Tarata (4681) and Totora (3501) are two important trading centres, and in the department of Santa Cruz, Ascensión (pop. 4784) is a large mission station in the Chiquitos hills.
Communications.—Under a treaty with Brazil in 1903 and with Chile in 1904 (ratified 1905) provisions were made for railway construction in Bolivia to bring this isolated region into more effective communication with the outside world. Brazil agreed to construct a railway around the falls of the Madeira (about 180 m. long) to give north-eastern Bolivia access to the Amazon, and paid down £2,000,000 in cash which Bolivia was to expend on railway construction within her own territory. Chile also agreed to construct a railway from Arica to La Paz, 295 m. (the Bolivian section becoming the property of Bolivia fifteen years after completion), and to pay the interest (not over 5%) which Bolivia might guarantee on the capital invested in certain interior railways if constructed within thirty years, providing these interest payments should not exceed £100,000 a year, nor exceed £1,600,000 in the aggregate. Argentina had already undertaken to extend her northern railway from Jujuy to the Bolivian frontier town of Tupiza, and the Peruvian Corporation had constructed for the Bolivian government a short line (54 m. long) from Guaqui, on Lake Titicaca, to Alto de La Paz, which is connected with the city of La Paz, 1493 ft. below, by an electric line 5 m. long. This line gives La Paz access to the Peruvian port of Mollendo, 496 m. distant, and promises in time to give it railway communication with Cuzco. Rivalry for the control of her trade, therefore, promises to give Bolivia the railways needed for the development of her resources. Up to 1903 the only railways in Bolivia were the Antofagasta and Oruro line, with a total length of 574 m., of which 350 m. are within Bolivian territory, a private branch of that line (26 m. long) running to the Pulacayo mines, and the line (54 m. long) from Guaqui to Alto de La Paz—a total of only 430 m. As a result of her war with Chile in 1878–81, the railways (282 m. long) of her Litoral department passed under Chilean control. Lines were in 1907 projected from La Paz to the navigable waters of the Beni, from La Paz to Cochabamba, from Viacha to Oruro, from Uyuni to Potosi and Sucré, from Uyuni to Tupiza, and from Arica to La Paz via Corocoro. The central northern line of the Argentine government was completed to the Bolivian frontier in 1908, and this line was designed to extend to Tupiza. The undertaking of the Arica-La Paz line by the Chilean government, also, was an important step towards the improvement of the economic situation in Bolivia. Both these lines offer the country new outlets for its products.
Public highways have been constructed between the large cities and to some points on the frontiers, and subsidized stage coaches are run on some of them. The roads are rough and at times almost impassable, however, and the river crossings difficult and dangerous. The large cities are connected with one another by telegraph lines and are in communication with the outside world through Argentina, Chile and Peru. Telegraph service dates from 1880, and in 1904 there were 3115 m. in operation, of which 1936 belonged to the state and 1179 to private corporations. The latter includes the lines belonging to the Antofagasta and Oruro railway, which are partly within Chilean territory. Bolivia is a member of the International Postal Union, and has parcel and money order conventions with some foreign countries. Special agreements have been made, also, with Argentina, Chile and Peru for the transmission of the Bolivian foreign mails.
The loss of her maritime department has left Bolivia with no other ports than those of Lake Titicaca (especially Guaqui, or Huaqui, which trades with the Peruvian port of Puno), and those of the Madeira and Paraguay rivers and their affluents. As none of these can be reached without transhipment in foreign territory, the cost of transport is increased, and her neighbours are enabled to exclude Bolivia from direct commercial intercourse with other nations. An exception formerly existed at Puerto Acré, on the Acré river, to which ocean-going steamers could ascend from Pará, but Brazil first closed the Purús and Acré rivers to foreign vessels seeking this port, and then under a treaty of 1903 acquired possession of the port and adjacent territory. Since then Bolivia’s outlet to the Amazon is restricted to the Madeira river, the navigation of which is interrupted by a series of falls before Bolivian territory is reached. The Bolivian port of entry for this trade, Villa Bella, is situated above the falls of the Madeira at the confluence of the Beni and Mamoré, and is reached from the lower river by a long and costly portage. It is also shut off from the navigable rivers above by the falls of the Beni and Mamoré. The railway to be built by Brazil will remedy this unfavourable situation, will afford a better outlet for north-eastern Bolivia, and should promote a more rapid development of that region, which is covered with an admirable system of navigable rivers above the falls of the Beni and Mamoré. Connected with the upper Paraguay are Puerto Pacheco on Bahia Negra, Puerto Suarez (about 1600 m. from Buenos Aires by river), on Lake Cáceres, through which passes the bulk of Bolivian trade in that direction, and Puerto Quijarro, on Lake Gaiba, a projected port said to be more accessible than any other in this region. Whenever the trade of southern Bolivia becomes important enough to warrant the expense of opening a navigable channel in the Pilcomayo, direct river communication with Buenos Aires and Montevideo will be possible.
Industries.—Stock-raising was one of the earliest industries of the country after that of mining. Horses, formerly successfully raised in certain parts of the north, have not flourished there since the introduction of a peste from Brazil, but some are now raised in La Paz and other departments of the temperate region. The Jesuit founders of the Mojos missions took cattle with them when they entered that region to labour among the Indians, with the result that the Mojos and Chiquitos llanos were soon well stocked, and have since afforded an unfailing supply of beef for the neighbouring inland markets. Their inaccessibility and the costs of transportation have prevented a development of the industry and a consequent improvement in stock, but the persistency of the industry under conditions so unfavourable is evidence that the soil and climate are suited to its requirements. Farther south the llanos of Chuquisaca and Tarija also sustain large herds of cattle on the more elevated districts, and on the well-watered plains of the Chaco. There are small districts in La Paz, Potosi and Cochabamba, also, where cattle are raised. Apart from the cattle driven into the mining districts for consumption, a number of saladeros are employed in preparing (usually salting and sun-drying) beef for the home markets. The hides are exported. Goats are raised in the warm and temperate regions, and sheep for their wool in the latter. On the higher and colder plateaus much attention is given to the breeding of llamas and alpacas. Another industry of a different character is that of breeding the fur-bearing chinchilla (C. laniger), which is a native of the higher plateaus. The Bolivian government has prohibited the exportation of the live animals and is encouraging their production.
The agricultural resources of the republic are varied and of great value, but their development has been slow and hesitating. The cultivation of cereals, fruits and vegetables in the temperate and warm valleys of the Andes followed closely the mining settlements. Sugar-cane also was introduced at an early date, but as the demand for sugar was limited the product was devoted chiefly to the manufacture of rum, which is the principal object of cane cultivation in Bolivia to-day. The climatic conditions are highly favourable for this product in eastern Bolivia, but it is heavily taxed and is restricted to a small home market. Rice is another exotic grown in the tropical districts of eastern Bolivia, but the quantity produced is far from sufficient to meet local requirements. Tobacco of a fair quality is produced in the warm regions of the east, including the yungas valleys of La Paz and Cochabamba; cacáo of a superior grade is grown in the department of Beni, where large orchards were planted at the missions, and also in the warm Andean valleys of La Paz and Cochabamba; and coffee of the best flavour is grown in some of the warmer districts of the eastern Andes. The two indigenous products which receive most attention, perhaps, are those of quinoa and coca. Quinoa is grown in large quantities, and is a staple article of food among the natives. Coca is highly
