campero, at which it was decided that they should hold out for better terms. But the Peruvians wearied of the useless struggle. On the 20th of October 1883 they concluded a treaty of peace with Chile; the troops at Arequipa, under Admiral Montero, surrendered that town, and Montero himself, coldly received in Bolivia, whither he had fled for refuge, withdrew from the country to Europe. On the 9th of November the Chilean army of occupation was concentrated at Arequipa, while what remained of the Bolivian army lay at Oruro. Negotiations were opened, and on 11th December a peace was signed between Chile and Bolivia. By this treaty Bolivia ceded to Chile the whole of its sea-coast, including the port of Cobija.
On the 18th of May 1895 a treaty was signed at Santiago between Chile and Bolivia, “with a view to strengthening the bonds of friendship which unite the two countries,” and, “in accord with the higher necessity that the future development and commercial prosperity of Bolivia require her free access to the sea.” By this treaty Chile declared that if, in consequence of the plebiscite (to take place under the treaty of Ancon with Peru), or by virtue of direct arrangement, she should “acquire dominion and permanent sovereignty over the territories of Tacna and Arica, she undertakes to transfer them to Bolivia in the same form and to the same extent as she may acquire them”; the republic of Bolivia paying as an indemnity for that transfer $5,000,000 silver. If this cession should be effected, Chile should advance her own frontier north of Camerones to Vitor, from the sea up to the frontier which actually separates that district from Bolivia. Chile also pledged herself to use her utmost endeavour, either separately or jointly with Bolivia, to obtain possession of Tacna and Arica. If she failed, she bound herself to cede to Bolivia the roadstead (caleta) of Vitor, or another analogous one, and $5,000,000 silver. Supplementary protocols to this treaty stipulated that the port to be ceded must “fully satisfy the present and future requirements” of the commerce of Bolivia.
On the 23rd of May 1895 further treaties of peace and commerce were signed with Chile, but the provisions with regard to the cession of a seaport to Bolivia still remained unfulfilled. During those ten years of recovery on the part of Bolivia from the effects of the war, the presidency was held by Dr Pacheco, who succeeded Campero, and held office for the full term; by Dr Aniceto Arce, who held it until 1892, and by Dr Mariano Baptista, his successor. In 1896 Dr Severo Alonso became president, and during his tenure of office diplomatic relations were resumed with Great Britain, Señor Aramayo being sent to London as minister plenipotentiary in July 1897. As an outcome of his mission an extradition treaty was concluded with Great Britain in March 1898.
In December an attempt was made to pass a law creating Sucre the perpetual capital of the republic. Until this Sucre had taken its turn with La Paz, Cochabamba and Oruro. La Paz rose in open revolt. On the 17th of January of the following year a battle was fought some 40 m. from La Paz between the insurgents and the government forces, in which the latter were defeated with the loss of a colonel and forty-three men. Colonel Pando, the insurgent leader, having gained a strong following, marched upon Oruro, and entered that town on 11th April 1899, after completely defeating the government troops. Dr Severo Alonso took refuge in Chilean territory; and Colonel Pando formed a provisional government. He had no difficulty in obtaining his election to the presidency without opposition. He entered upon office on the 26th of October, and proved himself to be a strong and capable chief magistrate. He had to deal with two difficult settlements as to boundaries with Chile and Brazil, and to take steps for improving the means of communication in the country, by this means reviving its mining and other industries. The dispute with Brazil over the rich Acré rubber-producing territory was accentuated by the majority of those engaged in the rubber industry being Brazilians, who resented the attempts of Bolivian officials to exercise authority in the district. This led to a declaration of independence on the part of the state of Acré, and the despatch of a body of Bolivian troops in 1900 to restore order. There was no desire, however, on the part of President Pando to involve himself in hostilities with Brazil, and in a spirit of concession the dispute was settled amicably by diplomatic means, and a treaty signed in November 1903. A new boundary line was drawn, and a portion of the Acré province ceded to Brazil in consideration of a cash indemnity of $10,000,000.
The long-standing dispute with Chile with regard to its occupation of the former Bolivian provinces of Tacna and Arica under the Parto de Tregna of the 4th of April 1884 was more difficult to arrange satisfactorily. In 1895 there had been some prospect of Chile conceding an outlet on the sea in exchange for a recognition of the Chilean ownership of Tacna and Arica. The discovery, however, of secret negotiations between Bolivia and Argentina caused Chile to change its conciliatory attitude. Bolivia was in no position to venture upon hostilities or to compel the Chileans to make concessions, and the final settlement of the boundary dispute between Argentina and Chile deprived the Bolivians of the hope of obtaining the support of the Argentines. President Pando and his successor, Ismail Montes, who became president in 1904, saw that it was necessary to yield, and to make the best terms they could. A treaty was accordingly ratified in 1905, which was in many ways advantageous to Bolivia, though the republic was compelled to cede to Chile the maritime provinces occupied by the latter power since the war of 1881, and to do without a seaport. The government of Chile undertook to construct a railway at its own cost from Arica to the Bolivian capital, La Paz, and to give the Bolivians free transit through Chilean territory to certain towns on the coast. Chile further agreed to pay Bolivia a cash indemnity and lend certain pecuniary assistance to the construction of other railways necessary for the opening out of the country.
See C. Wiener, Bolivie et Pérou (Paris, 1880); E. Mossbach, Bolivia (Leipzig, 1875); Theodore Child, The South American Republics (New York, 1801); Vicente de Ballivian y Rizas, Archive Boliviano. Collecion de documentes relativos a la historia de Bolivia (Paris, 1872); Ramon Sotomayor Valdes, Estudio historico de Bolivia bajo la administracion del General don José Maria Achá con una introducion que contiene el compendio de la Guerra de la independencia i de los gobiernos de dicha Republica hasta 1861 (Santiago de Chile, 1874). (W. Hd.; G. E.)
- ↑ The figures for population include a 5% addition for omissions, sundry corrections and the estimated number of wild Indians.