POPULATION

Bolivia's population was estimated at 7 million in 1989 (5.9 million at the 1982 census) and has been increasing over the last decade by an average annual rate of 2.6 percent. It has more than doubled over the last forty years, numbering just over 3 million at the 1950 census. Aproximately 55 percent of the total population is believed to be "pure" indigenous Indian descent, 25-30 percent mestizo, and about 15 percent European. The Indians make up the great majority of the population in the northern parts of the Altiplano and the higher valleys and basins of the Andes.

Spanish is the official language, but more than half of the population speaks native languages. About 34 percent speaks Quechua and 25 percent Aymara (mainly in the Cordillera Oriental and southern Altiplano). More than 95 percent of the people are Catholic and about 1 percent Protestant.

Bolivia's population is concentrated mainly in the northern parts of the Altiplano and the basins and valleys of the Cordillera Oriental. The eastern lowlands (with the exception of Santa Cruz and its surroundings), most of the Cordillera Occidental, and the southern parts of the Altiplano are only sparsely populated. Only two of Bolivia's nine departments (17 percent of the total area) have a population density of 16-20 persons per square kilometer (40-50 per square mile), while 59 percent of the total area has a density of less than 3 persons per square kilometer (7.5 per square mile). The average population density for the country as a whole is 6.4 persons per square kilometer (16 per square mile). The portion of the urban population is 49 percent; it was 33.5 percent in 1950.

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