National / Regional Profiles
Included Nations/Regions: Bolivia [x], South America [x]
Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1
Religion Indexes (Bolivia)
|
State Funding of Religion Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 96/253 |
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 100/253 |
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 60/253 |
State Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 98/253 |
Bolivia: Major World Religions (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Buddhists, Chinese folk-religionists, Jews, Muslims, New religionists, Spiritists.
Bolivia: Largest Religious Groups (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Atheists, doubly-affiliated, Mahayanists, Orthodox, Sunnis, unaffiliated Christians.
Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2
| Religion | Bolivia [x] |
South America [x] |
The World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baha'is | 2.16% | 0.16% | 0.11% |
| Buddhists | 0.07% | 0.17% | 6.83% |
| --Mahayanists | 0.07% | 0.17% | 4.89% |
| --Theravadins | --- | 0.00% | 1.72% |
| --Lamaists | --- | --- | 0.23% |
| Chinese folk-religionists | 0.02% | 0.03% | 5.98% |
| Christians | 92.83% | 91.54% | 32.16% |
| --unaffiliated Christians | 0.26% | 0.41% | 1.46% |
| --Orthodox | 0.02% | 0.23% | 3.75% |
| --Catholics | 81.38% | 75.74% | 15.90% |
| --Protestants | 9.44% | 10.06% | 7.51% |
| --Independents | 4.54% | 9.78% | 5.00% |
| Daoists | --- | --- | 0.11% |
| Confucianists | --- | 0.00% | 0.11% |
| Ethnic religionists | 2.81% | 0.53% | 3.65% |
| Hindus | --- | 0.09% | 13.58% |
| --Vaishnavites | --- | 0.03% | 5.15% |
| --Shaivites | --- | 0.03% | 4.86% |
| --Saktists | --- | 0.04% | 3.57% |
| Jains | --- | 0.00% | 0.08% |
| Jews | 0.00% | 0.08% | 0.19% |
| Muslims | 0.02% | 0.34% | 24.20% |
| --Sunnis | 0.02% | 0.25% | 21.56% |
| --Shias | --- | 0.10% | 2.44% |
| --Islamic schismatics | --- | 0.00% | 0.21% |
| New religionists | 0.02% | 0.43% | 0.85% |
| Shintoists | --- | 0.00% | 0.04% |
| Sikhs | --- | 0.00% | 0.34% |
| Spiritists | 0.02% | 2.61% | 0.19% |
| Zoroastrians | --- | --- | 0.00% |
| Non-Religious | 2.04% | 4.03% | 11.57% |
| --Agnostics | 1.90% | 3.48% | 9.65% |
| --Atheists | 0.14% | 0.55% | 1.92% |
Religious demographics (Bolivia)3
The country has an area of 424,164 square miles and a population of 9 million. According to a 2001 survey conducted by the National Statistical Institute, 78 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, 16 percent Protestant or evangelical, 3 percent follow other religions of Christian origin, 2.5 percent practice no religion, and less than 0.2 percent claim affiliation with non-Christian faiths, including Islam, the Baha'i Faith, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto. Of those who habitually practice their religion, 56.5 percent are Catholic, 36.5 percent Protestant or evangelical, and 7 percent belong to other Christian denominations. In urban areas, 80 percent of the population is Catholic, while 14 percent is Protestant or evangelical. In rural areas, 74 percent of the population is Catholic, while 20.5 percent is Protestant or evangelical.
Approximately 55 percent of the population identifies itself as indigenous: 29 percent Quechua, 24 percent Aymara, 1 percent Chiquitano, and 1 percent Guaraní. Several other indigenous groups are present, although none represents more than 0.5 percent of the population. An estimated 30 percent of the population identifies itself as mestizo (of mixed indigenous and European ancestry) and 15 percent as white.
The indigenous population is higher in rural areas, where the formal Catholic Church tends to be weaker due to a lack of resources and to indigenous cultural resistance to church efforts to replace traditional attitudes with more orthodox Catholic practices and beliefs. For many individuals, identification with Catholicism for centuries has coexisted with attachment to traditional beliefs and rituals, with a focus on the Pachamama or Mother Earth figure, and on Ekeko, a traditional indigenous god of luck, harvests, and general abundance, whose festival is celebrated widely on January 24. Some indigenous leaders have sought to discard all forms of Christianity; however, this effort has not led to a significant increase in the number of "indigenous-belief only" worshippers.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) estimates membership in the Mormon Church at approximately 140,000. Mormons are present throughout the country and have a particularly large presence in Cochabamba, where their temple is one of the largest in the world. The roughly 600-member Jewish community is spread throughout the country and has synagogues in La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz. There are an estimated one thousand Muslims, both Bolivian-born converts and immigrants. Muslims have cultural centers that also serve as mosques in La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Cochabamba, predominantly for Sunni Muslims. Shi'a Muslims have a small community in La Paz. Korean immigrants have their own church in La Paz. Many Korean immigrants and the majority of Chinese and Japanese immigrants settled in La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz, where there is a university founded by Korean immigrants that has evangelical and Presbyterian ties. There are Buddhist and Shinto communities throughout the country as well as a substantial Baha'i community.
