Culture of Bolivia

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Bolivia is a country in South America located at the Andes mountains. It has a significant Native American population which mixed Spanish cultural elements with their ancestors' traditions. The Spanish-speaking population mainly follows the Western customs.

1 Festivals
- 1.1 Dances
2 Clothing
3 Music
4 Writers
5 Books
6 External links

[edit] Festivals

Pagan rites from the pre-Columbian era are still common during the religious festivals of the Idians. The clothing used during the festivals reminds the visitor of the pre-Columbian Indians and the 16th century Spaniards.

[edit] Dances

Many dances and songs contain elements from both the native and the Mediterranean culture; obviously they suffered a strong Spanish influence during colonial times.

[edit] Clothing

It is fashionable among Bolivian women of indigenous descent wear a skirt called a pollera. It was originally a Spanish peasant skirt that the colonial authorities forced the indigenous women to wear. Now it is a symbol of pride in being indigenous and is also considered a status symbol.

Another fashion is the bowler hat, which was adopted from the British.

[edit] Music

Music is played during the festivals and the dances. Some tunes contain strong Spanish influences.

The most common musical instruments are:

sicu (also "sicus") or zampoña
quena
tarka or tharqa
pinkillo
skin drums
bronze gongs
copper bells
charango: Has five pairs of strings and looks like a small guitar. Traditionally it was made from the shells of armadillos, but today it is mostly made of wood.