BOLIVIA 



798 



BOLIVIA 



A TYPE OF OPEN-AIR MARKET 

 Such markets are characteristic of Spanish-American countries. 



makes excellent roads almost impossible, and 

 to-day, as hundreds of years ago, most of the 

 commerce of the interior is carried on by pack 

 animals. Steep trails lead over the mountains, 

 and long trains of mules or llamas wind their 

 way along them, bringing goods from the 

 central provinces to points that are in touch 

 with the railroads or cart roads that lead to the 

 Pacific. For near the cities there are cart 

 roads, over which heavy, two-wheeled carts 

 rumble ; and in the western part of the country 

 there are railways with a total length of 1,500 

 miles. 



With the country's recent development has 

 come a recognition of the fact that there can 

 be no great progress without railways; many 

 new lines are being built and others are pro- 

 jected. Among those under construction is a 

 line connecting the Bolivian town of Tiepiza 

 with La Quiaca, on the Argentina frontier. 

 When this road is finished a continuous all- 

 rail route will be open between La Paz and 

 Buenos Aires. Because of its central location 

 in the South American continent, Bolivia is 

 destined to become the connecting link for all 

 the railroads between Peru, Chile, Argentina 



and Brazil. The rivers communicating with 

 the Atlantic furnish a possible outlet for the 

 eastern sections, but the distance and conse- 

 quently the cost of transportation is so great 

 that little use is made of them. 



In grand total, Bolivia exports about $32,000,- 

 000 worth of products each year, and imports 

 $23,000,000 worth, even with inadequate facili- 

 ties. 



History. The opening up of Bolivia to Euro- 

 peans was as romantic as that of Peru, for 

 the former country was a part of the ancient 

 empire of the Incas, about /which legend and 

 mystery long centered. In 1538 it was con- 

 quered by Pizarro, and Spaniards flocked in to 

 enrich themselves from its mines. They en- 

 slaved the natives so thoroughly that not until 

 1780 was there a serious disturbance. 



Bolivia gained its liberty after fifteen years of 

 fighting (see BOLIVAR, SIMON), and in 1825 the 

 first Congress that met at Sucre proclaimed the 

 independence of Bolivia. The first President 

 was General Sucre, one of the most illustrious 

 South American generals and statesmen of the 

 time. Santa Cruz, who succeeded Sucre, ini- 

 tiated the plan of uniting Peru and Bolivia 



