You learn something every day. Bolivia used to have a seacoast. That territory was lost in the
War of the Pacific (1879-83):
"... fought in western South America, between Chile and allied Bolivia
and Peru in a variety of terrain, including the Pacific Ocean, Atacama
Desert and Peru's deserts and mountainous regions in the Andes... Chile
acquired the Peruvian territory of Tarapacá, the disputed Bolivian
department of Litoral (cutting Bolivia off from the sea), as well as
temporary control over the Peruvian provinces of Tacna and Arica."
Modern-day Bolivians still want to
reclaim that land.
For more than a century, Bolivia has done a lot of magical thinking to
support its claim that this condition is only temporary. The country has
a star for El Litoral (The Shore) on its coat of arms, and it hosts a
yearly pageant to choose a beauty queen for the former territory. Chile,
for its part, hasn’t budged.
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