Travel Tour Bolivia

(36 Ethnic groups of Bolivia) Los Quechuas ethnic group

2019-12-19T15:02:00.000-08:00

General Data

Total population: 2556277 inhabitants

Ecoregion: Andean

Department: Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Potosí, Oruro and La Paz.

Province: Several

Municipality: Various

Community: Several

Linguistic Family: Quechua

Main activity: farming

Products: Corn, dad, goose, papaliza, wheat, vegetables, barley, quinoa.

Access roads:

Aerial: Some Quechua communities can be accessed by air, such as the populations of. Apollo, Mirq´amaya and others.

Terrestrial: Several Quechua communities can be accessed by land, roads, secondary roads and most by impassable roads or paths.

Demographic Situation

Evolution: According to the 1992 Census, Quechua population growth is remarkable.

Migration: The Quechuas migrate to the most important urban centers in the country. Displacement that occurs as a means of survival, education or in search of work or new potentially arable land.

History

Historical Synthesis: As a consequence of the collapse of Tiwanacu, in the twelfth century, the Inca regional state was born, in the area of Cuzco, near Pikillajta, who prevailed in the territories that are currently the countries of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, restoring imperial rule.

The Quechuas expanded from the reign of Viracocha, eighth Inca, which advances to the Collao, expansion that takes place in the reign of Pachacutec Inca ninth. Pachacutec was the one who built palaces for him and his descendants on the Island of the Sun and a Temple for his Sun God. He returned to Cuzco after having conquered the Collasuyo. Finally he fought again with those of Condesuyo and the towns of Panaguaras and Chubilicas, whom he also conquered. Feeling old he did not leave Cuzco again and commissioned his son Tupac Inca Yupanqui and the generals of his trust, his brothers Capac Yupanqui and Guayna Yupanqui, who began the Chichasuyo war that developed until the conquest of Trujillo and Cajamarca. The 3 generals continued the conquests until Quito, where he returned to Cuzco Tupac Inca and left Quito to govern General Chalco Mayta, before Pachacutec died, he ordered his son to make another trip to the Collao, to consolidate the conquests, due to a new Rise of the Collas, it is on this trip, the Incas arrived to the Charcas region.

XV century

The Inca Pachacutic died in 1471, having conquered 300 leagues for his empire, he left the throne to his son Tupac Inca Yupanqui. This Inca carried out the conquest of Tucumán and Chile, after these conquests he returned to Cuzco, where he settled, willing to organize the great Nation he had under his domain. His warrior work ended with the rebellion of the Incas of Nazca and the Yuncas and the last rebellion of the Collas.

Tupac Yupanqui, increased the number of mitimaes and distributed them throughout his empire and set tributes. He instituted the system of authorities: one chief every ten men, named Chunca Curaca, another every 50 men named Pisca Pachac, a Chief every five hundred named Pisca Pachaca, a boss named Huaranca who had 1,000 people under his orders and finally one that sent 10,000 called Huaman. These Chiefs were known interchangeably as Curacas, were found throughout the empire generally occupying the place of the sinches, were in charge of the government and collect taxes.

The Yupanqui Inca created the Yanaconas or personal service of the Indians, the Inca distributed Indians to the curacas, priests, generals and their close relatives, the Indians had to serve for free and for life to the people to whom they had been delivered.

He also made the distribution of land and industries. Finally he ordered to make the fortress of Cuzco. During his reign, the empire was administered by two generals, one was based in Jauja and the other in Tihuanacu. At his death he inherited the empire his son Huayna Capac, who decides to visit the whole Empire, but when he sees that it was a very difficult work for a single trip, he organizes two one towards the lands of Collasuyo and another from Cuzco to Quito, the latter entrusted to Guaman Achachi. The expedition to the Collao was directed by Huayna Capac, which reached Charcas and from there left to Chile, the Incas climbed Coquimbo and Copiapó to Atacama and Arequipa, and from there again to the Collao. The Inca and his entourage stopped at Tiwanacu and visited the Isla del Sol and the huaca of Ticci Viracocha.

