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An Aerial view of El Fuerte de Samaipata, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Santa Cruz department of Bolivia
Image: Michael Runkel/robertharding/picture allianceImage: Michael Runkel/robertharding/picture alliance

Bolivia

Bolivia is a landlocked, mineral-rich country and among South America's poorest nations. Home to many tropical glaciers, it has been especially vulnerable to climate change. In June 2024, it saw a failed coup attempt.

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All Content on this topic

Evo Morales

Bolivia's Evo Morales faces tight election race

South America's longest-serving president is seeking a controversial fourth term.
PoliticsOctober 20, 2019
Lithium in Uyuni salt pans

Bolivians protest over lithium deal with German company

Locals are demanding more benefits from a planned German lithium project.
BusinessOctober 8, 2019
Person silhoueted in South Sumatra blaze, Indonesia

World Bank forest scheme launched, donor Germany

Contributing millions, Germany has helped kick start ProGreen, a World Bank program for sustainable forests.
PoliticsSeptember 23, 2019
An area of charred forest after the fires passed through in Bolivia

Burning across the border: Fires rage in Bolivia

More than 1 million hectares have burned with firefighters still struggling to contain the out-of-control blazes.
Nature and EnvironmentSeptember 6, 20198 images
Bolivien Amazonas Waldbrände in Region Chiquitania

In times of change

Fires are burning throughout the Amazon, but what does this mean for the world's largest tropical rainforest?
Nature and EnvironmentSeptember 5, 201929:59 min
Bolivien Amazonas Waldbrände in Region Chiquitania

Bolivia is burning too

Stretching across the northern half of South America, the Amazon isn't just contained to Brazil, and neither are its ongoing fires. According to official numbers, fires have burned more than one million hectares of dry forest and farmland across the border in Bolivia. We hear from those affected by the fires, including firefighters risking their lives to control the flames.
Nature and EnvironmentSeptember 5, 201906:02 min
A fire burning a Brazilian forest

Bolsonaro issues 60-day Amazon burning ban

Brazil's president signed the decree amidst escalating international pressure to stop the fires burning the Amazon.
PoliticsAugust 29, 2019
Screenshot NASA

Raging wildfires around the world

The severity of the wildfires in the Amazon have led to global outcry. But more fires are burning in Central Africa.
Nature and EnvironmentAugust 27, 20198 images
Smoke rises from the blazes in the Amazon wildfires

Amazon fires: Brazil sends in military planes

The Amazon widlfires have covered the city of Porto Velho with smoke and also swept into neighboring Bolivia.
Nature and EnvironmentAugust 26, 2019
DW Hintergrund Smart-TV Apple und Android "World Stories"

World Stories - The Week in Reports

Blasting a bridge in Genoa, Child labor in Bolivia, Profitting from the past in Woodstock.
SocietyAugust 18, 201912:36 min
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Bolivia's working children

They can work legally from the age of ten – but they can only dream of going to school.
PoliticsAugust 18, 201903:44 min
Symbolbild | Deutschland | Sommer | Hitzewelle

World in Progress: Bolivia's water woes

Bolivia is suffering from a lack of drinking water as glaciers melt away.
Nature and EnvironmentJuly 10, 201930:00 min
People in Uruguay hold up pictures of people who were disappeared during the dictatorship

Italy jails 24 over South America killings

Six right-wing dictatorships in the region collaborated in the 1970s and 80s to wipe out their political opponents.
PoliticsJuly 9, 2019
Bolivia's dried up lake (photo: Reuters/D. Mercado)

Living Planet: Bolivia's water woes

Bolivia's indigenous people decided to take matters into their own hands to tackle the lack of drinking water.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 19, 201930:00 min
An indigenous man protests in front of Brazil's national congress

World in Progress

This week on the program: Brazil's indigenous communities raise the alarm after a surge in land grabs, students defy Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, the push for inclusive education in Ethiopia, and how a project to distribute cheap glasses is changing lives in Bolivia.
ConflictsMarch 27, 201929:59 min
A young girl tries different lenses for glasses

