6 August: National Day
Republic of Bolivia, country of west-central South America. Bolivia is bordered
to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by
Argentina, to the southwest and west by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru.
Bolivia shares Lake Titicaca, the second largest lake in South America with
Peru. The country has been landlocked since it lost its Pacific coast territory
to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879–84), but agreements with neighboring
countries have granted it indirect access to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
with an area of 424,164 square miles. Extending some 950 miles north-south and
800 miles east-west. The constitutional capital is the historic city of Sucre,
where the Supreme Court is established, but the de facto capital is La Paz,
where the executive and legislative branches of government function.
The country has a rich history. Bolivian society traces its origins to the
advanced pre-Columbian civilizations of South America. The high Bolivian plateau
known as the Altiplano was already densely populated several centuries before
the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. From the 7th century the Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco)
empire, the first of the great Andean empires to extend over both the Peruvian
coast and highlands, had its centre in the Altiplano region. By the 11th century
it had reached its apogee and was replaced by simpler regional states. In the
centuries that followed the collapse of Tiwanaku, the Bolivian highland region
maintained its dense populations with irrigation agriculture. By the 15th
century the region was controlled largely by some 12 nations of Aymara-speaking
Indians; they, in turn, fell under the control of the expanding Inca empire,
which had its capital in Cuzco (now in Peru). After the Spanish conquest of the
Inca empire in the early 16th century, much of the Indian population of Bolivia
was forced to labor in mines established by the Spaniards. It was this early
pattern of colonization and no assimilation that gave Bolivia its current
linguistic and ethnic makeup. In 1809 Chuquisaca and La Paz became two of the
earliest cities to rebel against the colonial government appointed by the new
Napoleonic ruler of Spain. Many historians have considered this action to be the
beginning of the wars of independence in Latin America. on August 6, 1825, an
Upper Peruvian congress declared the nation independent.
The population of Bolivia consists of three groups—Indians (the indigenous
peoples), mestizos (of mixed Indian and European descent), and whites of
European (mainly Spanish) descent. After centuries of intermixing, it is
difficult to determine the proportion of each, but it is estimated that Indians
form nearly three-fifths of the total, mestizos nearly one-third, and whites
one-seventh. The largest Indian groups are the Aymara, Quechua, and Guaraní. The
Aymara, who speak a guttural language, live mainly on the northern and central
Altiplano. The Quechua, direct descendants of the Inca, are found in the
southern Altiplano. Guaraní communities live in the lowland forests. The great
majority of Bolivian Indians are farmers, miners, and factory or construction
workers; however, an increasing number have become professionals, and Aymara and
Quechua political leaders have been elected to Congress. Aymara and Quechua are
now official languages in Bolivia, along with Spanish, but many Indians,
particularly in the cities, market towns, and new colonies, speak or understand
Spanish. The government is promoting multicultural and multilingual education
and the establishment of indigenous territories in the tropical lowlands.
In the cities the mestizos, many of whom are either migrants from rural areas or
their descendants, are well represented in the offices, trades, and small
businesses. The traditional white minority—those of Spanish descent—have long
formed the local aristocracy in small towns and rural areas. Their influence
remains, although it has diminished since the National Revolution of 1952. Many
foreigners who worked in the highland mining centers eventually settled in
Bolivia and have played an important role in the country's political, economic,
and social life. Roman Catholicism is the official religion, but freedom of
religion is guaranteed by the constitution. The proportion of Roman Catholics
has decreased slowly but still accounts for more than four-fifths of the
population.
Bolivian highland animal life is distinguished by the presence of members of the
camel family—the llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña, all native to the Andes.
The llama and alpaca are domesticated varieties of the wild guanaco, which
survives in the mountains. The llama, the largest animal is the traditional
beast of burden and is also a source of meat, wool, leather, tallow, and fuel
(in the form of dried dung) in rural Andean communities. It is also used for
ancient Aymara and Quechua religious rites, in which it may be sacrificed in
honour of Pachamama (Pacha Mama), goddess of the Earth. The Andean condor, a New
World vulture and the largest flying bird in the Americas. Many smaller birds
and waterfowl, including grebes, coots, cormorants, ducks, geese, and gulls,
live around Lake Titicaca. Trout are found in several of the rivers on the
Altiplano. The rich animal life of the northern forests includes such mammals as
the jaguar (the largest of the American cats), sloth, and tapir and several
species of monkey.
