The demographic characteristics of the population of Bolivia are known from censuses, with the first census undertaken in 1826 and the most recent in 2024. The National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia (INE) has performed this task since 1950. The population of Bolivia in 2024 reached 11 million for the first time in history. The population density is 11.36 inhabitants per square kilometer, and the overall life expectancy in Bolivia at birth is 68.2 years. The population has steadily risen from the late 1800s to the present time. The natural growth rate of the population is positive, which has been a continuing trend since the 1950s; in 2012, Bolivia's birth rate continued to be higher than the death rate. Bolivia is in the third stage of demographic transition. In terms of age structure, the population is dominated by the 15–64 segment. The median age of the population is 23.1, and the gender ratio of the total population is 0.99 males per female.
Bolivia is inhabited mostly by Mestizo, Quechua and Aymara, while minorities include 37 indigenous groups (0.3% average per group). Spanish, Quechua, Aymara, Guarani languages, as well as 34 other native languages are the official languages of Bolivia. Spanish is the most-spoken language (60.7%) within the population. The main religions of Bolivia are the Catholic Church (81.8%), Evangelicalism (11.5%), and Protestantism (2.6%). There is a literacy rate of 91.2%. An estimated 7.6% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) is spent on education. The average monthly household income was Bs.1,378 ($293) in 1994. In December 2013 the unemployment rate was 3.2% of the working population. The average urbanization rate in Bolivia is 67%.
Population size and structure
The first true estimate of the population of Bolivia came in 1826, in which 997,427 inhabitants were estimated. This number was calculated from the 1796 census organized by Francisco Gil de Taboada, which consisted of several Bolivian cities.[3] The first modern census was completed in 1831, and ten have been completed since then. The organizer of Bolivia's censuses has changed throughout the years—Andrés de Santa Cruz (1831), The Bolivian Statistical Office (1835, 1854, 1882), The Bolivian Statistical Commission (1845), The National Immigration Bureau and The Statistics and Geographic Propaganda (1900), and The Department of Statistics and Censuses (1950)—with the INE conducting the census since 1976.[3] The national census is supposed to be conducted every ten years, however, the 2012 census was late because of "climatic factors and the financing." The 2012 census was conducted on 21 November 2012, in which 10,027,254 inhabitants were in the country. The estimated cost of the census was $50million.[4][5]
With a population of 10.0million in 2012, Bolivia ranks 87th in the world by population.[6] Its population density is 9.13 inhabitants per square kilometer. The overall life expectancy in Bolivia is 65.4. The total fertility rate is 2.87 children per mother. Since 1950, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the birth rate exceeded the death rate of the country.[7] The population of Bolivia has been increasing since 1900, and has only had a negative per annum growth rate twice in its history (1835 and 1882). Bolivia is in the third stage of demographic transition. There were 562,461 immigrants in Bolivia in 2012, with the most (40.5%) coming from Argentina.[8] In 2008, there were 48,809 marriages in Bolivia, and 5,887 divorces throughout the country in 2011.[9][10]
According to a genetic study done on Bolivians, average values of Native American, European and African ancestry are 86%, 12.5%, and 1.5%, in individuals from La Paz and 76.8%, 21.4%, and 1.8% in individuals from Chuquisaca; respectively.[19]
Danza de los macheteros, typical dance from San Ignacio de Moxos, BoliviaAymara man, near Lake Titicaca, Bolivia
The vast majority of Bolivians are mestizo (with the indigenous component higher than the European one), although the government has not included the cultural self-identification "mestizo" in the November 2012 census.[20] There are approximately three dozen native groups totaling approximately half of the Bolivian population – the largest proportion of indigenous people in the Americas. Exact numbers vary based on the wording of the ethnicity question and the available response choices. For example, the 2001 census did not provide the racial category "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. Mestizos are distributed throughout the entire country and make up 26% of the Bolivian population, with the predominantly mestizo departments being Beni, Santa Cruz, and Tarija. Most people assume their mestizo identity while at the same time identifying themselves with one or more indigenous cultures. A 2018 estimate of racial classification put mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian) at 68%, indigenous at 20%, white at 5%, cholo at 2%, black at 1%, other at 4%, while 2% were unspecified; 44% attributed themselves to some indigenous group, predominantly the linguistic categories of Quechuas or Aymaras.[18]White Bolivians comprised about 14% of the population in 2006, and are usually concentrated in the largest cities: La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba, but as well in some minor cities like Tarija and Sucre. The ancestry of whites and the white ancestry of mestizos lies most notably Spain, Italy, Germany, and Croatia. In the Santa Cruz Department, there are several dozen colonies of German-speaking Mennonites from Russia totaling around 40,000 inhabitants (as of 2012[update]).[21]
There are small numbers of European citizens from Germany, France, Italy and Portugal, as well as from other countries of the Americas, as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, the United States, Paraguay, Peru, Mexico and Venezuela, among others. There are important Peruvian colonies in La Paz, El Alto and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
The Indigenous peoples of Bolivia can be divided into two categories of ethnic groups: the Andeans, who are located in the AndeanAltiplano and the valley region; and the lowland groups, who inhabit the warm regions of central and eastern Bolivia, including the valleys of Cochabamba Department, the Amazon Basin areas of northern La Paz Department, and the lowland departments of Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, and Tarija (including the Gran Chaco region in the southeast of the country). Large numbers of Andean peoples have also migrated to form Quechua, Aymara, and intercultural communities in the lowlands.
Andean ethnicities
Aymara people. They live on the high plateau of the departments of La Paz, Oruro and Potosí, as well as some small regions near the tropical flatlands.
Quechua people. They mostly inhabit the valleys in Cochabamba and Chuquisaca. They also inhabit some mountain regions in Potosí and Oruro. They divide themselves into different Quechua nations, as the Tarabucos, Ucumaris, Chalchas, Chaquies, Yralipes, Tirinas, among others.
The official languages of Bolivia are Spanish[27] (60.7%), Quechua[27] (21.2%), Aymara[27] (14.6), and Guaraní[27] (0.6%), plus another 33 native languages.[27] Originally only Spanish, Aymara, and Quechua were the official languages until the 2009 Constitution was passed.[28][29] According to the 2001 census, 60.7% of the population over six years old are able to speak Spanish and/or speaks it as a native language.
In a 2012 Gallup poll, 87% answered affirmatively when asked "Is religion important in your daily life?"[30] Christianity is the largest religion in Bolivia, with Roman Catholicism being the largest denomination.[31]
Díaz-Domínguez, Alejandro (2009). "Nota Metodológica: Midiendo Religión en Encuestas de Latinoamérica"[Methodological Note: Measuring Religion Polls in Latin America](PDF). Perspectivas desde el Barómetro de las Américas (PDF) (in Spanish) (29). Archived from the original(PDF) on 24 June 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
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