South America · BOL
Bolivia
The story · 10 chapters
How it was drawn
The silver highlands of Upper Peru became a republic with a Pacific coast. Wars with Chile, Brazil and Paraguay then cut it to half its first size.
Play the story Take the first lessonThrough the ages
Rivals in history
The kingdoms, empires and states Bolivia fought or stood against, from the first to today.
- Inca Empire1450 to 1535
Aymara lordships around Lake Titicaca, such as the Colla and the Lupaca, were conquered by Inca armies in the 1400s. The Colla rose in revolt before being absorbed into Collasuyu, the empire's southern quarter.
- Spanish Empire1538 to 1825
Spain conquered the highlands and forced Indigenous communities to send workers to the Potosi silver mines under the mita. The great rebellion of 1780 to 1782 failed, and independence came only in 1825 after the Spanish defeat at Ayacucho.
- Republic of Chile1836 to 1839
Chile saw the Peru-Bolivian Confederation of Andres de Santa Cruz as a threat to its trade and security. It went to war in 1836 and destroyed the confederation at the battle of Yungay in January 1839.
- Republic of Peru1841 to 1842
The Peruvian president Agustin Gamarra invaded Bolivia in 1841, hoping to annex La Paz. His army was crushed at Ingavi on 18 November 1841, where Gamarra himself was killed.
Chile took Bolivia's coast in the War of the Pacific, confirmed by the treaty of 1904. Bolivia has demanded access to the sea ever since, and lost its case at the International Court of Justice in 2018. The two have no full diplomatic relations.
- Brazil1899 to 1903
Brazilian rubber tappers settled in Acre, a Bolivian territory, and rebelled against Bolivian rule from 1899. After fighting, Bolivia sold Acre to Brazil by the Treaty of Petropolis in 1903.
- Paraguay1928 to 1938
Both countries claimed the Chaco Boreal, thought to hold oil. Border clashes began in 1928, and the Chaco War of 1932 to 1935 cost tens of thousands of lives. The 1938 treaty gave Paraguay most of the disputed land.
Today
Bolivia now
Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simón BOLÍVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825. Much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of coups and countercoups, with the last coup occurring in 1980. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and illegal drug production.
- Capital
- La Paz
- Government
- presidential republic
- Head of government
- Rodrigo Paz
- Languages
- Guarani, Quechua, Aymara
- Area
- 1,098,580 km²
Through time
Then and now
- Population12.2 million2023 · 3.1 million in 1950
- Life expectancy68.6 years2023 · 40.7 years in 1950
- GDP per person$6,4812022 · $3,011 in 1950
- Living in cities72%2025 · 35% in 1950
- Literacy97%2024 · 33% in 1950
- Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
- Military alliancesNone of these2024 · Rio Pact in 1950
- Military spending1.2% of GDP2025
- War deathsNone2025
Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.
Relations
Close partners and tensions
Close partners
- Argentina
- Uruguay
- Switzerland
- Brazil
- United States
Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.