Bolivia Emigration and Immigration

Online Sources

 * 1946-1971 Free Access: Africa, Asia and Europe, Passenger Lists of Displaced Persons, 1946-1971 Ancestry, free. Index and images. Passenger lists of immigrants leaving Germany and other European ports and airports between 1946-1971. The majority of the immigrants listed in this collection are displaced persons - Holocaust survivors, former concentration camp inmates and Nazi forced laborers, as well as refugees from Central and Eastern European countries and some non-European countries.

Offices and Archives to Contact
Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia Calle Dalence, 4. 793 Sucre. Bolivia Tel.: (00 591 ) 46460207 E-mail: abnb@entelnet.bo Website
 * Ministerio del Interior: In 1888, this ministry took charge of the Colonisation section, thus becoming responsible for fostering foreign immigration and promoting the establishment of colonies in Bolivia.
 * Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores: Holds the census of foreign nationals from 1942 to 1953.

La Dirección General de Migración Avenida Camacho entre Bueno y Loayza La Paz, Bolivia Phone: (591-2) 2110960 Fax: (591-2) 2110955 Email: comunicacion@migracion.gob.bo
 * It has several relevant series for this topic such as the census of foreign nationals, family ties, passports, etc.

Finding the Town of Origin in Bolivia
If you are using emigration/immigration records to find the name of your ancestors' town in Bolivia, see Bolivia Finding Town of Origin for additional research strategies.

Background

 * Bolivia comparatively has experienced far less immigration than its South American neighbors. Nevertheless, small groups of Germans, Spaniards, Italians, a small Yugoslavian 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 and Chinese) and West Asians (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.

Bolivia Emigration and Immigration
"Emigration" means moving out of a country. "Immigration" means moving into a country. Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or arriving (immigrating) in the country. These sources may be passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, or records of passports issued. The information in these records may include the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces. Sometimes they also show family groups.

Japanese Bolivians

 * Since Bolivia has no coast, the 'first Japanese settlers came from neighboring Peru where their contracts ended prior to the 1950s.
 * Most Japanese settlers had origins from Okinawa, while the rest from Gifu, Hiroshima, Kanagawa and Osaka prefectures.
 * Some of the settlers left Peru for Bolivia after epidemics of disease hit the settlers in Peru.
 * In 1899, Mapiri River Region in La Paz experienced the first entrance of 91 Japanese workers assigned for rubber plantations. Since then, Andes Mountains continued to attract few more hundreds of Japanese laborers, who luckily caught work in mining and railroad construction.
 * The inland Amazon River region appeared as the second main destination for the workers, who also came through Peru to work on rubber plantations in northwestern Bolivia.
 * The end of World War I and Great Depression shifted Japanese workers in the rubber and mining industries respectively. The only places in Bolivia that survived changes were the town of Riberalta and La Paz, which served as the Japanese commercial activities.
 * In the 1930s, most Japanese remained as settlers and many brought wives from their home country while most married local women; these made difference that divided the community.
 * After World War II, the government warmly permitted Japanese refugees. Treaties after 1954 guided in a new chapter of Japanese Bolivian history and the massive influx of agricultural settlers from U.S.-controlled Okinawa and mainland Japan. The need of relocating surplus populations from war-torn Japan met the Bolivian government's wish to develop the eastern lower lands in Santa Cruz Department. With the financial help of the Japanese government, Colonia Okinawa and Colonia San Juan de Yapacaní were established.

German Bolivians
German immigrants began to arrive in Bolivia in the 18th century, and many more arrived in the 19th century. During World War II, Bolivia ceased diplomatic relations with Germany and expelled many Germans. Many German Jews immigrated to Bolivia during the war.

For Further Reading
There are additional sources listed in the FamilySearch Catalog: