Bolivia
The only nation on Earth named after the man who helped free it, and a welcome that stretches from the Andes to the Amazon.
Bolivia is the only country in the world named directly after a person. In 1825, after Antonio Jose de Sucre's victory at the Battle of Ayacucho helped secure independence from Spain, the new republic took the name of Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan general who had led much of South America's fight for freedom. Sucre, later chosen as the constitutional capital, carries the name of the man who made that victory possible. It is a small, human example of the same idea this whole hemisphere is built on, that one leader's cause can end up naming a nation.
The national motto, "La Union es la Fuerza," Spanish for "Unity is Strength," was written to capture exactly that spirit. It is a small piece of wisdom shared across the Americas in a hundred different words, the same common ground this whole project stands on.
Get to Know Bolivia
La Paz is the seat of government, Sucre the constitutional capital. Official languages: Spanish along with Aymara, Quechua, Guarani, and dozens of other native languages. Currency: Boliviano, named after Bolivar himself.
Fun Facts
- Bolivia is the only country in the world named directly after a person.
- La Paz sits roughly 3,650 meters above sea level, making it the highest administrative capital in the world.
- The Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat on Earth and one of the planet's richest sources of lithium.
Why Visit
Bolivia holds the Salar de Uyuni, a mirror of salt stretching to the horizon, alongside Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, shared with Peru. La Paz and Sucre offer two capitals worth exploring in one trip, and the old Yungas Road, once called the world's most dangerous highway, now draws mountain bikers from everywhere. Between the Andes, the Altiplano, and the edge of the Amazon, Bolivia packs an entire continent's worth of landscape into one country.
Made in Bolivia
Bolivia is known for quinoa grown high on the Altiplano, alpaca wool textiles woven in the country's highland communities, and the silver craftsmanship that has come out of Potosi for centuries. This space is reserved for a future Local Marketplace Spotlight, featuring Trust Standard certified Bolivian businesses once that pillar of the Americas Ecosystem exists. Soon.