Deaf in Bolivia


Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction / History

There are 23,000 people who use or would use Bolivian Sign Language (LSB) if they were in contact with other sign language users (or 0.25% of the population).

Modern Bolivian Sign Language traces its start to the 70s involving American missionaries; since then it has overtaken any sign language that had been used previously in Bolivia and has been contextualized by adding local signs. According to a study comparing LSB to various dialects of American Sign Language in a variety of USA states, LSB is a member of the ASL family of languages. It was found that on average, LSB was more closely related to a majority of other ASL dialects than some ASL dialects were to each other.

Some signs have been contextualized to Spanish, for example, the ASL word for 'church' has the sign for the letter 'C' tapping the back of the hand. In LSB, this is changed to the letter 'I' instead, since the Spanish word for 'church' is iglesia.

Only 1.6% of LSB speakers have been incorporated into educational or work settings. Since Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in South America, it can be assumed that the Deaf are among these poorest and among the 60% of the population estimated to be below the poverty level.
There are a large number of clubs, associations and other groups the Deaf have organized. These are active in all the major cities throughout Bolivia.


Prayer Points

Scripture Prayers for the Deaf in Bolivia.


Profile Source:   Anonymous  

People Name General Deaf
People Name in Country Deaf
Pronunciation def
Alternate Names
Population this Country 93,000
Population all Countries 49,661,000
Total Countries 216
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 3
Unreached No
Frontier People Group No
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed
People ID 19007
ROP3 Code 114916
ROP25 Code 301989
ROP25 Name Deaf
Country Bolivia
Region America, Latin
Continent South America
10/40 Window No
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank Not ranked
Location in Country Cochabamba, La Paz, and Santa Cruz departments; El Beni Department, Riberalta municipality.   Source:  Ethnologue 2016
Country Bolivia
Region America, Latin
Continent South America
10/40 Window No
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank Not ranked
Location in Country Cochabamba, La Paz, and Santa Cruz departments; El Beni Department, Riberalta municipality..   Source:  Ethnologue 2016

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Primary Religion: Christianity
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
0.05 %
Christianity  (Evangelical Unknown)
90.97 %
Ethnic Religions
3.33 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
0.01 %
Non-Religious
3.74 %
Other / Small
1.90 %
Unknown
0.00 %
Primary Language Bolivian Sign Language (93,000 speakers)
Language Code bvl   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Unknown
Total Languages 1
Primary Language Bolivian Sign Language (93,000 speakers)
Language Code bvl   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 1
People Groups Speaking Bolivian Sign Language

Primary Language:  Bolivian Sign Language

Bible Translation Status:  Translation Started

Resource Type Resource Name Source
None reported  
Photo Source Anonymous 
Profile Source Anonymous 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.



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