Since the earliest days of independence, Bolivia’s foreign policy has been largely determined by geographical circumstances. This study examines the related aspects of location, accessibility, exploitation, attempted colonisation and boundary changes in Bolivia since 1825 and reviews the political and economic geography of the western, northern and southern sectors today. Dr Fifer examines Bolivia’s role as a buffer state and the progressive reduction of its territory to about half of what was originally claimed in exchange, effectively, for railways and transit agreements. The consequences of the country’s position in the South American interior have been no less evident in the wider context of international relations and this study also traces the influence of location in the political and commercial attitudes displayed towards Bolivia by Britain and the USA during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Finally the long-term effects of a landlocked position on the country’s national growth and development are reviewed.