Bolivia

A) Ethnic composition:

From The New York Times:

Evo Morales the President of Bolivia is an Indian, the first to be elected president. He rewrote

the consitution to give more power to the Northern areas of Bolivia, and thus to the natives which

caused a lot of racial tension in the country. The persecution of the native people was a good part of the

reason for why Morales a populous socialist leader was elected President.

From The State Department Backnotes:

55% indigenous

15% European

30% mixed or mestizo

Quechua (29% or 2.5 million)

Aymara (24% or 2 million)

Chiquitano (1% or 180,000)

Guarani (1% or 125,000)

B) Age demography:

Bolivia's population broken down by age is, according to the CIA World Factbook as follows:

0-14 years: 35.5%

15-64: 60%

65+: 4.5%
C) Class structure:

Class structure is imposed in many ways. Rural/Urban, race etc... All play roles in whether

people have advantages or not. The Native people are generally the poorest and most descriminated

against and it improves grdually as you get closer to full European decendants. [NYT]

Per capita GDP: $4,500 (2008 est.)

lowest 10% get 0.5% of recources

highest 10% get 44.1% of recourses

60% of population is below the poverty line

D) Gender Roles in Society:

While womens role in society is improving they are still at a great disadvantage. They have a

lower literacy rate than men, and they are often quite dependent on their husbands for economic

stability. It is a very sexist culture and women are expected to know their place in the society. In recent

years though, women have become more active in politics and the economy. [UNICEF]

E) Religious Beliefs:

78% of the country is Roman Catholic and 16% are Protestants. While most of the population

was converted to Christianity a lot of local customs and religious beliefs were integrated into the

Christian religion, which was part of the reason that they were able to convert the Native peoples.

Religion, much like family, provides comfort during stressful times as something you can hold

onto. There is a big emphisis on religion in the Bolivian culture, children are baptized and praying is an

important seen as important to do if you need good fortune or a blessing for something. [Turner]

F) Educational oppurtunies:

Education in Bolivia is not suprisingly, quite poor. While school is mandatory from ages 7-14

most children do not attend more than one year of primary school. The average Bolivian adult has had

5.6 years of school and while literacy rates are relativly high at 93% for men and 87% for women the
literacy tests can be deceptive. According to the State Department, while the government releases

impressive statistics on Bolivian education they are often misleading and not entirely acurate.

“Approximately 90% of the children attend primary school but often for a year or less. The literacy rate

is low in many rural areas. Under President Morales, a number of areas have been declared “illiteracy

free” but the level of literacy is often quite basic, restricted to writing one’s name and recognizing

numbers.” - State Department Backnotes on Bolivia

While the education rates have risen in recent years the gap between urban/rural and rich/poor has

stayed a problem. Education up until age 11 or 12 is generally universally availible but past that age the

gap between rural and urban schooling opens up. According to the World Bank's 2006 report on

Bolivian education “...from ages 12 onwards, enrollment drops significantly and the gap grows larger.

At that age, students in urban areas, Spanish-speakers and from higher income families have a greater

chance o f being enrolled in school.”

Bolivia offers higher education in three different ways. University, Teacher Training Colleges and

Technical Traning Insitutions. They all receive public money and require entrance exams to get into.

The tuition does not exeed $3300 US dollars per year. (WHED)

G) What is the role of family in society?

Family is very important in Bolivian society. All ethnic groups place a high value on family

connections. The “average” family is made up of a husband, a wife and their unmarried children. This

group is also usually well integrated with extended family. While Bolivia as a country has seen great

turbulence throughout it's past, for example it has gone through over 200 political coups (CIA), the

family has endured like no other institution.

 For the native Indian population family connections have acted as an invaluable recource to

fend off economic struggle and persecution (Hudson/Hanratty). Godparents who were usually chosen

at baptism or marriage created a bond between the Godparent and the family that was as strong as a

blood relationship. This fact meant that Godparents could be used as a way to advance socially. If a

poor family asked someone who was a class above them to be the childs Godparent then the child

might have a better oppurtunity to rise up to the next economic/social class and/or receive a good

education. (Hudson/Hanratty).
Bibliography:

1)

The Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA World Factbook CIA, 3 Sep. 2009. Web. 17 Sep.
2009 <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bl.html>.

2)

United States of America State Department. Background Notes The United States State
Department, 7 July 2009. Web. 17 Sep. 2009 <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35751.htm>.

3)

"Bolivia at a Glance." The World Bank The World Bank, 24 Sep. 2008. Web. 17 Sep. 2009
<http://devdata.worldbank.org/AAG/bol_aag.pdf>.

4)

Hudson, Rex A., and Dennis M. Hanratty. "Family and Kin." Bolivia: A Country Study.
Washington, D.C: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1989. N. pag. Web. 17 Sep. 2009
<http://countrystudies.us/bolivia/>.

5)

Ethnicity, Education, and Earnings in Bolivia and Guatemala

• George Psacharopoulos
• Comparative Education Review, Vol. 37, No. 1, Special Issue on Ethnicity (Feb.,
1993), pp. 9-20
• Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Comparative and
International Education Society

6)

Cox, Pamela, Marcelo Guigale, Evangeline Javier, Daniel Cotlear et al.. Basic Education in
Bolivia: Challenges for 2006-2010. N.p.: The World Bank, 2006. Web. 18 Sep. 2009 <http://www-
wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2006/12/01/000011823_200612011
20157/Rendered/PDF/350730BO.pdf>

7)

"Bolivian Education System." World Higher Education Database. WHED, 2005. Web. 18 Sep.
2009 <http://74.125.155.132/search?
q=cache:rK2VPm77teYJ:www.unesco.org/iau/onlinedatabases/systems_data/bo.rtf+higher+education+
in+bolivia&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us>.

8)
 "Bolivia." Times Topics. New York: The New York Times, 2009. Web. 18 Sep. 2009

<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/bolivia/index.html?scp=1-

spot&sq=bolivia&st=cse>.