For more than 100 years, landlocked Bolivia has maintained a naval fleet in Lake Titicaca, some 12,470 feet (3,800 m) above sea level, high in the Andes mountains. South America's poorest country lost its Pacific coastline to Chile during the 19th-century War of the Pacific. So Bolivia's navy has been relegated to more mundane tasks, such as chasing down smugglers and delivering supplies to remote areas.
However, in 2010, neighboring Peru granted Bolivia limited access to the sea. While it's not a return of the land that was lost to Chile in the war, which ended in 1884, the agreement with Peru does allow Bolivia to build dock facilities, initiate a coastal naval presence, and ramp up trade operations.
More about Bolivia's navy:
- Under the new 99-year deal, Bolivia can build a Pacific coast annex for its naval school. There are more than 5,000 sailors in the Bolivian Naval Force.
- The Bolivian navy has 173 vessels, many of which are stationed on Lake Titicaca. Patrol routes include rivers connected to the Amazon, often a hotbed of smuggling activity.
- Peru, which also lost territory in the War of the Pacific, actually granted Bolivia use of a 3-mile (5 km) strip of beach back in 1992, but the move was basically symbolic. Transportation and infrastructure barriers were too difficult to overcome.