The gift of sight

There are 150 million people around the world with visual impairments that could be easily fixed with glasses — but they can't afford to buy them. A German NGO called One Dollar Glasses hopes to solve the problem by producing cheap, durable frames for those who need them.
SocietyMarch 27, 201905:33 min
Brasilien Cesare Battisti in Brasilien festgenommen

Italian ex-militant Cesare Battisti extradited

Former Italian communist militant Cesare Battisti is to be flown directly from Bolivia to Italy, not via Brazil.
Law and JusticeJanuary 13, 2019
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German company mining lithium in Bolivia

A German-Bolivian joint venture will start mining lithium from Bolivia’s salt flat. It’s a skey resource for batteries.
BusinessDecember 13, 201801:45 min
Bolivia's Uyuni salt flat

Germany to get Bolivian lithium after key deal

The metal, sometimes dubbed "white gold," is crucial for making car battery cells.
BusinessDecember 12, 2018
Bolivians protesting in La Paz against a fourth term for President Evo Morales

Bolivians protest after top court backs Morales

Thousands of angry Bolivians have taken to the streets across the country two days after the decision.
PoliticsDecember 6, 2018
A man working on a violin (DW/S. Derks)

Bolivian music schools offers kids a way out

Music schools in Bolivia's eastern lowlands are offering rural children a new perspective on life.
SocietyNovember 25, 201810 images
A pier stretches in the Pacific ocean from the Chilean coast

Bolivia can't force Chile to discuss sea access: UN court

The ICJ ruled in a historic debate between two Andean neighbors over one controversial coastline.
Law and JusticeOctober 1, 2018
Lithium in Südamerika

Our Beautiful Planet

This vast expanse of shimmering white may look like snow or ice. It's actually salt — and lots of it.
Nature and EnvironmentSeptember 28, 2018
A person in a Nicaraguan flag marches wearing a headband that reads Nicaragua Libre

UN Security Council to discuss Nicaragua

As the US takes over the rotating presidency of the Security Council, it has put the spotlight on Nicaragua's crisis.
PoliticsSeptember 5, 2018
Bolivia's ex-military dictator Luis Garcia Meza

Bolivia's 'Cocaine Coup' dictator dies

Luis Garcia Meza rose to power in the early 1980s in what was largely described as the "Cocaine Coup."
Law and JusticeApril 29, 2018
Women harvesting potatoes in Tiraque

'Climate change is making us stronger'

In rural Bolivia, women seem are demonstrating resilience to the effects of environmental changes.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 25, 2018
Bolivians this month unfurled a giant Bolivian Naval flag along the highway as a protest against Chile

Bolivia confronts Chile at ICJ over lost coastline

Bolivia is taking its neighbor to Chile to court over access to the sea, which it lost in a 19th-century war.
ConflictsMarch 19, 2018
A soldier stands next to a flag in Bolivia

Bolivia unfurls 'world's biggest flag'

The 200-kilometer long flag was part of a demonstration of Bolivia's demand for a corridor to the sea.
PoliticsMarch 11, 2018
Rosa Flussdelfine im Amazonas in Brasilien

How threatened is the Amazon River dolphin?

Amazon River dolphins are threatened. But we still know very little about them.
Nature and EnvironmentJanuary 9, 2018
Salt lake in Bolivia

World in Progress: Lithium Bolivia's new economic hope

Global demand for Lithium, a key metal for mobile phones and electric cars, has been increasing and the price has almost doubled since 2016. So far, Chile and Australia are the biggest exporters, but Bolivia now hopes to tap the world’s largest unexploited lithium reserve, the Salar del Uyuni salt lake. Yet there are concerns about the impact on the fragile ecosystem and tourism in the region.
BusinessDecember 13, 201703:26 min
Uyuni-Salt lake in Bolivia

World in Progress: New chances, new challenges

Quilombos Brazil - Bolivia Lithium - HIV/AIDs in Yunnan - Kenya Witchcraft
PoliticsDecember 13, 201729:59 min
Bahuaja Sonene National Park, people on beach, sitting around an open fire

