Here are some interesting links on Bolivia : CIA The World Factbook The Free Encyclopedia Wikipedia

Known as the Tibet of the Americas, landlocked Bolivia is the highest and most isolated country in the Americas. It has three distinct geographic zones: the mountains and Altiplano, the semitropical Yungas and temperate valleys of the mountain slopes, and the tropical lowlands. Fifty-five percent of its population of 8.5 million consists of the Quechua and the Aymara peoples who traditionally had not intermarried and had kept their languages, physical characteristics and many social traditions distinct. With a colonial heritage that is among the longest in the Americas, the Republic is still struggling today to provide its people with social, economic and political equality.

About 95 percent of Bolivians profess to be Catholics; nonetheless, a much smaller portion participates actively. Poverty is a favourable ground for different sects and native superstitions to flourish. The Church's weak presence in the rural areas has likewise encouraged the development of an Andean folk-Catholicism among the vast majority of indigenous people. An example is the near synonymous association of Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) and the Virgin Mary.

Text MIC MISSION NEWS (October-November-December 2002)
Maria Anthea Raso, m.i.c.