POPULATION. No census has been taken in Bolivia since 1854, when the population was 2,326.126, of whom the whites and mestizos num bered only 634.000. The population has prac tieally remained stationary since then, now being estimated at 2.500,000, including whites, mainly of Spanish origin, mestizos, and Indians. The last belong mostly to the :\ymard and Quielma. tribes, which have been partly converted to Christianity and are engaged in agricultural pur suits. In the eastern portion of the country are found a number of Indians of the Guarani tribe, who are still uncivilized. The capital of Bolivia and largest city is La Paz.
litsTony. The territory of Bolivia. which was subdued by Hernando Pizarro in 1538, consti tuted, under the name of the Audien•ia of Char (Nis, a part of the Viceroyalty of Peru till 1776, when it was annexed to the Government of La Plata. Within forty years after the Conquest, Spanish settlements were formed at Chuquisaca (Suere), l'otosf, La Paz, and Cochabamba, and numerous silver-mines were opened, in which the Indian population was compelled to labor. So thoroughly were the natives subjugated that no important rising occurred till 1780, when Tupac Amara, a descendant of the ancient Incas, headed a formidable insurrection, which for a time threatened the destruction of the Spanish power in the region. The first revolutionary outbreak against the authority of Spain oceur•ed at Chu quisaca (Sucre) in Slay, 1809. and was followed in August by a rising of the inhabitants of La l'az. In 1810 an army from Buenos Ayres came to the assistance of the patriots, but it was de feated at lluaqui by General I1oyoneche, who put down the insurrection with great cruelty. For fifteen years the country was devastated by a sanguinary guerrilla warfare. withseveralpit(died battles, in which victory changed from side to side. More than once fresh Argentinian armies invaded Upper Peru, but no definite result was attained till 1824.when the Spanish army in Peru was crushed by the Colombian force under Gen eral Sucre. On August 0. 1825, a Congress at Chuquisaca declared the independence of Upper Peru, and five days later the Republie of Bolivia was organized. embracing the provinces of Potosi, La Paz, Cochabamba. and Santa Cruz. A consti tution drafted by Bolivar, the C6digo Boliviano, was adopted, and the Presidency for life was offered to General Sucre, NVII0 accepted the otlice for two years only. From the beginning, almost,
of its national existence, Uenwiis was plunged into a state of chronie revolution and civil war, from which it was relieved only at intervals by the absolute rule of some military leader. Ac cess to the cave of President was gained most often through force of arms. and in the struggle between factions the Constitution of the country was repeatedly tampered with, suspended, or totally disregarded. Of those Presidents who succeeded in giving Bolivia breathing-space for the development of its resources, mention may be made of Santa Cruz (1829-39), who in 1836 usurped the chief power in Peru and eonstitlitIsl it, together with Bolivia, a federal republic under himself as protector; Generals Belzu and Cor dova. who were in power from 1848 to 1857. and Jos. Maria de Acha (1861-64), in whose time treaties were concluded with the United States and Belgium, and sonic attempts made to foster the foreign trade of thecountry. Byarrangements made in 1866 and 1874. the joint possession of Chile and Bolivia had been established over the rich nitrate-fields of the desert coast of Atacama ; but strife between the two could not be avoided, and in 1876 Chile declared war against Bolivia and its ally. Peru. The brunt of the fighting fell on the latter power. Theleading ship of the Peru vian fleet was captured, the land forces of the allied republics were overthrown. the Bolivian port of Antofagasta was seized, and by the treaty of November 29, 1884, Bolivia gave its assent to the retention by Chile of its seaboard with the rich mineral-tields—a loss which proved a serious blow to the prosperity of the country. From 1884 to 1898 there was internal peace: but in the au tumn of 1898 a military revolution broke out, which after a half-year's fighting resulted in the overthrow of President Severo Fernando Alonzo and the elevation of Jos6 Manuel Panda to the Presidency.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Cisneros and GeoBibliography. Cisneros and Geo- g•afieu eomereial de la America del Slid (Lima, 1898) : Ballivian and Zareo, lionografias de la Industria Mincra (La Paz. 1895): Child, The Spanish-American Republics (Sew York. 1894); Ford, Tropical America (London. 1893) Mark ham, The War Between Puru and Chile (London, 1882) ; Wiener, PCrou et Bolivie (Paris. 1880) ; .1 rch iro Boliriano•Coleerion de doeumentos rclatiros the la historia de Bolivia.