Bolivia

or UPPER PERU, (bo-liv'e-uh,) a republic ofS. America, bet. Lat. 9° 30′ and 25° 38′ S., Lon. 58° and 70 ° 40' W., having N. and E. Brazil, S. Paraguay and La Plata, and W. Peru, with only a short coast-line on the Pacific, at its S.W. extremity. Extreme length 1,100 m.; extreme width 800 m. It is divided into 9 depts.; area, 842,730 sq. m. All the centre of the country is covered with ramifications of the Andes, which here divide into two cordilleras, enclosing the Lake of Titicaca. The W. Cordillera forms the boundary on the side of Peru, bet. Lat. 16° and 22° S., and here are the highest peaks of the Andes after Aconcagua (the peak of Lahama, in Lat. 18° 7' S., being 22,350 feet above sea-level), and the volcanoes of Atacama (Sorato being not le than 25,250 feet), Tacora, . The region between the l'acific and the Andes is nearly all barren, and is called the Desert of Atacama. The valley of Titicaca is rather fertile, especially in the vicinity of the lake. The long valleys S. of the Sierra de la Cruz are the most populous and best cultivated parts of B., especially the valley of Cochabambo. The plains of Moxos and Chuquitos are covered with dense forests. The pp. rivers are the Beni, Mamore, and Rio Grande, tributaries of the Madeira; and the Pilcomayo and Paraguay, tributaries of La Plata. The S.E. half of the great lake Titicaca is in B. Among the vegetable products are cocoa of the finest quality, cotton, indigo, rice, barley, oats, potatoes, maize, sugar-cane; cascarilla, cinchona, and numerous other valuable drugs. Gold is found in all the rivers of the E. Cordillera of the Andes; the silver mines of Potosi, now on the decline, were fong celebrated; and in 1870 rich silver mines were discovered in the maritime prefecture of Cobija. More than three fourths of the pop. are Indians, the rest Mestizos, Spaniards, and a few Africans. The foreign commerce ofB. is small, owing to its being almost shut out by the Andes from intercourse with the sea. The pp. towns are Chuquisaca (the C.), Cobija (the only important seaport), Potosi, La Paz, and Cochabambo. The executive govt. is vested in a president; the legislative functions are exercised by a senate, tribunal, and censors. B., under the name of Upper Peru, was formerly a part of the Spanish viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres; but it acquired its independence in 1824, and its name was a umed in honor of Bolivar, who, in1826, drew up its earliest constitution. Pop. abt. 3,000,000. [s. 102]