BOLIVIA. 



BRAZIL. 



91 



Area and Population. Tin- area, which be- 



M) \\a- M-.'.IMIII square miles, h: 

 dueed. liy the cession of the sea-coast province 

 of Ant"lai_ r a-ia t" Chili, to 772,548 square miles. 



The population is iilxuit J.IlOO.tHMI, one fourth of 



whom are whites, one fourth mestizos, and one 

 halt Indians. La 1'ay., which is the seat of (inv- 

 iTiiment. has about lid.lMM) inhabitants. 



('oniiiiert'e and Production. The foreign 

 commerce of Bolivia is large, and has greatly m- 

 1 in recent years. The amount is not 

 known, the e-timates being based on statistics 

 furnished !>y Chili, Peru, and the Argentine Re- 

 jiulilic. The exports in 1885 amounted to $9,- 

 HdO.ddd. and the imports to $7,000,000. In 1890 

 the exports had increased to about $20,000,000, 

 while the imports were $15,000,000 in value. 

 The foreign trade is mostly with England, Ger- 

 many, and Prance. The share of the United 

 States js very small. The direct shipments from 

 the 1'nited States to Bolivia, in 1890 were $11,- 

 OO'J ; but this does not represent the extent of the 

 trade, for considerable quantities of dry-goods, 

 drillings, kerosene, hardware, and machinery re- 

 ported as sent to Peru, or the other republics 

 Bordering on Bolivia, are consumed in that 

 country, and many of the imports that are cred- 

 ited in the trade reports of the Treasury Depart- 

 ment to those neighooring countries are the prod- 

 uce of Bolivia. The silver mines of Bolivia are 

 supposed to be the richest in the world. Those 

 at rotosi from the time of the Spanish conquest 

 have yielded over $3,000,000,000. Other rich 

 deposits are found at Oruro, Aullaga, and in 

 other places. In 1881 the export of Bolivian sil- 

 ver through Buenos Ayres was valued at $17,000,- 

 000, and In 1882 at $21. 000,000. In 1888 they 

 were $17,064,218; in 1889, $12,145,545. There 

 are valuable deposits also of tin, lead, bismuth, 

 mercury, copper, platinum, zinc, magnetic and 

 other iron ores, alum, salt, magnesia, and other 

 minerals, and a large variety of precious and 

 semi-precious stones. The export of copper ore 

 and regulus amounts to about $240,000 a year. 

 Vegetable products of both 1 the temperate and 

 tropical zones thrive in Bolivia. Enough wheat 

 is grown for domestic consumption, and a con- 

 siderable surplus is exported. The coffee pro- 

 duced in Holivia is of superior quality. Next to 

 silver, the largest export is cocoa, the product of 

 which in 1885 was valued at $1,718,320. After 

 this comes India-rubber, which is of a very high 

 grade, and exists in inexhaustible quantities. An- 

 other valuable product is cinchona bark ; the 

 number of trees nas been estimated at 5,000,000, 

 and the annual output at 200,000 pounds. 



Communications. Bolivian commerce has 

 been retarded by lack of transport to the coast. 

 There is now railroad communication with the 

 Chilian port of Antofagasta by means of a line 

 that crosses the* frontier at Ascptan, and has 

 been extended for 400 miles on Bolivian territory, 

 nearly to Oruro in the center of the plateau. It 

 will be continued to the agricultural district of 

 Cochabamba, and a branch will connect it with 

 Potosi. The Peruvian railroad that has been 

 built from Mollendo, on the coast, to Puno, on 

 Lake Titicaca. is to l>e joined by a line from La 

 Paz. Communication with the Atlantic Ocean 

 is facilitated by the extension of one of the Ar- 

 gentine railroads to the frontier of Bolivia. A 



project for the improvement of the tributaries 

 of the Amazon and La Plata to afford water 

 eommuiiieatioii witli the Atlantic is regarded as 

 feasible, and likely to be carried out. 



Finance. Bolivia is financially better off 

 than any other South American state. The for- 

 eign debt is being rapidly paid off; it had been 

 KdOOed to $022,121 in 1890, while the internal 

 debt was only $4,450,000. About one third of 

 the revenue is derived from customs and one 

 third from a tribute collected from the aborig- 

 inal tribes. The receipts of the treasury for the 

 financial year 1890 were estimated at $8,624,200, 

 and t he expenditures at $3,734,814. About one 

 third of the expenditure goes to support a mili- 

 tarv force of 124 officers and 900 soldiers. 



Relations with Chili. Bolivia was the first 

 country in either hemisphere to recognize the 

 belligerent rights of the Junta de Gobierno (see 

 CHILI), which was done by proclamation on June 

 30, 1891. While this act was advantageous to 

 Bolivia's commerce, as the Congressional party 

 held the northern provinces of Chili bordering 

 on Bolivia and could deny her access to the sea- 

 ports, yet it involved the risk of a war with Bal- 

 maceda in the event of his success in the civil 

 war. It strengthened the position of the Junta, 

 both in Chili and in its relations with foreign 

 countries ; and in return the Bolivian Govern- 

 ment is said to have obtained a treaty of com- 

 mercial reciprocity, whereby no transit duties are 

 levied on goods imported into Bolivia through 

 Antofagasta or other Chilian ports; and Bolivia, 

 on her part, acknowledges the perpetual sover- 

 eignty of Chili over the annexed provinces, and 

 agrees to admit Chilian products free of duty. 



BRAZIL, a republic m South America, pro- 

 claimed on Nov. 15, 1889, when Dom Pedro II, 

 the Emperor, was dethroned by a popular rising 

 and exiled with his family. A' Provisional Gov- 

 ernment was instituted, which framed and pub- 

 lished a new Constitution, that was ratified by 

 the first National Congress, convened on Nov. 

 15, 1890. By this instrument the Brazilian na- 

 tion constituted itself into a federal republic, 

 under the name of the United States of Brazil. 

 Each of the old provinces was declared a self- 

 governing State, to be administered under a re- 

 publican form of government, with power to im- 

 pose taxes, and subject to no interference from 

 the Central Government, except for purposes 

 of national defense or the preservation of inter- 

 nal order or for the execution of Federal laws. 

 Legislation relating to customs, paper currency, 

 and postal communications is reserved to the 

 Federal Government. The right of suffrage is 

 secured to all male citizens over twenty-one 

 years old, with the exception of beggars, persons 

 ignorant of the alphabet, soldiers in actual serv- 

 ice, and persons under monastic vows, registra- 

 tion being the >nly prerequisite. The executive 

 authority is vested in the President, who must 

 be a native of Brazil over thirty-five years of 

 age. He is elected by the people directly for the 

 term of six years, ancl is not eligible for the suc- 

 ceeding term. In all the States the election 

 takes place on March 1 of the last year of the 

 presidential period. The votes are counted at 

 the State capitals, and the candidate receiving 

 the absolute majority of the popular votes is 

 declared elected by Congress at the opening ses- 



