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Administrative divisions 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija
Capital city > Geographic coordinates	16 30 S, 68 09 W
Constitution 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994; possible referendum on new constitution to be held in 2008
Corruption	2.5		[120th of 160]
Diplomatic representation from the US > Mailing address P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032
Executive branch > Cabinet Cabinet appointed by the president
Executive branch > Chief of state President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
Flag description three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band; note: similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band
Government type	republic
Independence 6 August 1825 (from Spain)
Judicial branch Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges appointed for 10-year terms by National Congress); District Courts (one in each department); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases); Constitutional Tribunal (five primary or titulares and five alternate or suplente magistrates appointed by Congress; to rule on constitutional issues); National Electoral Court (six members elected by Congress, Supreme Court, the President, and the political party with the highest vote in the last election for 4-year terms)
Legal system based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; 70 members are directly elected from their districts and 60 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms)
Parliamentary seats > Female	12%		[45th of 143]
Political parties and leaders Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Franz BARRIOS]; Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Juan Evo MORALES Ayma]; Movement Without Fear or MSM [Juan DEL GRANADO]; National Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Mirta QUEVEDO]; National Unity [Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana]; Poder Democratico Nacional or PODEMOS [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]; Social Alliance [Rene JOAQUINO]
Status democracy
Suffrage 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single)
Time required to start a business > days	50 days		[47th of 171]
Trademarks, residents	670		[58th of 98]
Transnational Issues > Disputes > International Chile and Peru rebuff Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, but Chile offers instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian natural gas and other commodities; an accord placed the long-disputed Isla Suárez/Ilha de Guajará-Mirim, a fluvial island on the Río Mamoré, under Bolivian administration in 1958, but sovereignty remains in dispute

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