important conversation - La Paz, Bolivia

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Bolivia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Since Bolivia was created as a state on its own in 1825 it has been a multiethnical society, which means that it is home to people of a lot of different ethnical backgrounds. As a result, the local Bolivians tend to treat their nationality as a citizenship instead of an ethnicity. The largest of the approximately three dozen indigenous Amerindian groups are the Aymaras, Quechuas, Chiquitanos, Guaraní (Chiriguanos, Guarayos), and Mojeños. The majority of white Bolivians are of Spanish descent, including Basque origin, but there are small German (including Mennonite), Croats, Asian (notably Japanese Okinawans relocated there after expropriation of farmland by the U.S. military after World War II [1]), Middle Eastern, and other minorities (Afro Bolivian), many of whose members descend from families that have lived in Bolivia for several generations.

South America has an estimated population of 385 million (as of 2005) and a rate of population growth of about 0.6% per year.^{[citation needed]}