The many different regions of Bolivia are home to many common, as well as exotic species of wildlife. There’s the Altiplano, also known as the Andean Highlands, which is a high, arid plain with sparse vegetation and a climate ranging from cool to dry. The Altiplano is home to the wild llama and alpaca, which are Bolivia’s most sacred animals, used in worship services and other ceremonies, as well as several varieties of deer. The Chaco region, which is a lowland plain east of the Andean Mountain Range, has mild winters and warm, dry summers. Here Cattle and sheep graze heartily on the vegetation, and corn and wheat are grown in abundance. The third region is the Yungas, or the Amazon Basin, located northeast of the Chaco region. The Yunga is a tropical region, with many thick rainforests and heavy rainfall, and is home to the South American jaguar and tiger, whose legends have spread across the entire world.

The economic situation of Bolivia is a fairly poor one, as the Nation’s political problems in the past and present have hindered economic growth and development. The employment rate is fairly stable, with 52.3 percent of Bolivian people being agricultural workers, 15 percent in the construction and industry category, and 31.7 percent falling into the banking and services category.

The country imports many of its necessary items, including different clothing, food, machinery, household items, and auto parts and equipment, and exports their natural resources that they have been able to develop and mine. Some of their exports include antimony, coffee, gold, natural gases, sugar, silver, tin, and small amounts of tungsten. Bolivia has a wide variety of trading partners, the closest of these being Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, and also several overseas partners, including the United States, Great Brittan, and Japan.

Beni, the second largest department, is located in the Amazon Basin northeast of the Andean Mountains, and has hot, humid weather conditions throughout the year. The Beni departmental capital is the city of Trinidad, with a population of 80,000 and an elevation of 235m above sea level. Trinidad is located only 14 degrees south of the equator, which explains the immense heat felt in the region. Leafcutter ants abound and are a real problem in Beni, destroying entire crops and villages on their relentless marches across the land.

La Paz, the third largest department in Bolivia, lies in between the southern Altiplano and the Spanish Cordillera mountains, and is the coldest department in Bolivia. Its capital city, La Paz, lies high in the mountains at 3660m above sea level, and is known for its magnificent beauty. Another interesting fact about La Paz is that it is home to the world’s most dangerous road (WMDR), descending from the high Andes to the plains region, only 3.5 meters wide!

Fourth on the list is the department of Potosi, located in the Southern Altiplano, and the major centre of the tin and silver mining industry of Bolivia. It’s capital. The ancient city of Potosi is the highest city in the entire world, with an elevation of 4090m above sea level and a population of 120,000 people. At one time it was the largest and wealthiest city in all Latin America, and it cost many lives in the great mountain Potosi, the ´´mountain that eats men´´ to become so. An estimated eight million people died in the mountain mine of Potosi in the years between 1545-1825 alone, and many more have died since then in the years afterwards. Potosi now only mines silver in small quantities, as the demand on the market today is tin.

Fifth on our list of departments is Oruro, also located in the Southern Altiplano, bordered on the west by the country of Chile. Oruro is rich in mineral deposits, contributing to the economic value in great amounts, and was the department in which Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were caught and killed. With and elevation of 3702m above sea level, The capital city , Oruro, ranks third highest city in Bolivia.

Cochabamba, with a population of 600,000, is thought of by the locals as having the world’s most comfortable climate, with warm, dry summers and cool winters. The capital city, Cochabamba, lies in a fertile green bowl, 25 kilometers long by 10 kilometers wide, set in a landscape of low hills and fields. The rich soil of the valley is good for growing just about any crop, among the most prominent ones grown being corn, wheat, and alfalfa, as well as many citrus fruits. The production of the city was the primary source of food for the miners of the Potosi during the big silver industry, and for that it has been called the ´´breadbasket of Bolivia´´.

Pando, located on the northwest tip of Bolivia, is a remote and sparsely populated rainforest region, where the extraction of rubber and collecting of Brazil nuts are the main economic activities. Accessible only by riverboat until a few years ago, Cobija is the smallest departmental capital in all Bolivia. With a population of 15,000, Cobija was founded as a rubber collection centre in the twentieth century by Spanish settlers. Cobija receives the highest amount of rainfall in Bolivia, and as it is isolated, everything is more expensive. Strange to mention it has two international airports, but the flights are very unpredictable.

The department of Chuquisaca, nestled between the departments of Potosí, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, and Tarija, is a part of the Chaco and South Central regions of Bolivia, with Sucre being its capital city., The city of Sucre has a population of 225,000, and lies at an elevation of 2790m, and is known as the nations ´´most beautiful landscape´´. Sucre has some of the finest Spanish architecture, and a spring-like climate all year round. Sucre is supposedly the capital of Bolivia, but the city of La Paz has stolen much of its influential power over the government. The issue is widely disputed, and both cities claim the title of capital, but neither department can decide which is the true capital, and disputes still go on today.

The people of Bolivia are generally friendly, and among the different ethnic groups you’ll find the Quetchuas, also known as chollas (kolla), the most prominent ethnic group in Bolivia, which we will look at first. The characteristic dress of the Quetchuas women, consisting of a short pollera (skirt), made of several horizontal bands tucked under each other, a factory made blouse, woolen chompa (sweater), short, vest like apron, and a woolen guayo (shawl) thrown over their shoulders, was actually imposed on them by the Spanish lords. The ancestry of the Quetchuas originally came from the Incan tribe, but the Aymaras came in and conquered them, claiming most of their land and leadership over their empire.

The next group of people living in Bolivia that we will take a brief look at will be the Aymara Indigenous group, which seceded the Tiwanaktu Empire, migrating from the highlands into the eastern regions of Bolivia. The Aymara dress is very similar to that of the Quetchuas in that they wear the traditional pollera and chompa, but added to these main articles is a black top hat, seeming more at home on the head of a London businessman rather than an Aymara campesino.

Next we will briefly discuss the typical foods of Bolivia, which vary greatly from the dishes of the United States. First, we have the snacks, which consist of empanadas, a cheese-filled turnover, fried in oil or baked in the oven, and salteñas, another pastry-like shell stuffed with potatoes, meat, olives and other ´´unexpected’ goodies. Next we have the soups, or ´´sopas´´, wich come before the Segundo and is the start of every good bolivian meal. The most common of the soups is the ´´sopa de maní, or peanut soup, consisting of a thick broth made of ground peanuts, with a chunk of chicken or bone with meat scraps thrown in. Another common soup is the ´´locro´´, or chicken soup, thickened with different spices and pieces of bone with tough, but edible chicken attached. After the soup, the Bolivians almost always order a Segundo, or ´´second round´´, normally consisting of fried chicken with potatoes or chuño, another potato like root . Sometimes, however, they have specialties such as asado al horno, kheperi, and parillada, wihc in English are roast beef, oven baked ribs, and steak, all cooked on open wood fires and well marinated and seasoned. In the big cities, you can easily find commercial restaurants that serve modern foods, but in the campo, you’d better be prepared for a surprise!