This Inca to maintain the organization of his empire, established in Cochabamba the center and head of his empire, so that the distribution of the mitimaes outside Cochamaba, since it was a fertile valley and had been left uninhabited after the war with the natives ; He determined where the Urus would live, delimiting it, then returned to Cuzco and subjected some towns that rose in the surroundings, for which he took several Collas some as warriors and others as Yanaconas.

On this trip Huayna Capac, he reached what is now the border with Argentina, where he fought with the Chiriguanos, a war that ended badly for the Incas, since they had to leave it.

During the reign of this Inca, they advanced in the Inca conquest of the Bolivian East, towards the plains and savannas of Beni and Mamoré.

Tupak Yupanqui instructed the chief of the Callawayas, to open a path through the summits of Apolobamba, which failed, being the successor of the Callawaya Chief who opened the same, a route that allowed his imperial troops to reach the plains of Beni, where they built two fortresses border.

On these foothills of the Inca mountain range, installed mitimaes to grow corn and coca, exploit gold and monitor the fortresses built in the last summits

To the south, the Inca tried to conquer what is currently the Chapare, but found resistance on the part of them, while the south conquered Guapay and the Chaco, which was thwarted by the Chiriguana invasions. When he returned to Cuzco, the Inca learned of the uprisings of the towns of: Los Quitos, Pastos, Carangas, Carambis and Los Guacavelicas, determined to extinguish the uprisings before his departure, ordered the construction of a road to Quito. These wars deeply affected the politics of the Incario, the empire was invaded by the Chiriguanos in its southwestern part.

Century XVI

In 1522, Huayna Capac learned of the penetration of strange and barbaric peoples, who had sacked the villages of the Charcas Region.

The four Portuguese who in 1520 arrived in Brazil for exploration purposes, in 1522 accompanied by 2,000 Guarani entered the Pirai and continued their journey until they reached the mountainous region between Tomina and Mizque, where they met the border Incaica and fought with the towns that were under Inca rule, the Chiriguanos won several battles and looted villages of the Charcas and took valuable trophies.

When the Inca learned, he sent General Yasca to recruit people in Cuzco to reinforce the troops of that border. Yasca, arrived with all the people who recruited and gave battle to the Chiriguanos, took prisoners and sent them to the Inca so that the king could distinguish their rarity.

After reducing the Chiriguanos and ending the wars in Chichasuyo, the Inca Huayna Capac died, he left Huascar as his successor, he called his brother Atahuallpa to submit to him, Atahuallpa refused and Huascar sent troops to the general's head Atoco to give battle. Atahuallpa gathered men in Quito and sent a large army headed by Quizquiz and Chalco Chima, a battle that Atahuallpa's troops won. When Huascar learned of this he was frightened and personally went out to lead the war, a battle in which Huascar's troops emerged victorious, but when they celebrated Chalco Chima and Quizquiz fell on them, the result was disastrous for Huascar's troops. The captains of Atahuallpa, arrived in Cuzco, with Huascar and his main imprisoned generals, with which they managed to recognize Atahuallpa as sovereign, then killed the entire Huascar lineage.

In the year 1526, an expedition to the south was organized, for which Pizarro deals with Almagro and Father Hernando Luque, who represented the notary Gaspar Espinosa, who gave 20,000 pesos of gold for the trip, which was intended to conquer the Inca Empire, after 3 years the expedition commanded by Pizarro leaves, on this trip they had several problems, despite everything, they arrived at Isla del Gallo, the Spaniards resolved to send Almagro to Panama to ask for help, since they lacked money. He returned with the order that everyone should return, but Pizarro decided to continue with thirteen men, who arrived in Tumbes and headed to Cajamarca, where the Inca Atahuallpa was; the Spaniards took prisoner to the Inca, without resistance of the subjects of the Inca. Atahuallpa instigates the Spaniards against his brother Huascar and they kill them.

