Bolivia comparatively has experienced far less immigration than its South American neighbors. Nevertheless, small groups of Germans, Spaniards, Italians, a small Croatian community, and others live in the country. The Basques were a large source of Spanish and European immigration from the late 16th to early 20th centuries, most came as shepherds and ranchers to Bolivia's vast livestock industry.
Similar to other Latin American nations, Bolivia has experienced a small Japanese migration. Beginning in 1899 a small migration of Japanese began that continued until the 1970s. Small Japanese communities were formed in the Bolivian department of Santa Cruz. Other East Asians (Taiwanese, Koreans, and Chinese) and West Asians such as the (Lebanese and Syrians) developed their own communities in Bolivia in the late 20th century. During the 20th century Bolivia received a small number of Jews, mainly Ashkenazi.
Country of birth of Bolivian residents According to the 2001 Census, 87,338 of the Bolivian resident population were born outside Bolivia, representing 1.06% of the total Bolivian resident population.
Place Country 2001 1992 1 27,094 17,829 2 14,428 8,586 3 9,377 6,607 4 8,824 5,805 5 5,650 1,337 6 4,163 3,909 7 3,216 2,503 8 3,201 955 9 1,635 1,435 10 1,387 1,159 11 1,281 1,099 12 1,244 529 13 939 806 14 734 718 15 652 N/D 16 533 N/D Other countries 7,180 6,530TOTAL91,538 59,807Source: CEPALInvestigación de la Migración Internacional en Latinoamérica (IMILA) Centro Latinoamericano y Caribeño de Demografía (CELADE). Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
References
La Inmigración japonesa en Bolivia: Estudios historicos y socio-economicos ed. Yasuo Wakatsuki and Iyo Kunimoto