Population:
10,969,649 (July 2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 82
[see also: Population country ranks ]

Nationality:
noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian

Ethnic groups:
mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 68%, indigenous 20%, white 5%, cholo/chola 2%, black 1%, other 1%, unspecified 3% ; 44% of respondents indicated feeling part of some indigenous group, predominantly Quechua or Aymara
note: results among surveys vary based on the wording of the ethnicity question and the available response choices; the 2001 national census did not provide "mestizo" as a response choice, resulting in a much higher proportion of respondents identifying themselves as belonging to one of the available indigenous ethnicity choices; the use of "mestizo" and "cholo" varies among response choices in surveys, with surveys using the terms interchanageably, providing one or the other as a response choice, or providing the two as separate response choices (2009 est.)

Languages:
Spanish (official) 60.7%, Quechua (official) 21.2%, Aymara (official) 14.6%, foreign languages 2.4%, Guarani (official) 0.6%, other native languages 0.4%, none 0.1%
note: Bolivia's 2009 constitution designates Spanish and all indigenous languages as official; 36 indigenous languages are specified, including some that are extinct (2001 est.)

Religions:
Roman Catholic 76.8%, Evangelical and Pentecostal 8.1%, Protestant 7.9%, other 1.7%, none 5.5% (2012 est.)

Demographic profile:
Bolivia ranks at or near the bottom among Latin American countries in several areas of health and development, including poverty, education, fertility, malnutrition, mortality, and life expectancy. On the positive side, more children are being vaccinated and more pregnant women are getting prenatal care and having skilled health practitioners attend their births. Bolivia's income inequality is the highest in Latin America and one of the highest in the world. Public education is of poor quality, and educational opportunities are among the most unevenly distributed in Latin America, with girls and indigenous and rural children less likely to be literate or to complete primary school. The lack of access to education and family planning services helps to sustain Bolivia's high fertility rate - approximately three children per woman. Bolivia's lack of clean water and basic sanitation, especially in rural areas, contributes to health problems. Almost 7% of Bolivia's population lives abroad, primarily to work in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and the United States. In recent years, more restrictive immigration policies in Europe and the United States have increased the flow of Bolivian emigrants to neighboring Argentina and Brazil.

Age structure:
0-14 years: 32.36% (male 1,808,567/female 1,740,760)
[see also: Age structure 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 19.55% (male 1,086,134/female 1,058,584)
[see also: Age structure 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 37.08% (male 1,986,514/female 2,081,415)
[see also: Age structure 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 5.83% (male 296,197/female 343,394)
[see also: Age structure 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 5.18% (male 250,749/female 317,335) (2016 est.)
[see also: Age structure 65 years and over country ranks ]
population pyramid:
A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends.

For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.

Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio: 63.7%
[see also: Dependency ratios - total dependency ratio country ranks ]
youth dependency ratio: 53.1%
[see also: Dependency ratios - youth dependency ratio country ranks ]
elderly dependency ratio: 10.6%
[see also: Dependency ratios - elderly dependency ratio country ranks ]
potential support ratio: 9.4% (2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - potential support ratio country ranks ]

Median age:
total: 24 years
[see also: Median age - total country ranks ]
male: 23.3 years
[see also: Median age - male country ranks ]
female: 24.7 years (2016 est.)
[see also: Median age - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 162

Population growth rate:
1.54% (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 76
[see also: Population growth rate country ranks ]

Birth rate:
22.4 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 73
[see also: Birth rate country ranks ]

Death rate:
6.5 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 147
[see also: Death rate country ranks ]

Net migration rate:
-0.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 132
[see also: Net migration rate country ranks ]

Population distribution:
a high altitude plain in the west between two cordillera of the Andes, known as the Altiplano, is the focal area for most of the population; a dense settlement pattern is also found in and around the city of Santa Cruz, located on the eastern side of the Andes

Urbanization:
urban population: 68.5% of total population (2015)
[see also: Urbanization - urban population country ranks ]
rate of urbanization: 2.26% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
[see also: Urbanization - rate of urbanization country ranks ]

Major urban areas - population:
Santa Cruz 2.107 million; LA PAZ (capital) 1.816 million; Cochabamba 1.24 million; Sucre (constitutional capital) 372,000 (2015)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - at birth country ranks ]
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 0.86 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - 65 years and over country ranks ]
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth:
21.2
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2008 est.)
[see also: Mother's mean age at first birth country ranks ]

Maternal mortality rate:
206 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 58
[see also: Maternal mortality rate country ranks ]

Infant mortality rate:
total: 36.4 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - total country ranks ]
male: 39.9 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - male country ranks ]
female: 32.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)
[see also: Infant mortality rate - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 55

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.2 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - total country ranks ]
male: 66.4 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - male country ranks ]
female: 72.1 years (2016 est.)
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 162

Total fertility rate:
2.68 children born/woman (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 69
[see also: Total fertility rate country ranks ]

Contraceptive prevalence rate:
60.5% (2008)
[see also: Contraceptive prevalence rate country ranks ]

Health expenditures:
6.3% of GDP (2014)
country comparison to the world: 122
[see also: Health expenditures country ranks ]

Physicians density:
0.47 physicians/1,000 population (2011)
[see also: Physicians density country ranks ]

Hospital bed density:
1.1 beds/1,000 population (2012)
[see also: Hospital bed density country ranks ]

Drinking water source:
improved: urban: 96.7% of population rural: 75.6% of population total: 90% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - Improved - total country ranks ]
unimproved: urban: 3.3% of population rural: 24.4% of population total: 10% of population (2015 est.)
[see also: Drinking water source - Unimproved - total country ranks ]

Sanitation facility access:
improved: urban: 60.8% of population rural: 27.5% of population total: 50.3% of population
[see also: Sanitation facility access - Total Improved country ranks ]
unimproved: urban: 39.2% of population rural: 72.5% of population total: 49.7% of population (2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - Total UnImproved country ranks ]

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.29% (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 83
[see also: HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
18,200 (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 80
[see also: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS country ranks ]

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
800 (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 77
[see also: HIV/AIDS - deaths country ranks ]

Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and yellow fever
note: active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country (as of August 2016); it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex, via blood transfusion, or during pregnancy, in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus (2016)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
15.8% (2014)
country comparison to the world: 109
[see also: Obesity - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]

Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
4.5% (2008)
country comparison to the world: 95
[see also: Children under the age of 5 years underweight country ranks ]

Education expenditures:
7.3% of GDP (2014)
country comparison to the world: 24
[see also: Education expenditures - percent of GDP country ranks ]

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 95.7%
[see also: Literacy - total country ranks ]
male: 97.8%
[see also: Literacy - male country ranks ]
female: 93.6% (2015 est.)
[see also: Literacy - female country ranks ]

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 14 years
[see also: School life expectancy - total country ranks ]
male: 14 years
[see also: School life expectancy - male country ranks ]
female: 14 years (2007)
[see also: School life expectancy - female country ranks ]

Child labor - children ages 5-14:
total number: 757,352
[see also: Child labor - children ages 5-14 - total number country ranks ]
percentage: 26.4%
[see also: Child labor - children ages 5-14 - percentage country ranks ]
note: data represent children ages 5-17 (2008 est.)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
total: 6.2%
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - total country ranks ]
male: 5.1%
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - male country ranks ]
female: 7.8% (2011 est.)
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 122