Turtles in need

River turtle eggs are a delicacy in Peru. Increasing appetite for the eggs is threatening the animals with extinction.
Nature and EnvironmentNovember 28, 2017
Refinery Rio Grande in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Mega investment in Bolivian gas

Having once nationalized the industry, will investors trust the Bolivian president with their money?
BusinessNovember 22, 201701:55 min
Women shout anti-government slogans and wave Bolivian flags as they mark 35 years of Bolivia's democracy and protest President Evo Morales

Bolivian's protest president's term extension bid

Thousands have taken part in demonstrations against Bolivian President Morales' latest attempt to run for a fourth term.
PoliticsOctober 11, 2017
Afghanistan Hairatan Ankunft Cargo Zug aus China

Investing in startups in high-risk economies

Opportunity rarely comes to mind when countries like Afghanistan or Bolivia come up. But Germany wants to support them
BusinessSeptember 14, 2017
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Planned highway angers Bolivia's indigenous people

Plans for a long highway cutting straight through a national park in Bolivia has seen indigenous people up in arms.
BusinessAugust 11, 201701:22 min
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World Stories - Failed coup - Erdogan divides Turks

One year after the coup attempt, Turkey is a divided nation.
July 21, 201712:04 min
Lithium in Südamerika

Bolivia plans lithium mining offensive

The Bolivian government aims to pump massive investments to expand the country's production of lithium.
BusinessJuly 17, 2017
Chagas-Krankheit | Vinchuca bug

Malicious disease spreads to Europe

A Chagas disease infection may lead to heart problems. If it does, the infection may have been in the body for decades.
SocietyMay 8, 2017
Bolivien Fußball WM Qualifikation Bolivien - Argentinien

Missing Messi, Argentina lose in Bolivia

Bolivia best Argentina 2-0 in a key World Cup qualifier, hours after Leo Messi's suspension from the game.
SportsMarch 29, 2017
Bienvenido a Centro-Berlin

5 towns you would never think of when you hear 'Berlin'

Berliners may not like to hear this, but their city isn't unique - at least not the name.
LifestyleMarch 17, 2017
Berlin

5 towns you would never think of when you hear the name 'Berlin'

Berliners may not like to hear this, but their city isn't unique - at least not the name.
CultureMarch 17, 20175 images
Clownfrösche

New Amazon amphibians

Scientists have discovered two new frog species in Bolivia and Peru. But they may already be under threat.
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 6, 2017
Koka Anbau in Bolivien Archiv 2006

Bolivia's Senate allots more land to coca crops

New legislation could bring the South American nation's expected production to up to 30,000 tons of leaves.
PoliticsFebruary 25, 2017
AP Iconic Images Heuschreckenschwarm 2004

Locust swarms trigger state of emergency in Bolivia

Bolivia has declared a state of emergency in response to a locust plague that is destroying crops.
CatastropheFebruary 9, 2017
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People evacuated after dam overflows in Bolivia

Hundreds of people were evacuated from Caracoles after floods and mudslides destroyed their houses.
Nature and EnvironmentJanuary 2, 201700:42 min
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Dakar Rally to start in Paraguay

This year the treacherous Bolivian highlands will feature heavily in the 9000-kilometer race.
SportsJanuary 2, 201702:00 min
Bolivien | Evo Morales strebt vierte Amtszeit an

Morales to run again despite referendum loss

Bolivian President Evo Morales has agreed to run for re-election in 2019, defying a recent referendum defeat.
PoliticsDecember 18, 2016
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Rodolfo Huallpa Condori, Bolivia

"I am a digital native"
EducationDecember 14, 201602:35 min
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Survivor thanks God after Colombia plane crash

Bolivian flight attendant Erwin Tumiri, one of six survivors of the LaMia chartered flight that crashed in Colombia on November 29, was discharged from hospital. He's already considering when he'll fly again.
PoliticsDecember 7, 201600:49 min