Most of the Bolivia we know today was part of the Tiahuanaco Empire that existed in the Altiplano (Andean plateau) near Lake Titicaca in AD 600. In the 15th century, the Inca Empire emerged from Tiahuanaco and was subjugated by the Spanish conquistador Francesco Pizzaro in 1538. He founded the city of La Plata, which became the capital of the Charcas region and was eventually renamed Sucre. The discovery of the Cerro Rico de Potosi (rich mountain) was an important step for the development of the colonial zone. Within 300 years a larger amount of silver was mined here than had ever even been mined in Europe up to that time.

On August 6, 1825, Upper Peru, as Bolivia was called during its colonial period, declared its independence and received the name Bolívar in honor of its liberator Simon Bolívar. It was changed into Bolivia later on.

 

After Bolívar had left the country, a civil war broke out that caused the downfall of Antonio Jose de Sucre at the hands of the Peruvian General A. Santa Cruz in 1828, who also gave his name to today's city Santa Cruz.

In the following years, the war-torn country sank into anarchy. In the War of the Pacific that took place from 1879 to 1883, Bolivia lost a considerable part of its territory and its only access to the Pacific Ocean to Chile. This was only a barren desert area, but it was rich in resources, such as guano and saltpeter.

Numerous armed conflicts between caoutchouc magnates and the state of Brazil led to a war from 1899 to 1903. In the Treaty of Petrópolis, Bolivia had to surrender the contested Acre territory to Brazil, but was compensated for the loss. This is also how it lost its access to the important La Plata and Amazon rivers.


An initially minor border dispute with Paraguay over access to the ocean caused the third war, the Chaco War (1932 - 1935). Again, Bolivia lost this military confrontation that was the most serious in its history, with 60,000 people losing their lives. In the Treaty of Buenos Aires (1938), Bolivia was granted a narrow access corridor to the Rio Paraguay, which leads through the Paraná to the Atlantic Ocean. However, it had to cede the Chaco region to Paraguay.

On April 9, 1952 the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR) and armed miners marched to La Paz, where they took power after a three-day guerilla war. In the following years, the situation of the Mineros (mineworkers) and the Campesinos (farmers) improved dramatically. After an argument within the party in 1962, several generals attempted to seize power by a military putsch. In 1966 and 1967, Che Guevara's revolution failed.

In 1992, Bolivia and Peru made a treaty that settled the use of the Peruvian port of Ilo. Thus, for the first time since the War of the Pacific in 1879, Bolivia regained access to the ocean.

In February 2003, violent riots were caused by the announcement that taxes would be increased. Please have a look at the page on 'Politics' for information on more recent issues.