Bolivia is a landlocked country in South America with a large indigenous heritage. The country is named after Simon Bolivar. Independent since 1825, the country was wrecked by instability and lost its Pacific coast to Chile. The 1932-1936 Chaco war against Paraguay led to another humiliating defeat. Discontent with Bolivia's oligarchic regime led to a revolution in 1952. After a series of military coups in the 1970s the country returned to democratic rule in the 1980s. In 2006 Evo Morales became the country's first indigenous president.