Accused for this and other faults, the Inca is tried by a court, which condemns him to death. So that they do not kill him, the Inca offered to pay, filling the room with gold, where he was imprisoned, despite fulfilling his promise, he suffered the penalty of the club, instead of the bonfire to which he was first convicted, a change that He gave, because in his last moments he became and was baptized with the Christian name of John.

In 1533, Almagro arrived with reinforcements from Panama. Almagro and Pizarro, named Manco II (brother of Atahuallpa) Inca, and settled in Cuzco, in 1534, organized the capital of the Incanato in the manner of Spain with rulers and mayors. Later Pizarro founded the city of the Kings, which is now the city of Lima in 1536.

The differences between Pizarro and Almagro over the limits of their territories, made the Marquis propose in advance the exploration of the south. After the first differences Almagro accepted, letting Pizarro take possession of Cuzco. Almagro, sent a maritime expedition that came to near Coquimbo, by land it was a group under the command of Juan de Saavedra, who advanced along the shore of Lake Titicaca, crossed the Desaguadero and entered the current Bolivian territory and founded Paria and Tupiza.

In 1535, Almagró left Cuzco and followed in the footsteps of Saavedra, installed his first camp in

Pariah; Almagro was accompanied by the great Inca priest Huilla Huma and Prince Paullu, to facilitate the entry of the Spaniards into the territories that were in Inca domain, the expedition passed to Tupiza and from there to Salta, after several adversities they crossed the mountain range and They spotted Chilean lands. The Spanish disappointed to find no wealth returned to Cuzco.

Carlos V in the year 1542, gathers a board that promulgates the so-called New Laws or ordinances of Barcelona, to definitively cut the abuses of encomenderos in America.

In 1548 the Royal ID card was passed, which prohibited the work in the mines to the Indians, these in 1551 claim their freedom to work and in 1563 the mita is regulated.

When the Incas, they realized, that the Spaniards were not divine beings, but as human as they were, they decided to free themselves from them, for which they planned to disperse the Spaniards, they made Almagro leave to conquer Chile and that Marquis Pizarro is directed to Lima, Juan and Hernando Pizarro remained, Manco Inca, taking advantage of the good faith of the Pizarro brothers, left Cuzco to organize the rebellion, which began with the siege of the city of Cuzco. The siege lasted for months and the forces sent by the Marquis were decimated, Juan Pizarro and other Spaniards died in battle.

Juan Saavedra, joined his troops to those of Hernando Pizarro and gave definitive battle to the Incas, raised the siege.

In the year 1560, the Dominican Fray Domingo de Santo Tomás, after having learned the Quechua language, published in Valladolid the first "Art and Grammar of the Quechua Language" or "General of the Indians of Peru."

The king of Spain, to enforce the new laws, created the position of Viceroy of Peru, an appointment that fell to Blasco Núñez de Vela.

The Viceroy Nunez was followed by Don Antonio de Mendoza who was viceroy in 1551 and 1552, Don Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza, Don Diego López and Zúñiga, Don Francisco Toledo, the fifth viceroy, who was responsible for solving the conflict of legitimacy of Spain's rights over the West Indies and reorganized the mita system, which was used by the Incas, a system they had implemented in the conquered territories a century and a half before; the mita consisted of the obligatory and rented service that the natives had to provide in the mines, for four months and in shifts.

Toledo, issued several rules, known as Ordinances of Peru or Toledo, laws that expressed the feeling of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain.

When the conquest was over there was only the class of the victors, who were the noblemen, soldiers, encomenderos and the defeated who were the natives. The Spaniards recognized the old Quechua authorities, the same ones that were the object of attention and were paid tribute as well as the Spaniards, granted them land and mining parcels and had the right to put the Gift in their name.

The Marquis of Mancera (fourteenth viceroy), was one of the fervent defenders of the natives against the abuses committed by corregidores and caciques, dictated severe norms, to improve the situation of mitayos and yanaconas

XVII century

In 1607, the Jesuit Diego Gonzales Holguin writes a Quechua vocabulary.

In 1609, the Inca Gracilazo de la Vega wrote an ideal story of the incanato "Real Comments".