Summary Information |
Bolivia [x] |
South America [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | South America | The World | -- |
| Total Population4 | 10,724,705 | 418,447,196 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Area in square miles | 424,164 | 6,850,853 | 196,939,900 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 68.7 | 73.9 | 71.9 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 7,090.0 | 13,985.5 | 16,101.0 |
| Description of Polity Score6 | (democratic) | -- | -- |
| Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Official Religion(s)8 | Indigenous Ethnoreligion | -- | -- |
Bolivia - Google Map
Religion and the State
Religion and State Collection (2014) |
Bolivia [x] |
|---|---|
| Is proselytizing Legal?1 | Yes |
| Is religious registration someties denied?1 | Registration is required but sometimes denied |
| What are the consequences of registration?1 | Groups need not register but registration is allowed or encouraged. This encouragement may include benefits given only to registered religions. |
| Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 | Multi-Tiered Preferences 1 |
| The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 | Optional, or there is a choice between a religion and a non-religion course on topics like ethics, philosophy, or religions of the world. |
| The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 | Government funding of religion goes primarily to one religion but at least some other religions receive some funds. |
| The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 | There are no religious requirements or oaths necessary in order to hold office. |
Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]
Features of Constitution |
Bolivia [x] |
|---|---|
| Is there a constitution?9 | Yes |
| Does the constitution state an official religion?10 | no [ Article 4 ] |
| Does the constitution provide for freedom of religion?10 | yes [ Articles 4, 21(3) ] |
| Does the constitution protect religious equality/non-discrimination?10 | yes [ Article 14(II) ] |
Constitution |
Bolivia [x] |
|---|---|
| Constitution Year10 | 2009 |
| Last Amended10 | (n/a) |
| Source10 | Constitute Project |
| Translation10 | Source is an English translation. |
| Current as of10 | July 19, 2018 |
Socio-Economic Measures
Education |
Bolivia [x] |
South America [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Literacy Rate, in percentage of adult population12 | 92.5 | 94.2 | 86.2 |
| Net Primary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 88.5 | 91.6 | 89.6 |
| Net Secondary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 77.6 | 78.1 | 65.1 |
Economic Measures |
Bolivia [x] |
South America [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Domestic Product, in billions of current U.S. Dollars5 | 33.8 | -- | 75,845.1 |
| Imports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 10,728.2 | 524,614.4 | 20,150,355.0 |
| Exports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 8,216.8 | 529,156.5 | 20,790,015.7 |
| Economic Freedom Index, scaled from 0 min to 100 max14 | 47.7 | 58.6 | 62.9 |
| Human Development Index15 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| 2013 Gender Inequality Index (GII)16 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 7,090.0 | 13,985.5 | 16,101.0 |
Military Measures |
Bolivia [x] |
South America [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 117 | 0.001153 | 0.004356825 | 0.005162584 |
| 2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 | 1.5 | 1.7 | -- |
Demographic and Health Measures |
Bolivia [x] |
South America [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population4 | 10,724,705 | 418,447,196 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 68.7 | 73.9 | 71.9 |
| 2012 Net Migration Rate (migrants per 1,000 population)5 | -125.0 | -902.8 | -- |
| Urban Percentage of Total Population13 | 68.9 | 83.6 | 54.3 |
| Urban Population Growth, by percentage13 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 2.0 |
| Fertility Rate, in total births per woman13 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 2.5 |
| Infant Mortality Rate, in deaths per 1000 live births13 | 29.5 | 13.6 | 30.5 |
| HIV Prevalence, in percentage of population ages 15-49 with HIV13 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society
Constitution Clauses Related to Religion
Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Bolivia)10
Preamble
… We populated this sacred Mother Earth …
… with the strength of our Pachamama and with gratefulness to God …
Article 4.
The State respects and guarantees freedom of religion and spiritual beliefs, according to their view of the world. The State is independent of religion.
Article 14.
…
(II) The State prohibits and punishes all forms of discrimination based on … religious belief … that attempts to or results in the annulment of or harm to the equal recognition, enjoyment or exercise of the rights of all people.
Article 21.
Bolivians have the following rights:
…
(3) To freedom of belief, spirituality, religion and cult, expressed individually or collectively, in public and in private, for legal purposes.
…
Article 30.
…
(II) … the nations and rural native indigenous peoples enjoy the following rights:
…
(2) To their cultural identity, religious belief, spiritualities, practices and customs, and their own world view.
