Bolivia is a town in and the county seat of Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 149 at the 2020 census.
History
The town was settled by European Americans in the 1890s and was incorporated in 1911. One theory about the name is that many boxes being shipped from the area said "Bolivia", referring to the country in South America, and the people liked that name. The town is named after Bolivia, in South America. Bolivia was incorporated as a town in 1911.
When U.S. 17 was widened to four lanes, a bypass was constructed around Bolivia; intended to improve traffic, the highway drew away visitors and retail customers, causing an economic decline in the town. In 1977, the county decided to move the county seat of Brunswick County from Southport to Bolivia. Being a center of government operations stimulated other businesses and had helped Bolivia build its businesses.
Geography
Old U.S. Route 17 (Old Ocean Highway) passes through the center of the town, while the current U.S. Route 17 (Ocean Highway) bypasses it to the northwest. US-17 leads northeast to Wilmington and southwest to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town of Bolivia has a total area of , all land.
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census
2020 census
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+Bolivia racial composition
!scope="col"| Race
!scope="col"| Number
!scope="col"| Percentage
|-
!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)
| 139
| 93.29%
|-
!scope="row"| Native American
| 1
| 0.67%
|-
!scope="row"| Other/Mixed
| 5
| 3.36%
|-
!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino
| 4
| 2.68%
|}
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 149 people, 71 households, and 54 families residing in the town.
2000 census
As of the census