Bolivia: Climate & Natural Resources

Bolivia's location within the tropics matters less for its climate than elevation does. The Altiplano, the high plateau in the west, is cold, dry, and windswept, with daytime temperatures typically between about 7 and 11 degrees Celsius and nighttime frost common even outside winter. Descending through the yungas and temperate valleys brings milder, more humid conditions, with annual temperatures generally between 16 and 20 degrees Celsius. The eastern lowlands are hot and humid year-round, averaging the mid-20s Celsius, with a rainy season from roughly December through March; the remote Gran Chaco region in the southeast sees nearly no rain for about nine months before flooding during a short, intense wet season.

Two parallel chains of the Andes cross western Bolivia: the Cordillera Real, with glaciated peaks such as Illimani and Illampu, and the volcanic Cordillera Occidental, home to Nevado Sajama, the country's highest point at 6,542 meters. Between them lies the Altiplano, holding both Lake Titicaca and the Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat. Eastern Bolivia, covering more than two-thirds of the country, consists of Amazon rainforest in the north, savanna and rolling hills in the center, and the arid Gran Chaco in the south.

Mining has long shaped the Bolivian economy: tin and silver historically came from the southern highlands, while natural gas and petroleum are concentrated in the eastern lowlands and the southern Tarija region. Forests in the Yungas and Oriente yield mahogany, Brazil nuts, and other timber, though only about four percent of Bolivia's land is arable. Deforestation, soil erosion, and the retreat of the country's tropical glaciers, which have lost roughly two-fifths of their area since the mid-1980s, are pressing environmental concerns; those glaciers supply much of the water used by the city of La Paz.