ABSTRACT
In its constitution and in the development of its functions, Bolivia’s borders have undergone enormous positive changes that are reflected in academic reports and national policies. This chapter describes, in the first place, the great outlines of the constitution of the borders with each one of its neighboring countries. As a result of dispossession due to international conflicts, Bolivia was left with half of its original territory. The next part of the chapter describes the process of structuring the country’s communication networks, mainly railways, based on an extroverted economy, in the short era of both rubber and minerals, which lasts until today. The literature reflects the diplomatic history of the border areas and the roads that connect them as inhospitable, distant, and disconnected places in the country. Its role in the country’s development is less important, despite its growing importance in the economy and in population flows. The same is shown in the field of public policies, where borders seem marginal and lawless spaces. In this regard, border policies were always subordinated to national plans, showing their weak incorporation into national life. It was only at the end of the twentieth century that local State policies and mechanisms appeared to provide municipal fiscal resources that strengthened the State presence on the borders.
