Boliviap3



Bolivia!

Chris Prange, Sam Connick, Nancy Villasenor, & Julian Lujan



History Bolivia is a very interesting country that has a long history with various wars and amazing facts. Bolivia is descendents from the great Incan  empire the first great Andean empire. The incans have had such a large influence on present day Bolivia that their languages are still spoken today. Although Bolivia has been around for thousands of years it has had numerous revolts and attempts at reformation which have crippled the government and to present day still has not revived. At one point in time the citizens gained control over the government and the country for fifty years at this time tin had rose in price and was found quite often, so tin became the prime resource of Bolivia and as they began to sell it and the price rose their economy began to get better. Another reason why their economy or government could never revive is because they’ve lost numerous amounts of land and other resources because of the wars  they’ve been in. For example, the wars they've been in is The War of the Pacific, Chaco War, Bolivia's Revolution, and of course Bolivia's war of independence and although they won some of these wars it still pays a toll on the countrys economy by supporting the army it takes alot of money. It seems as if that no matter how hard Bolivia tries it can’t find a way to please all of their citizens. Bolivia was under control by Spain during the 16th century to the early 19th century during Spain’s reign they forced the Indians to work mines to extract silver. (Potosí were the largest silver deposits in the western world). The only time Bolivia has had a stabile government is when the civilians took over and controlled it for fifty years. Bolivia was under control by spain for three hundred years until they fought for their independence and won. After winning the war of independence the economy of Bolivia was devastated and to get them back on track they elected presidents to try and help the country. But instead of helping they made little changes and one of those is they forced the indians to pay all of the taxes and that was the only income coming to the government. Which obviously did not help because the economy did not help at all. After the indians were forced to work the mines for the spanards they were forced to pay all of the taxes they have been treated un fair through out Bolivian history. __General Information:__

Bolivia is one of the most interesting countries in Latin America, although it is not heard of often. Bolivia's capital is Sucre (Country Reports) and has about 9,119,152 people who mainly speak Spanish or one of their Indian languages either Aymara or Quecha (Country Reports). All of which are official languages of Bolivia. In Bolivia, the age structure is very interesting. 34% are ages 0-14, 61% are 15- 64 and only 5% are 65 and older (Country Reports). The life expectancy in Bolivia however is very low at only 66 years of age which is not much compared to almost 80 in the United States. The religion in Bolivia is very one sided with about 95% Roman Catholic and 5% Protestant with very similar holidays to the United States. One famous holiday is one in which they pray to the Virgin of Candelaria who from my perspective seems to be similar to our virgin Mary and hope for miracles after their prayers (Country Reports). The Bolivian flag was made on the fourteenth of July, 1888 and has three horizontal bands. The red Signifies the blood of national heroes, sacrifice, and love. The yellow stands for mineral resources and Incans, and the Green is for external hope, evolution, and prayers (Country Reports). Along with interesting people and places, Bolivia has a very interesting landscape including the famous Lake Titicaca. The land mass of this country is around 1098580 Km. With a population density of about 8%. Most of the population lives on a plateau to the west called the Altiplano (Info Please). The government is republic which means that It's basically the same as our government in which there is a president and they vote for what they think is best for the country. The conventional long form of the name is Republic of Bolivia which means the short form is Just Bolivia. Bolivia, unfortunately is one of the least developed and poorest countries in Latin America because of a certain crisis that happened to the economy in which the currency crashed (CIA World Factbook). there main Agriculture is: Soybeans, Coffe, Coca, Cotton, Corn Rice, Sugarcane, Potatoes, and Timber (CIA World Factbook). Some main industries that they have are: Smelting, Mining, Food and Beverage, Tobacco, Clothing, Handicrafts, and Petroleum (CIA World Factbook). Ufortunately, this country has a lot of illicit drus such as Cocaine. They are the third biggest supplier of cocaine in the world. Despite being one of the least developed countries in Latin America they still have a litle bit of technology. There are 3.3 million Mobile phones in use and 1million people use the internet (CIA World Factbook).  __Entertainment:__ Bolivia entertainment can be very interesting to learn about. They all have their own unique way of making everyday a bit more fun. Usually during Holidays they get together with friends and family and spend time together trying to have fun. Common festivals are like Christmas and New years. Usually the holidays they celebrate are the same as how we celebrate here. For example, special occasions such as weddings, birthday parties, or festivals.(Cultures of the world) Most of the time thier festivals celebrated there are to worship thier Gods. They are very religious people. One of them is called "Fiesta del Espiritu."(Cultures of the World) Another type of religious festival is "La fiesta de la Virgen de Candelaria." Which means The festival of the Virgen Candelaria. The virgen of Candelaria is so important to them because she is the Patron Saint of Canary Islands.(Festival of Virgen Candelaria) Lastly, another interesting type of festival is called "Oruro Festival" This takes place during lent time which starts in Febuary through March. During this celebration they have a big huge dance that everyone can see. The dance is called "La Diablada" which means the dance of the Devil.(Cultures of the World)