In the year 1611 Guamán Poma de Ayala, he wrote "New Chronicle of Good Government", a book on the history and customs of the Incas and criticisms of the Spaniards. Several indigenous people also wrote during this century as Juan de Santa Cruz Pachacuti, the work he did not leave is "Relationship of Antiquities."

During this century, theater and poetry were cultivated as an important indigenous contribution, which is manifested in the various works, took native arguments and motives and many of them are written in Quechua.

The indigenous theater was widely used in the viceregal centuries, there were two types of works, religious and historical, those that were written in Quechua and Aymara, the religious composed works in native languages, in order to evangelize.

In 1681, the compendium “Compilation of Laws of the Kingdoms of the Indies” was published in Madrid, which was divided into nine books, the sixth being dedicated to the legislation of the indigenous people.

There was a protector of the natives, who was in charge of the defense of the natives, the indigenous authorities were in charge of the distribution of Indians of the mita.

All the natives had to pay tribute to the Crown, the laws that favored the natives, were not fulfilled.

The requests for suppression of the mita increased and in 1691, Governor Don Pedro Enriquez made a new request to the Viceroy Monclova, who accepted and uninhabited almost the entire hill of indigenous people of forced mita.

Century XVIII

During the government of the Viceroy José A. Manso Velasco (1745 to 1761), the rebellions of Apu Inca continued, which weakened, leaving the seed of the uprising in the environment.

Tómas Catari, made a claim against Blas Bernal, for usurpation of his rights of cacicazco, advised by the Protector of the Indigenous, presented his claim and the corregidor Alós jailed him, but Catari escaped. The Audience and royal officers backed Catari, but the corregidor did not attend to their demands. Seeing the disagreements between the authorities of Potosí and La Plata, Catari went on foot 600 leagues, to the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the viceroyalty, arrived at the end of 1778 and presented his complaints to the Viceroy, who ordered the Audience Investigation of such complaints. The matter went to the Prosecutor of the Court and followed a slow and bureaucratic process.

Catari when he arrived in Chayanta and without waiting for the legal solution of his complaints, he became a collector and began his policy against the chiefs who had implemented the corregidores. The Hearing did not give effect to the request of the Caudillo, because its members were friends of the corregidor and the corruption of that court that had become scandalous yielded before Alós.

Each year, the corregidor toured the corregimiento, making the lists of the mitayos. On the day of St. Bartholomew, as usual, all the natives of the region in Pocoata met, to fulfill the payment of taxes, organized for this purpose a kind of fair, to which the Spaniards went. When Alós was on his way to Pocoata he was surprised by indigenous people who threatened him, frightened he promised to release Catari and reduce taxes. After a few days, Alós arrived in Pocoata accompanied by 90 men with no intention of keeping his promises.

The corregidor preventing the events, mobilized the troops of Aullagas, Pintatora, Chayanta, Sacaca and Toraxi.

The selection of mitayos was carried out normally, until the chief Tomás Acho, reminded him of his promises and the corregidor of a bullet killed the chief. So the natives rose against the corregidor's troops, the natives emerged victorious, they took the corregidor prisoner.

To save Alós the Audience released Catari, ratifying him in the office of chieftain, Alós was promoted, and replaced by a man of bad history. So Catari decided to write letters to Amaru to accelerate the rebellion.

When Catari toured the province, collecting taxes, he was taken prisoner by the miner Manuel Alvarez de Villarroel, without the knowledge of the President of the Audience and less of the Viceroy. First it seemed an arbitrary measure; but the president of the audience verified that the listeners and friends of Alós had secretly given orders to arrest Catari. When Alvarez took Catari to La Plata, a crowd of indigenous people tried to rescue the chieftain, but in view of the crowd, Catari was thrown into the abyss on January 15, 1781. At the time the crowd attacked and killed many Spaniards .

As the Tupaq Amaru uprising was a fact the Indians continued their rebellion.

