It is a country situated in the heart of South America. Its neighbouring countries are Chile, Peru, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.  Roughly five times as big as Great Britain, it covers 1,098,581 square kilometres and has a population of about nine million, of whom 60% are indigenous.

The history of Bolivia goes back to ancient times – to the Inca Empire.  The languages the Incas spoke – Quechua and Aymara – are still widely spoken today, In the Amazon, Guarani is also spoken.  In the 16th Century Spanish was brought by the conquistadors.

Bolivia is considered the poorest country in South America.  But there has been a very exciting process happening in our country. In the last few years indigenous people have made themselves heard in the streets, protesting against economic policies that keep most Bolivians in poverty.  People have learned to organise themselves and elected one of their own people, Evo Morales, as President in December 2005.

Evo is the son of a mining community.  His family had emigrated to the city of Cochabamba where Evo became a trade union leader.  Bolivians have new hope that their leader will finally listen to their voice and lead them to a prosperity that will benefit all the people of Bolivia and not just the privileged class.