Bolivians not only find entertainment in throwing big parties but also in dance clubs, traditional sports, and Public Parks. Young, single people usually go out on weekend nights to dance clubs. To meet new people and have fun dancing with friends or whoever. One of the most popular sport in Bolivia is soccer. If you ever went to Bolivia, you would see kids and teenagers or even adults play soccer in parks and even in street corners.(Cultures of the World) Also another thing they consider as a fun entertaining sport is bull fighting. They dont actually have a bullfighter which in spanish is called "matador".(Culture grams) However they do have two bulls fighting, and thats how they find their entertainment. Another place where people find entertainment is at public parks. Public parks are considered a place of a social life. Children love going to parks. They have all types of different childrens games. A very popular one is called Trompos.(culture grams) Trompos are Spinning tops made of wood played by boys in the ages of 7 and 8. (cultures of the world) They find this very fun and entertaining. Once they spin the top they try to put they're hand under so the the wooded spinning top starts spinning on top of their hand. (Culture grams) Another different type of children game is playing with Marbles. Children collect glass, colorful marbles to play with them with other kids.(Culture of the Worlds) Another famous children game in Bolivia are Slingshots. These slingshots are made from forked tree branch and old elastic.(Culture of the worlds) They can be dangerous if you shoot it to someone but boys usually use them to practise scaring birds off crops.(Culture of the worlds) Other common games both girls and boys play are clapping games, and chase games.( Culture of the worlds) Not only do children have fun at public parks but the adults and well. Teenagers ususlly go to the park with boyfriend or girlfriend and cuddle together on the bench.(culture of the worlds) The women take their children to play and watch them while they knit and weave.(culture of the worlds) The men usually go with friends and play cards or dice. (culture of the worlds) Men not only entertain themselves at parks but they also have their very own Friday nights. Which is called "Viernes de soltero."

<span style="display: block; font-size: 18pt; color: #1379be; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: center;">__ Bolivian Foods: __ <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: #7f7f29; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">

Bolivia has some of the longest traditions when it comes to food. It has been prepared and eaten the same way for hundreds of years(country reports.org). And since Bolivia is located in South America, people have the notion of thinking that the cuisine would be very exotic and flavorful, right? Wrong nothing could be further from the truth. Bolivian dishes are nothing like Mexican dishes, Bolivian dishes are typically rather bland with a lot of flavorless staples such as the potato or corn meal (country reports.org). Bolivians are not “sweet freaks,” they much prefer a salty regular meal over something very flavorful and exotic. But they can always just add a dash of llajwa sauce (llajwa.com). Bolivians do follow the traditional custom in South America of lunch being the main meal of the day typically eaten from 12-3. Due to lunch being such a substantial meal, a small portioned breakfast and dinner are eaten early in the morning and later at night. In Bolivia, Children in school, and even adults with full time jobs are given an extra hour in the middle of the day to go home and eat lunch with their families(country reports.org). Or if a bolivian gets hungry during the day, then they can just eat a delicious traditional bolivian snack.

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