Legal information, not legal advice. Every jurisdiction page carries its verification status and sources.

Bolivia

Plurinational State of Bolivia

Civil law with indigenous jurisdictionUnitary presidential republicReviewed· 2026-08-02
Capital
Sucre
Population
12,400,000
Languages
Spanish, Quechua
Currency
BOB

Bolivia · Constitution

Political Constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia

Approved by referendum in January 2009 after a constituent assembly. It refounds the state as plurinational, recognises thirty-six indigenous nations and their languages, entrenches autonomies at departmental, regional, municipal and indigenous level, and creates the Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal whose members are chosen by popular election — a mechanism unique in the region.

The constitutional text

Approved by referendum in January 2009 after a constituent assembly. It refounds the state as plurinational, recognises thirty-six indigenous nations and their languages, entrenches autonomies at departmental, regional, municipal and indigenous level, and creates the Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal whose members are chosen by popular election — a mechanism unique in the region.

Separation of powers

Unitary with autonomies. Nine departments, municipalities, regions and indigenous territories each have elected assemblies and defined legislative competence under the Framework Law of Autonomies, which makes Bolivia substantially more decentralised than its unitary label suggests.

Found something out of date on Bolivia · Constitution?

Corrections are reviewed against the primary source before anything changes.

Report a correction