Andrés Tupaq Amaru, after the death of his uncle José Gabriel, conquered the province of Larecaja, later surrounded by the population of Sorata, the site lasted 3 months, without fencing or besiegers yielding. The Sorateños resisted until it cost him his own life. Amaru, made build a dike, the one that was overflowed devastated the population and drowned all its inhabitants on August 5, 1781. After this the troops of Amaru, went to collaborate in the conquest of the city of La Paz.

José Gabriel Condorcanqui, decided to reestablish the Incario, based on the fact that the Aboriginal monarchy replaced the Spanish, wanted to proclaim Inca or king under his authority four viceroys remained. The Condorcanqui plan was not the exclusive claim of the natives, it also included Creoles, who, like them, endured the bad government of Spaniards, which was not shared by the majority of the natives, since they did not find differences between Spaniards Born in America and European Spaniards.

José Gabriel called Tupaq Amaru, declared war on the Spaniards, whom he wished to expel from the Continent.

The social struggle was aimed at the suppression of the mita and the recovery of their lands, this uprising was planned for 10 years, in which they contacted the majority of the Caciques of Peru. The Inca before the uprising resorted to all possible legal means to achieve his goal. He sent one of his brothers to Spain, to present to the king, the complaints of the natives and to request the settlement of his situation. They also asked that the hierarchy of the chiefs and other authorities be respected, so that they govern themselves and that he be recognized as a direct descendant of the Incas. Declaring Inca.

Tupaq Amaru and Antonio de Arriaga, corregidor of the Tinta province, met in the house of the priest Carlos Rodríguez, to celebrate the day of the king. Upon returning from it, the corregidor was arrested and forced to sign an order to deliver all available funds to the rebels, after collecting the money and weapons, the corregidor was hanged.

The Spaniards, learned this, 8 days later, sent an expedition to the head of Tiburcio Landa .. The battle occurred in Sangarara. The Spanish troops took refuge in the Church and Tupaq Amaru blew a part, leaving only 28 realistic soldiers of 604, as a result of which Tupaq Amaru was excommunicated.

Condorcanqui returned to Tinta after his victory in Sangarara, while Cuzco was equipped with 3,000 men. From Tinta the rebels left for the Collao on a mission. José Gabriel, to all the peoples, spoke to the natives indicating that his mission was to suppress the abuses and recover the privileges granted by the Catholic kings. When the Inca was not in Cuzco his wife Micaela Bastidas, led the uprising.

The Cuzco Indians besieged and warned them to surrender, the Spaniards refused, so a decisive battle took place in January 1781. After a long battle, the rebels had to withdraw, since Tupaq Amaru saw that in the surrounded city all were willing to resist, even the natives and caciques, in addition that their troops did not know how to use the Spanish weapons with which they were equipped. When the Inca retired to Tinta, where he had 60,000 men gathered, Areche the Visitor, arrived in Cuzco, ready to counter Tupaq Amaru, brought with him the orders of the abolitions of the corregimientos and forgiveness of all debts that with them they had, dissolution of customs and forgiveness to all the rebels except the leaders.

In the month of March 1781, the royal army with 17,000 men left for Tinta, composed of more than 80% indigenous. The rebels were defeated and Amaru's family arrested with the exception of Diego, Andrés and Miguel Tupaq Amaru, who along with one of the Inca's sons retreated in Azángaro.

On March 15, after the Tupaq Amaru brothers tried to free them, they sentenced Tupaq Amaru to death, who was dragged to the square, where his family witnessed the torment, cut his tongue and quartered him

XIX century

After three centuries of colonial domination, on May 25, 1809, in the city of La Plata today Sucre, the war for the independence of America began, a revolution that was seconded on July 16 of the same year by La Paz, where the proclamation is even launched, in which for the first time there was talk of absolute independence and war on the nation.

After 15 years of war, on December 9, 1824, the libertarian deed ended with the battle of Ayacucho and on August 6, 1825, the Republic of Bolivia was created, remaining with the same colonial structure. On October 3 of the same year, he was declared father and first President of Bolivia to the Liberator Simón Bolívar

Simón Bolívar, tried to deliver the lands, of which he was in possession, to the natives and tried to suppress the indigenous contribution, which remained only as projects.

