Bolivia is, as its neighboring countries, a multiethnic and multilingual society, home to people of various ethnic, religious, and national origins, with the majority of the population made up of indigenous and Old World immigrants and their descendants.

Modern Bolivian population, estimated at 11 million is formally broken down into Amerindians (primarily Quechua and Aymara, Guaraní peoples), Mestizos, Europeans and Afro-Bolivians.

The mutual influence and interaction of cultures of Bolivia have resulted in modern Bolivian society becoming one of prime examples of a melting pot according to some anthropologists.

They can be Andean, as the Aymaras and Quechuas (which formed the ancient Inca Empire), which concentrate in the western departments of La Paz, Potosí, Oruro, Cochabamba and Chuquisaca.

There also is an important oriental ethnic population, composed by the Chiquitano, Guaraní and Moxos, among others, and that inhabit the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Tarija and Pando.

[24] Most people who identify as white are descendants of criollos and European immigrants, coming mostly from Spain, Croatia, Germany and Italy.

The colonial period produced the paintings of Perez de Holguin, Flores, Bitti, and others, and also the works of skilled but unknown stonecutters, woodcarvers, goldsmiths, and silversmiths.

An important body of native baroque religious music of the colonial period was recovered in recent years and has been performed internationally to wide acclaim since 1994.

Bolivian artists of stature in the 20th century include, among others, Guzman de Rojas, Arturo Borda, María Luisa Pacheco, Master William Vega, Alfredo Da Silva, and Marina Núñez del Prado.

In the Highlands, other traditional and still very popular dances are: In the Lowlands, there are: It is fashionable among Bolivian Andean women of indigenous descent to wear a ski.