…
Article 86. [Pertaining to education]
Freedom of thought, faith and religious education, as well as the spirituality of the nations and the rural native indigenous peoples, shall be recognized and guaranteed in the educational centers. Mutual respect and coexistence among persons of diverse religions shall be promoted, without dogmatic imposition. There shall be no discrimination on the basis of religious choice with respect to the acceptance and permanence of students in these centers.
Article 87.
The operation of contracted educational units for purposes of social service, which offer free access and are non-profit, shall be recognized and respected. They shall operate under the supervision of public authorities, respecting the right of the administration of religious entities over said educational units …
Article 99.
…
(III) The natural, architectural, paleontological, historic, and documentary riches, and those derived from religious cults and folklore, are cultural patrimony of the Bolivian people, in accordance with the law.
Article 104.
Everyone has the right to sports, physical culture and recreation. The State guarantees access to sports without distinction as to … religion …
Article 238.
Persons who fall within the following grounds are ineligibility to hold elective public office:
…
(5) The ministers of any religious cult who have not resigned at least three months prior to the date of the election.
Article 304.
The rural native indigenous autonomies shall exercise the following exclusive authorities:
…
(10) Tangible and intangible cultural patrimony. The safeguard, stimulation and promotion of its … religious and cultural places …
…
Variable Details
Sources
1 The Religion and State (RAS) Project is a university-based project located at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and is directed by Jonathan Fox. Round 3 of the RAS includes all countries with populations of 250,000 or more as well as a sampling of smaller states and offers annual measures from 1990 to 2014. The methods used for conducting the RAS3 collection and the complete codebook can be reviewed online. Or, the codebook and data file can be downloaded free of charge here. For details on how the RAS indexes reported on the ARDA’s National Profiles were coded, constructed, and placed into categories, click here.2 Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).
3 The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.
4 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Demographics reports the estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. The RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivision within Christianity and Islam. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database.
5 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
6 The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) is engaged in innovative research on the problem of political violence within the structural context of the dynamic global system. The Center supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal-systemic development processes. The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure." A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission. *Note: Polity Scores range from -10 to 10 and include the following categories: -10 to -9: strongly autocratic, -8 to -7 autocratic, -6 to -4 weakly autocratic, -3 to +3 anocratic, +4 to +6 weakly democratic, +7 to +8 democratic, +9 to +10 strongly democratic.
7 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between seven high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual, and collects data to measure these principles. A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission.
8 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Government Religious Preference (GRP) measures government-level favoritism toward, and disfavor against, 30 religious denominations. A series of ordered categorical variables index the state's institutional favoritism in 28 different ways. The variables are combined to form five composite indices for five broad components of state-religion: official status, religious education, financial support, regulatory burdens, and freedom of practice. The five components' composites in turn are further combined into a single composite score, the GRP score. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson, the principal investigator of the World Christian Database, the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database, and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia series.
9 Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
10 Text from country constitutions was copied from primary documents obtained online using a variety of sources, including the Constitute Project, World Constitutions Illustrated, and government sources. When the text was in a language other than English, it was translated to English by ARDA staff or with web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to differentiate religious content from non-religious content. Text is current to the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at
11 Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that offers measures of the extent to which governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
12 The CIA's World Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the now defunct National Intelligence Survey (NIS) studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Factbook, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The year 2010 marks the 67th year of the World Factbook and its predecessor programs. The maps and flags are also from the World Factbook, which is an open source.
13 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
14 The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world. A set of objective economic criteria are used to study and grade various countries for the annual publication of the Index of Economic Freedom. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
15 The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
16 The 2013 Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). The health dimension is measured by two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate. The empowerment dimension is also measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex and by secondary and higher education attainment levels. The labor dimension is measured by women’s participation in the work force. Source: The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
17 Military data is drawn from the National Material Capabilities (v4.0) dataset, which is a component of and hosted by the Correlates of War Project. The Correlates of War Project seeks to facilitate the collection, dissemination, and use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations. Correlates of War data may be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
18 The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom reports. The 2003, 2005, and 2008 reports were coded by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The GRI, GFI and SRI values reported on the National Profiles are averages from the 2003, 2005, and 2008 International Religious Freedom reports, while the Religious Persecution measure is an average from the 2005 and 2008 reports. All other measures derived from the International Religious Freedom reports were coded from the reports 2008. A data file with all of the 2008 coding, as well as data files with other cross national collections are available for preview and download from the data archive on this site. Used with permission.
19 The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights for 202 countries, annually from 1981-2011. It is designed for use by scholars and students who seek to test theories about the causes and consequences of human rights violations, as well as policy makers and analysts who seek to estimate the human rights effects of a wide variety of institutional changes and public policies including democratization, economic aid, military aid, structural adjustment, and humanitarian intervention. The full CIRI Human Rights Dataset can be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