Bolivia is well endowed with natural resources. Its economic development has
been limited, however, by high production costs and lack of investment;
persisting obstacles include an inadequate transportation infrastructure and the
nation's landlocked location. Average per capita income is low, and Bolivia
remains one of the poorest nations in South America. The revolutionary program
of 1952–53 included immediate agrarian reform, based on breaking up the large
estates and nationalizing the mines. Initially, however, agricultural production
decreased, mineral output dropped disastrously, and wages increased. The
economy, depending on the earnings from tin exportation, fluctuated wildly.
Among Bolivia's most valuable assets are its mineral deposits, including
petroleum and natural gas, and its renewable natural resources, such as
agricultural and forest products, especially Brazil nuts. The country is a major
producer of tin and gold, and, although its exports of zinc and silver are small
parts of the world market, they account for a significant portion of export
earnings. Bolivia also has reserves of antimony, tungsten (wolfram), lead, and
copper.
About two-fifths of the working population is engaged in agriculture (including
small numbers in hunting, forestry, and fishing), but farming accounts for only
about one-seventh of the gross domestic product. Potatoes, which are available
in thousands of varieties, have been a staple in the Andes since pre-Columbian
times, centuries prior to the food's introduction into Europe. Other important
crops there include barley, wheat, fava beans, and, around Lake Titicaca, corn
(maize). Among the enormous variety of crops produced in the Yungas are coffee,
cacao, citrus fruits, bananas, avocados, pineapples, mangoes, papayas, melons,
chili peppers, sweet potatoes (yams), and cassava (yuca). The manufacturing
sector has grown since the 1950s but remains small.
Bolivia was declared independent in 1825 and adopted its first constitution in
1826. A heavily revised version of the 1967 constitution was promulgated in
1994. According to that document, executive power is vested in a president who
is directly elected by popular vote for a five-year term. If no candidate
receives an absolute majority of votes, the National Congress must select the
president from among the two leading contenders. Neither the president nor the
vice president can be immediately reelected. The bicameral legislature consists
of a Chamber of Senators and a Chamber of Deputies; members of the legislature
are directly elected for five-year terms. The judicial system is headed by a
12-member Supreme Court and a 5-member Constitutional Tribunal, which decides
the constitutionality of laws and resolves conflicts between the branches and
levels of government. Members of both judicial bodies are appointed by Congress
to 10-year terms.
The country is divided into nine departments, each of which is headed by a
prefect appointed by the president. Departments are subdivided into provincials
administered by sub prefects, and these provinces are subdivided into cantons
administered by corregidores. Since the enactment of the Popular Participation
Law in 1994, the country has also been divided into 325 municipalities, which
manage 20 percent of the public sector budget; thus, many communities that had
been neglected by the central and provincial governments were able to initiate
much-needed public works projects.
Women have voted in Bolivian elections since 1938, but literacy and property
requirements nevertheless restricted electoral participation to a tiny
proportion of the population until the National Revolution of 1952, when
universal suffrage was introduced. At the end of the 20th century inflation had
been brought under control, the economy was growing faster than the regional
average, and the Bolivian peso, renamed the boliviano, was stabilized. Moreover,
the threat of military coups has diminished, and Bolivia's government has gained
recognition as one of the more stable political systems in South America.
There are many Islamic organizations spread throughout the country, including
Centro Islámico Boliviano in Santa Cruz, Centro Islámico Boliviano in Sucre,
Centro Islámico Boliviano in Cochabamba, and Musulmana Casilla in Sucre. The
Centro Islámico Boliviano (Bolivian Islamic Center) was created in August 1986
by Imam Mahmud Amer Abusharar, who arrived from the Palestinian territories in
1974. In 1992 a commission for the construction of the first mosque in Bolivia
was satisfied, which was completed in September 1994 in the city of Santa Cruz.
Presently the CIB doesn't have branches in Sucre, Cochabamba or La Paz, with any
indigenous Bolivians accepting Islam. In 2006 has been inaugurated the first
Mosque As-salam in La Paz city although the members of the Asociacion Islamica
de Bolivia where the majority of muslims are Bolivians reverted to Islam along
with arab muslim from different countries and others gathered together for
practicing Islam during many years.
A Muslim preacher writes”In addition to these two cities, we also visited other
cities of Bolivia and had many stops along the way. We met Muslims who were
originally from India, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Palestine. And at
every stop, we encountered non-Muslim people hungry for Islam. May Allah (SWT)
reward the efforts of the Bolivian Muslims and grant their dua' for a permanent
Masjid. Alhamdullilah, a brother in England heard about the project and
purchased the Masjid. The 3-story building he purchased for the Masjid included
a large prayer hall for the men and women, a kitchen, a children's classroom,
and an apartment for the Imam. Seven days after it was purchased, this brother
passed away. “
