Bolivia. Information.
BOLIVIA, officially the Republic of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America.. Area - 1,098,581 km?. Population - 12,186,079 (2022) Capital - La Paz It is bordered by Brazil on the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina on the south, and Chile and Peru on the west. During most of the Spanish colonial period, this territory was called "Upper Peru" or "Charcas" and was under the authority of the Viceroy of Lima. Local government came from the Audiencia de Charcas located in Chuquisaca (La Plata — modern Sucre). Bolivian silver mines produced much of the Spanish empire's wealth. A steady stream of enslaved natives served as labor force. As Spanish royal authority weakened during the Napoleonic wars, sentiment against colonial rule grew. Independence was proclaimed in 1809, but sixteen years of struggle followed before the establishment of the republic, named for Simon Bolivar, on August 6, 1825 In 1836, Bolivia, under the rule of Marshal Andres de Santa Cruz, invaded Peru to reinstall the deposed president, General Luis Orbegoso. Peru and Bolivia formed the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, with de Santa Cruz as the Supreme Protector. Following tensions between the Confederation and Chile, war was declared by Chile on December 28, 1836. Argentina, Chile's ally, declared war on the Confederation on May 9, 1837. The Peruvian-Bolivian forces achieved several major victories; the defeat of the Argentinian expedition, and the defeat of the first Chilean expedition, on the fields of Paucarpata, near the city of Arequipa. On the same field the Paucarpata Treaty was signed with the unconditional surrender of the Chilean and Peruvian rebel army. The treaty assured the Chilean withdrawal from Peru-Bolivia, the return of captured Confederate ships, normalized economic relations, and the payment of Peruvian debt to Chile by the Confederation. Public outrage over the treaty forced the government to reject it. The Chileans organized a second expeditionary force, and attacked the Peru-Bolivian confederation, defeating the Confederation on the fields of Yungay using the same arms and equipment Santa Cruz had allowed them to retain. After this defeat, Santa Cruz fled Ecuador, and the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation was dissolved. Currency - Boliviano (BOB)