In 1829, he was elected President of Bolivia, Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz, who by mother was of Quechua origin.

During the Republic, the Creoles were in charge of the government and the situation of the natives did not change much, they took away their lands and made them work as unemployed, they did not recognize their rights.

Manuel Isidoro Belzú (1848-1855), relied on the indigenous people to govern and that is how the indigenous people acting with their own criteria and decisively in politics, to the degree that they were not afraid of the army, so Belzú left the government Only when he felt tired.

On May 20, 1866, President Melgarejo, issued a decree, in order to seize the lands of the highland communities that belonged to the natives. According to the decree they were declared owners of them, but they had to follow a judicial-administrative procedure and the payment of 25 pesos; the natives did not find out about such a decree, for which their properties were auctioned and to dispossess them of their lands, the army was used, the dispossession in which thousands of indigenous people were cruelly killed.

On August 10, 1874, during the Government of Tomas Frías, the Ordinary Assembly was installed in the city of Sucre, the same that dictated a rule of ex-association of community lands, the same that were abolished, the Indigenous were owners of their land with all rights as owners, for which they had to pay taxes.

During the government of Hilarión Daza, in 1878, there was a drought, so severe that the peasants migrated to the cities in search of food, the streets of the cities were full of sick people, because the plague made even the city dwellers sick. and thousands of dead were collected. Schools and colleges had to be closed, in that situation the Pacific war was presented.

Twentieth century

During the Government of Villazón (1909-1913), a Normal School was created for teachers, destined for the indigenous class.

During the second Government of Don Ismael Montes, the Normal of Indigenous Education was founded in Umala.

In 1927, the settlers and villagers revolted in Chayanta, killed the landowners, demanded the return of their lands, Aymara and Quechuas were mobilized from three departments. An aerial military repression massacred more than 100 people. But the movement served to prevent the expansion of farms in the region.

In 1943, President Villarroel convened a National Indigenous Congress, which would be carried out in 1945. To properly prepare it, by decree he annulled the ban that since the celebrations of the Centenary of Independence (1925) prevented the indigenous people from freely passing through the Plaza and central streets of the city of La Paz, but conservative sectors of the government postponed the congress and influenced so that the main peasant leader of the organizing commission is exiled to Brazil. The activists of the MNR, mobilized for the country trying to affiliate delegates addicted to the government and on May 11, 1945, the First Indigenous Congress was inaugurated, after 5 days of deliberations some measures turned into decrees were approved. First it was abolished: the pongueaje, the mita, second, the property owners are forced to create schools, and thirdly a commission was organized for the drafting of the Agrarian Labor Code, an agency that served the government to avoid the most important claims of the delegates

But since the decrees were not fulfilled, the departmental Agrarian Federation of La Paz, a peasant sector of the Local Workers' Federation, mobilized their emissaries through the estates, sought union organization and the resumption of the strike with fallen arms.

In 1946, the oligarchy returned to power, hanged Villarroel and a bloody repression broke out against the striking settlers. The Aymara and Quechua, responded with a national mobilization, under the leadership of the National Indigenous Committee.

In 1951, presidential elections were held, in which the MNR, obtained the majority, but not enough to be directly elected, which President Urriolagoitia used, to deliver the command to a military junta, and thus avoid the popular rise to power, this motivated the insurrection of April 9, 1952 that overthrew the military junta, establishing co-government COB and MNR. Government in which the mimes were nationalized, the large estate was eliminated, the universal vote and the educational reform were established.

In 1953, the National Confederation of Peasant Workers of Bolivia was created.

In the second governmental administration of the MNR, between 1956 and 1960, the union conflicts arose, when the monetary stabilization was carried out, the government marginalized the left sector in both the state administration and the union directorates, and put its Men of confidence, as well as in the La Paz Highlands, imposed their Minister of Peasant Affairs, the Executive Secretary of the Departmental Federation and also the General Secretary of the National Confederation of Peasant Workers of Bolivia.

