BOLIVIA—PROPERTY RIGHTS AND RESOURCE GOVERNANCE PROFILE

The Andes Mountains run the length of the country, with the mountainous terrain descending into jungles, barren plateaus, and lowlands. Half of Bolivia's 1 million square kilometers of land is covered in forest, one third is semiarid or arid, and only 7% of the land can be productively used for agriculture. This limited agricultural land is concentrated in the hands of a small elite, with 10% of agricultural landholders controlling 90% of the land. The country has the highest income-inequality and lowest social mobility in South America. Sixty-three percent of the population is poor, and 40% live in extreme poverty. Poverty is mostly rural, with 83% of the rural population living below the national poverty line. Almost 90% of the rural poor are indigenous, and those born into poor families in Bolivia are likely to remain poor. Land-reform efforts in the 1990s were plagued by poor implementation, lack of resources, corruption, and failure of political will, leading to widespread social unrest. The Morales administration launched its land-reform program in May 2006 to address the unequal distribution of land and insecurity of land tenure. While women are legally able to own land in Bolivia, in reality, there is little gender equality in land ownership. Women rarely inherit land, and their land rights tend to be less secure than men's. Indigenous women's rights are especially vulnerable due to lack of identity documents and unregistered relationships. Bolivia is highly biodiverse, but land-tenure insecurity and uncertain rights to forests and forest products have discouraged land investment and development of sustainable practices to manage the country's natural resources. The country suffers from deforestation, water and soil pollution, erosion, and desertification, as well as institutional weaknesses that prevent the development and enforcement of principles of environmental stewardship. Bolivia is also rich in mineral resources, but these resources have often been plagued by conflict and pollution, causing significant environmental damage to the land and natural resources in mining areas. The country's population growth rate is 1.7% per annum, with a rural population of 34.4% of the total population. The population density is 8.9 people per square kilometer, and the literacy rate is 90.7% for adults aged 15 and above. The country has a total surface land area of 1,098,580 square kilometers, with 66% of the population living in urban areas. An estimated 65% of Bolivians live below the national poverty line, and almost 40% live in extreme poverty. Bolivia's agricultural sector is characterized by limited arable land, with only 2.8% of the land area suitable for agriculture. The country has a crop production index of 120.1 (1999-2001 = 100) and a livestock production index of 109.2 (1999-2001 = 100). The country's GDP is $16.674 billion (current US$), with a GDP growth rate of 6.1% per annum. The agricultural sector accounts for 13.6% of GDP, while the manufacturing sector accounts for 15.6% of GDP. The country's mining sector is significant, with ores and metals exports accounting for 26.2% of merchandise exports in 2007.