Bolivia

South AmericaCapital city: La PazCapital metro: SucreMost important metro: La PazPresident: Rodrigo Paz
2026 population
11.4M
Rank #86 globally
Area
1.1M km² (424k sq mi)
Metros tracked
9
74% of population in metros
Composite score
16.5
Rank #76 globally

population: 2024 census (23 Mar 2024) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 9 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography9 metros

Bolivia metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
9 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 9 tracked metros
9 metros
#326La Paz▲ Largest
La Paz · 2.9M · Established Metro
8.1
Cochabamba · 1.6M · Emerging Metro
2.9
Santa Cruz · 2.3M · Emerging Metro
2.5
#1217Potosi
Potosí · 265K · Emerging Metro
1.2
#1694Oruro
Oruro · 349K · Local Metro
0.6
#2088Sucre★ Capital
Chuquisaca · 352K · Local Metro
0.4
#2157Tarija
Tarija · 268K · Local Metro
0.3
#2206Montero
Santa Cruz · 221K · Local Metro
0.3
Tarija · 173K · Local Metro
0.1
🗂️ Departments

9 entries listed under Bolivia. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

9 total
📋 At a glance
Official languages
Spanish, Aymara, Quechua, Guarani
Government
Republic
Legislature
Plurinational Legislative Assembly
Demonym
Bolivian
Time zone
UTC−04:00
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+591
Internet TLD
.bo
ISO 3166
BO
Established
1825
Highest point
Nevado Sajama (6,542 m (21,463 ft))
National anthem
National Anthem of Bolivia

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Bolivia

Spanish first; 3 languages share the country; 3 official.

LanguageShareStatus
Spanish61%Official
Quechua32%Official
Central Aymara20%Official
Paraguayan Guaraní0.5%None
Araona0%None

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

Effective languages
1.9
Official-language gap
39%
Spanish is spoken by 61%

Bolivia on the languages board · Language power

💹 Economy and developmentLower middle income
Human Dev. Index
#107 / 191
0.733
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#87 / 193
$64.8B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#117 / 193
$5.1k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#117 / 190
$12.9k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#122 / 192
$4.4k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#141 / 194
68.7 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
24.7 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#67 / 194
72%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
1.3%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#179 / 193
11/km² (29/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#141 / 193
1.5%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#129 / 175
0.28
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#129 / 166
40.9
World Bank · 2024
Internet users
#100 / 193
80%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#173 / 185
19.5%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
#87 / 192
2.3 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#89 / 186
36%
Ember · 2025

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations4 full memberships

Political & Economic

Regional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History23 leaders · click to expand

is an editorial flag: associated with atrocities against civilians, systemic subversion of the constitutional order, or a criminal conviction (political persecutions and annulled convictions excluded). It is a curated list, not a measurement, so a name without one has not been cleared of anything. Hover a badge for the reason on file.

Post-MAS Era

Rodrigo Paz✦ Current
President · Christian Democratic Party (PDC) · 2025–present
2025–Present

MAS Era

Luis Arce
President · Movement for Socialism (MAS) · 2020–2025
2020–2025
Evo Morales
President · Movement for Socialism (MAS) · 2006–2019 (resigned amid crisis)
2006–2019

Interim / Transition

Jeanine Áñez
President · Democrat Social Movement · 2019–2020 (interim)
2019–2020

Democratic Era

Carlos Mesa
President · Independent · 2003–2005 (resigned)
2003–2005
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada
President · Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) · 2002–2003 (resigned, Gas War)
2002–2003
Jorge Quiroga
President · Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN) · 2001–2002 (completed Banzer term)
2001–2002
Hugo Banzer
President · Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN) · 1997–2001 (elected; resigned, ill)
1997–2001
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada
President · Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) · 1993–1997
1993–1997
Jaime Paz Zamora
President · Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) · 1989–1993
1989–1993
Víctor Paz Estenssoro
President · Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) · 1985–1989
1985–1989

Return to Democracy

Hernán Siles Zuazo
President · Democratic and Popular Unity (UDP) · 1982–1985 (return to democracy)
1982–1985

Military Dictatorships

Hugo Banzer
President / De facto dictator · Military / Nationalist Democratic Action (later) · 1971–1978 (military dictatorship)
1971–1978

National Revolution

Víctor Paz Estenssoro
President · Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) · 1952–1956 (National Revolution)
1952–1956

Republic of Bolivia

Gualberto Villarroel
President · backbone · 9y 3m 14d
1943–1952
Germán Busch
President · backbone · 6y 0d
1937–1943
Bautista Saavedra
President · backbone · 16y 0d
1921–1937
Ismael Montes
President · backbone · 17y 0d
1904–1921
Narciso Campero
President · backbone · 24y 0d
1880–1904
Mariano Melgarejo
President · backbone · 16y 0d
1864–1880
Manuel Isidoro Belzu
President · backbone · 16y 0d
1848–1864
Andrés de Santa Cruz
President · backbone · 19y 0d
1829–1848
Antonio José de Sucre
President · backbone · 4y 0d
1825–1829
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#77 · 0.1%
3%5%8%10%190019502000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

⚔️ Wars and conflicts6 interstate wars · click to expand
Chaco War●1932–1935
Combat deaths: 92,661+
Acre War1899–1903
Brazil,Republic of Acre
Combat deaths: —
Combat deaths: 13,868+
Combat deaths: 1,000+
Combat deaths: —

Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.” Figures marked “COW battle deaths” are Correlates of War battle-death counts, which run lower than total deaths.

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
12.2m
#79 in the world
Since 1800
14×
from 887k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.15%
0.09% in 1800
3.2m6.4m9.6m12.7m18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Bolivia: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
2086
17.9m on the UN median
2050
16.1m
95% band 14.1m to 19.0m
2100
17.8m
95% band 10.5m to 33.3m
2100 against 2025
1.41×
median falling from 2087
Deaths outnumber births
from 2089
on the UN medium path; migration decides the rest
8.7m17.5m26.2m34.9m1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
133k born · 80k died · -7k net migration
TFR 6.19 · life expectancy 40.7 · median age 19.6
1960
163k born · 84k died · -3k net migration
TFR 6.27 · life expectancy 43.3 · median age 18.6
1970
196k born · 88k died · -5k net migration
TFR 6.00 · life expectancy 47.1 · median age 18.4
1980
229k born · 88k died · -12k net migration
TFR 5.47 · life expectancy 51.8 · median age 18.3
1990
257k born · 86k died · -22k net migration
TFR 4.90 · life expectancy 56.8 · median age 18.6
2000
257k born · 84k died · -27k net migration
TFR 3.99 · life expectancy 62.1 · median age 19.9
2010
261k born · 82k died · -13k net migration
TFR 3.21 · life expectancy 66.0 · median age 21.5
2020
260k born · 128k died · -5k net migration
TFR 2.65 · life expectancy 62.9 · median age 24.0

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Bolivia on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.

National Teams Champions

Every major championship won by Bolivia's national teams, newest first. 1 in total.