BOLIVIA, Topography and Bolivia, an inland republic of South America, is bounded on the north and east by Brazil, northwest by Peru, southwest by Chile, south by Argentina and Paraguay. It extends from north to south between lat. 10° 20' S.
and 22° 50' S. and from east to west between long. 57° 47' 40" W. (Compare treaty with Brazil 17 Nov. 1903) and about 72° W. Ac cording to Bolivian claims, asserted in 1916, the limits should be stated as follows: Long. 57° 29' 40" W. and 69° 33' 35" W., and, on the eastern side, lat. 9° 34' 50" to 25° 13' S. and, on the western side, lat. 10° 56' 40" S. to 25° 00' 5" S. Area, exclusive of contested claims, estimated at 560,000 square miles; but, including the Bolivian claims, it is officially stated to be 597,460 or 708,195 square miles.
The principal centres of population are now located in the mountainous region of the west ern half of the country. The eastern districts, stretching away from the slopes of the Cor dillera far into the torrid interior of the con tinent, are but sparsely settled. Running southeast through the departments of La Paz, Cochabamba and Potosi is the principal range of the Andes Mountains, called the Cordillera Real. Here are the rich mineral districts of Bolivia: the Cerro Rico de Potosi alone has produced up to the present time about $2,000, 000,000 worth. of silver. Here are some of the highest mountains of America and one of the greatest continuous snow-ranges in the world, having an altitude of 20,000 feet, with the su perb peaks of Illimani, Sorata and Illampu lifted two or three thousand feet still higher above their gigantic associates. (Consult Con way, W. M., The Bolivian Andes,' New York and London 1901). The western range of the Andes continues in a line parallel with the Pacific coast, rejoining the Cordillera Real near Bolivia's southern boundary. Between these two ranges are the high plains, 12.000 to 13,000 feet, and Lake Titicaca, 12,488 feet above the sea-level. This great sheet of water, 120 miles long and from 30 to 50 miles wide, has an average depth of 100 fathoms. Lying southeast of Lake Titicaca are the two most famous cities of the republic, La Paz and Sucre. Three lines of railway connect the former and the principal cities of the high plateaus with the Pacific ports Mollendo, Arica and Antofagasta.
The many different altitudes in Bolivia make it possible for the settler to choose his own climate. The tropical lowlands are prac tically the only section at all unhealthful. Residents of the upper plateau regions who are unaccustomed to such high altitudes are in the habit of spending a part of each year on the coast. In the region 10,000 to 13,000 feet above sea-level the temperature ranges from 44° to 73° F. Below this, from 7,500 to 10,000, is a temperate region much like the valley of, Mexico, with occasional frosts in winter and no extreme heat in summer. From 5,000 to 7,500 is the warmer temperate region of the uplands, and below this begins the hot coun try, which becomes gradually warmer as the real low-lying tropical lands of the coast are approached.
In the valleys known as Yungas, and in the regions of the plains and forests of the north and northeast, the cold of winter is unknown. This, roughly speaking, is true of the entire eastern region which is divided into water sheds—that of the Amazon basin and that of the Rio de la Plata-Parana-Paraguay river system. In the latter are the Pilcomayo, the Bermejo, etc.; in the former the Beni, the Gua pore or Itinez and the Mamore— three great rivers forming, in the main, the Rio Madeira. There are only two seasons in these parts: the summer, or rainy season, lasting from De cember to May, and the winter, or dry season, lasting from June to November. But on the high table-land are four seasons — spring, which begins in August and ends in October, and is characterized by gales of wind with moderate temperature; summer (November February), at first dry and hot, but, in the sec ond period, rainy; autumn, the season of gentle heat, and here a brief season, extending over the months of March and April only; winter, including the months of May, June and July, the season of low temperatures, icy winds and snow. In these highlands, as at equal altitudes in other parts of the world, a traveler must make preparation, by physical training, to re sist the attack of soroche (the local name for mountain-sickness), caused by the diminution of oxygen in the air.