Bolivia is a landlocked country in central South America covering 1,098,581 square kilometers. The country shares borders with Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay to the southeast, Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the west. Bolivia lost its coastal territory to Chile in the War of the Pacific from 1879 to 1884, making it one of two landlocked nations in South America along with Paraguay. This loss of Pacific access remains a persistent diplomatic issue, with Bolivia maintaining a naval force on Lake Titicaca and continuing to assert claims to sovereign access to the sea.
The country divides into three distinct geographic zones. The Altiplano is a high plateau in western Bolivia sitting between 3,600 and 4,000 meters above sea level, running roughly 800 kilometers north to south and 130 kilometers east to west. The Cordillera Occidental forms the western boundary of the Altiplano along the Chilean border, while the Cordillera Real rises on the eastern edge. Between these ranges lies the Cordillera Central. This highland region contains approximately 40 percent of Bolivia's land area but holds more than half the population. La Paz, the administrative capital and seat of government, sits in a canyon on the Altiplano at 3,640 meters above sea level. El Alto, immediately adjacent to La Paz on the plateau rim, sits at 4,150 meters, making it one of the highest cities in the world with a population exceeding one million residents.
Lake Titicaca occupies the northern Altiplano on the Peru-Bolivia border. The lake sits at 3,812 meters above sea level and measures 190 kilometers long by 80 kilometers wide at its broadest point, covering approximately 8,372 square kilometers. Bolivia controls 40 percent of the lake area. Titicaca's maximum depth reaches 284 meters. The lake contains more than 25 rivers flowing into it, with the Desaguadero River as its only outlet, flowing south toward Lago Poopó. Two significant islands lie within the Bolivian portion: Isla del Sol, measuring roughly 14.3 square kilometers, and Isla de la Luna at 1.2 square kilometers. Isla del Sol features pre-Columbian ruins including the Chinkana complex and the Sacred Rock, marking the site that Inca mythology identifies as the birthplace of the sun and the Inca dynasty. The lake supports 530 aquatic species, many endemic, including the Titicaca water frog and the Titicaca grebe. Water levels have dropped approximately 81 centimeters since 2000 due to reduced glacier melt and increased evaporation.
The Altiplano holds the world's largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni, in the Potosí and Oruro departments of southwestern Bolivia. The salt flat covers 10,582 square kilometers at an elevation near 3,656 meters. The crust ranges from a few meters thick in the center to several meters toward the edges, with estimates of 10 billion tons of salt. During the rainy season from December to April, a thin layer of water covers portions of the flat, creating mirror reflections. The Salar de Uyuni formed from prehistoric lakes that existed 30,000 to 42,000 years ago. Lago Minchin covered this area until approximately 13,000 years ago, later splitting into Lago Poopó and Lago Uru Uru, leaving behind the salt deposits. The flat contains 50 to 70 percent of the world's known lithium reserves, with estimates ranging from 5.4 to 9 million tons, though extraction remains limited due to processing challenges and environmental concerns. Isla Incahuasi rises from the center of the salar, an ancient limestone outcrop covered with giant cacti reaching up to 12 meters tall.
Lago Poopó sat south of Uyuni in Oruro Department at 3,686 meters elevation. Historical records show the lake fluctuated between 2,337 and 3,191 square kilometers depending on seasonal rainfall and inflow from the Desaguadero River. The lake reached depths of only 3 meters on average, making it particularly vulnerable to drought and increased evaporation. By December 2015, Lago Poopó had completely dried for the second time in recorded history, the first being in 1994. Satellite imagery from 2016 confirmed the lakebed remained exposed. Factors in the desiccation include diversion of tributary waters for mining and agriculture, increased evaporation from rising regional temperatures measured at 0.9 degrees Celsius since 1939, and reduced precipitation. The loss eliminated habitat for flamingos that formerly numbered in the tens of thousands, along with disappearing the primary livelihood for the Uru-Murato communities who fished the lake.
Sajama rises in the Cordillera Occidental near the Chilean border in Oruro Department. At 6,542 meters, Sajama is Bolivia's highest peak. The stratovolcano last erupted during the Holocene epoch. Sajama National Park, established in 1939 as Bolivia's first national park, surrounds the mountain covering 1,002 square kilometers. The park contains the world's highest forest, consisting of Polylepis tarapacana trees growing between 4,200 and 5,200 meters elevation. Some specimens exceed 700 years old. The volcanic slopes hold permanent ice on the summit, though glaciers have retreated significantly since measurements began in 1963. Between 1963 and 2006, Sajama's glacier area decreased by approximately 43 percent.
Illimani dominates the skyline east of La Paz in the Cordillera Real. The mountain reaches 6,438 meters across four distinct summits, with the highest being the southern peak. The massif measures roughly 8 kilometers from north to south. First ascent by Europeans occurred in 1898 via the southern route. The Aymara people consider Illimani sacred as an Apu, a mountain deity protecting the region. La Paz water supply depends heavily on glacial melt from Illimani and nearby Cordillera Real peaks. Studies measuring glacier volume on Illimani between 1983 and 2009 documented a 43 percent reduction in ice mass, with the Glaciar Norte losing approximately 0.55 meters of water equivalent annually.
The Yungas occupy transitional valleys on the eastern slope of the Cordillera Real, dropping from 4,000 meters to 1,200 meters elevation. The region stretches roughly 160 kilometers north to south in La Paz Department. Moist air from the Amazon Basin rises against the Andes, creating one of Bolivia's wettest zones with annual precipitation reaching 5,000 millimeters in the upper Yungas. This rainfall supports cloud forest ecosystems distinct from both the Altiplano above and the Amazon lowlands below. The region produces approximately 95 percent of Bolivia's coca leaf crop, with cultivation centered in the Chapare region of Cochabamba Department and the traditional growing zones near Coroico in La Paz Department. The Yungas Road, formerly known as the North Yungas Road but commonly called the "Death Road," descends 64 kilometers from La Paz to Coroico, dropping 3,600 meters. Before a bypass opened in 2006, the single-lane road recorded 200 to 300 deaths annually.
The Amazon Basin encompasses northern and northeastern Bolivia, covering approximately 66 percent of the country's total land area across the Pando, Beni, La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz departments. Elevation ranges from 200 meters in the lowlands to 500 meters in transitional zones. The Beni River and Mamoré River are the principal waterways, both flowing north to eventually join the Madeira River in Brazil, which then flows to the Amazon. The Beni measures approximately 1,113 kilometers from source to confluence with the Mamoré. Trinidad, capital of Beni Department, sits at 236 meters elevation on the Mamoré floodplain. Annual rainfall in the lowlands typically ranges from 1,400 to 2,400 millimeters, with the wet season running November through March. The region experiences annual flooding when rivers overflow, inundating the Llanos de Moxos, a savanna plain covering roughly 126,000 square kilometers. Archaeological evidence shows pre-Columbian cultures modified this landscape extensively through fish weirs, raised fields, causeways, and forest islands.