Day 155 - Multiethnicity

Multiethnicity

When you arrive in Bolivia, you quickly discover that there is not one typical Bolivian.  It is a multiethnic nation that has had a history of battling for equality across racial and ethnic lines.

Spanish is spoken by almost everyone in Bolivia, but not everyone.  Quechua, Aymara, and Guarani are still the first language of tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands in the case of Quechua.  Besides those, there are another 34 recognized languages in Bolivia.  A full 30% of the population speak Quechua and 25% speak Aymara, meaning that over 55% speak an indigenous language.

About 60% of the population is considered indigenous.  The largest groups are the Aymara from the area around La Paz, a group conquered by the Inca, but who managed to keep their culture alive within the Empire, and the Quechua, which are the Inca people.  The Quechua and Aymara are close to each other in population, but the Quechua are spread much wider, into Chile and Argentina to the south, and Peru and Ecuador in the north.  They are the largest “Indian” (American indigenous) tribe in the Americas.  The Aymara and Quechua make up what is called the Andean culture.

Half of Bolivia is in the tropical lowlands, or lower mountains of the Andes in the east.  They are occupied by their own indigenous groups, including the Guaraní, Chiquitano, and Moxos.

About a quarter of all Bolivians are Mestizo, a term that means mixed indigenous and European.  They are spread throughout the country, and often identify themselves with the local indigenous population.

Those of European descent tend to be located in the larger cities, such as La Paz, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, and Tarija.  Most are of Spanish descent, though Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Lebanese, and a host of other European countries are represented here.  There is a German Mennonite colony that numbers around 70,000 in the Santa Cruz department.  It is not uncommon to see people in the traditional Mennonite dress in the city of Santa Cruz.

The Spanish brought slaves from Africa with them when they conquered Bolivia.  Eventually these people were freed and settled in an area near La Paz called the Yungas.

There is a significant Japanese population found in the Okinawa Colony near Santa Cruz.  Asians, mostly Japanese, Chinese, and Korean are found in the big cities of Bolivia.

Traditionally most Bolivians are Catholic, though as a percent of the population it is on the decline; only about 80% now.  Evangelical and other Protestant denominations are on the rise, now numbering around 15%.  There are small numbers of about every religion you can think of in Bolivia, including a little under 1% who still follow the indigenous religions.

The history of voting rights, as in the United States, show a gradual democratization of Bolivia.  Originally the founders of Bolivia feared a mod rule, so granted voting rights to those who spoke Spanish, owned a sizable amount of land, or were skilled in the arts and sciences.  The right to vote was concentrated in the hands of a very small minority of European Bolivians, and some Mestizos.  Even with that small concentration of power, Bolivia suffered from one revolution after another, as rival factions tried to take control of the country.

In the 1930s Bolivia experienced a war that drained the country.  The Chaco War increased tensions between the middle class, the military, and the ruling elite.  In the 1940s voting rights for women were given for the first time.  It was followed by a revolution in the 1950s that gave the right to vote to peasants, though not fully achieved until the 1960s.  Still the White and Mestizo upper class managed to control Bolivia for decades to come.

It was not until 2005 that Evo Morales, the first indigenous president in Bolivia, was elected.  He has strived to end social injustice and inequality, especially among the indigenous population.  It has taken close to 200 years, and problems still exist, but Bolivia has finally achieved equality for all in this multiethnic nation.