The earliest known ancient civilization in Bolivia was the Tiwanakan culture which was around 2000 BC and was located south of Lake Titicaca. They built a great city called Tiwanaku.
Thousands of years later, in the 15 century, the Incan Empire entered into Boliva. They were the dominant culture until the Spanish arrived in 1525. The Bolivians lived under Spanish rule for almost 300 years, however, in 1809 they declared their independence. They fought the Spanish for another 16 years until they became the Republic of Bolivia on August 6, 1825. The country was named after the great liberator and general Simon Bolivar.
Bolivia, however, was not a strong or wealthy country. Although there were periods where silver or tin did well as exports, in general, their government was unstable and weak for years to come. In the late 1800's they fought the War of the Pacific against Chile. They lost the war and also their coastland. Now Bolivia was landlocked with no ocean access.
The 1900s have been filled with revolution and turmoil for the country of Bolivia. There have been many changes in leadership, the type of governments, attempts at democracy, and military coups over the last 50 years.
The Geography of Bolivia
Total Size: 1,098,580 square km
Size Comparison: slightly less than three times the size of Montana
