Bolivia remains a mysterious country of Latin America to many people while it is a very interesting country to explore.
Pink dolphins as a national heritage of Bolivia
Have you ever seen pink dolphins? This time scientists have given the name to this mammal based on its actual colour rather than trying to make up something fancy. Indeed, these dolphins are pink which makes them look quite unusual.
These unique creatures are native to Bolivia and they are officially considered as a Natural Heritage of this country.
You might be wondering how it is even possible for Bolivia to have dolphins in the first place since it does not have access to a sea or an ocean? Well, that is another curious fact as pink dolphins are actually river dolphins and many of them are present in the Amazon river.
Bolivian official languages
This fun fact is unknown to many people who have never read anything about Bolivia, however, if you go for any summary about the country, you will certainly find this crucial piece of information about this country.
While Bolivia is seen as a Spanish-speaking country by many people, it is actually only one of the 37 official languages of Bolivia! The rest of the official languages are all indigenous languages which makes this country a real melting pot. It is amazing just to think about how many cultures there are living together on a relatively small area.
There are two capitals in Bolivia
You might have also heard this curious fact about Bolivia. While many people La Paz is the capital of this country of Latin America, this is an administrative capital and its finance and government centre. At the same time, the real official capital of this country is Sucre.
By the way, La Paz is widely known as the highest administrative capital in the world.
Potosi
You should also know that one of the Bolivian cities is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This city is Potosi which is highly valued for a large amount of preserved colonial architecture.
Marital status affects voting age
A curious fact about Bolivia is that it has different voting age for married and unmarried people. Here, married people are allowed to vote when they are already 18 years old, however, if they are still single, they will have to wait until their age reaches 21 years. Only then they will be allowed to vote.
The Inca Empire
If you are interested in culture and fascinated by the history of the Inca Empire, you should know that Bolivia was its part. To be precise, it was the central part of the Tiwanaky or Tiahuanaco empire which lasted for around a hundred of years starting from the 15th century.
Zebras of La Paz
If you go to La Paz, you will meet there zebras who are helping people to cross the streets. Actually, these are not animals. Zebras are only people wearing zebra costumes and making crossing the road for children safe.
Bolivian cultural treasures
The culture of Bolivia is focused on families which are extremely important for Bolivians. It is very popular in this country to live with multiple generations of your family in the same house. The roles in the families are quite traditional with mean being typically breadwinners while women are more concentrated on household work.
When it comes to the values Bolivians particularly value in people, they are honesty, kindness and gentleness.
The export economy of Bolivia
If you love Brazil nuts, in all likelihood, you purchase the ones which came from Bolivia. Despite its obvious reference to Brazil, a Brazil nut is widely grown in Bolivia and make sit one of the most important products for export. With the average amount of 25 million tones a year, Bolivian Brazil nut makes 70% of the world supply.
Other important products exported by Bolivia are quinoa, soybeans and other soy products. At the same time, Bolivia exports a wide variety of valuable natural resources such as lead, gold, zinc, silver and especially natural gas. The latter one builds economy of Bolivia which has the second to largest gas resources in South America. Unfortunately, certain issues in the politics of this country are not allowing people to benefit from these rich natural resources to the maximum level.