The conflicts worsened in the following years, the same Government suffered divisions and each sector sought the support of agrarian unions.

In 1964, in the Government of Gral. Barrientos, a Military-Peasant Pact was formed with the peasants, establishing a direct relationship between the Armed Forces and the Communities, blocking any authentic and autonomous representation at the regional level, manipulation that was challenged in the 1967, by an Independent group of Peasants, who opposed the government's attempts to impose the single agricultural tax. This organization was one of the causes of the struggle to build a new trade unionism, representative and independent of governments.

But since the decrees were not fulfilled, the departmental Agrarian Federation of La Paz, a peasant sector of the Local Workers' Agrarian Federation, mobilized its emissaries through the estates, seeking union organization and the resumption of the strike with fallen arms.

In 1974, Cochabamba farmers were massacred for having blocked the roads in protest against the rise of the items in the family basket.

In November 1977, the Peasant Trade Union leaders reappeared in Ayo Ayo, 4000 delegates from La Paz, Potosí, Oruro, Cochabamba and Chuquisaca met to celebrate the anniversary of the death of Tupaq Katari, meeting in which they signed the Declaration of Ayo Ayo, the one that authorized and demanded that the leaders resume their positions.

The new organization called the National Confederation of Peasant Workers Tupaj Katari, whose members in the following months participated in a hunger strike nationwide, which forced the government to issue general amnesty for all union leaders, politicians and professionals imprisoned and exiled , so that they held several congresses, to reorganize the union, departmental and provincial directorates. In March 1978 the VII National Congress was held in the city of La Paz, where 500 delegates attended, there they ratified the elected leaders in the VI Congress and decided that they would not proclaim more rulers as leaders of the peasantry.

At the end of 1979, the new directive of the Single Trade Union Confederation of Peasant Workers of Bolivia, showed its representativeness, first participated in the COB strike and ordered to block the roads in rejection of the bloody military coup of November 1979. With They managed to paralyze the whole country. The coup leaders had to leave the Government Palace and a new government was appointed in Parliament.

In December 1979, the CSUTCB, again blocked the roads, in rejection of the monetary devaluation and other measures that directly affected the peasants such as the elevation of the tickets, freight charges and Kerosene and on the contrary the prices of agricultural products They were frozen. The peasants called for the repeal of the decree, the reduction of fuel prices, the reduction of transport tickets and freight, the creation of peasant markets in the cities and the abolition of agricultural taxes in customs blocks. A commission of the CSUTCB and the COB., Initiated conversations with the government, meanwhile hundreds of peasants, waited for their leaders in the street. First, the government rejected the orders, but after two weeks, it agreed to most of the orders except for the repeal of the devaluation decree. It was then that the CSUTCB, suspended the blockade. Three weeks later, the CSUTCB organized a National Congress of Peasant Women, where the National Federation of Peasant Women Bartolina Sisa was created.

During the government of the Patriotic Agreement, in the period between 1989 and 1993, he was in charge of indigenous affairs as an autarkic entity, the Bolivian Indigenous Institute (IIB), which depended on the then Ministry of Peasant and Agricultural Affairs.

During the Presidential administration of Mr. Jaime Paz Zamora, for the first time in Bolivian history, the Indigenous and Native theme enters the Government's agenda.

Administration in which significant progress was achieved, such as the ratification by Bolivia of the ILO Convention, through Law No. 1257; the implementation of intercultural Bilingual Education; the creation of the Development Fund of the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean; the promulgation of the Law of Reform of the Political Constitution of the State, in which Bolivia is declared as a multiethnic and multicultural country, recommending the right of Indigenous Peoples over their territories and natural resources.

In 1993, Aymara Víctor Hugo Cárdenas was elected as Vice President of the Republic, after joining his MRTKL party with the MNR, Cárdenas ruled as Vice President until 1997

Between the period between 1993 and 1997, the Peasants and Originals sector was administered by the Undersecretary of Ethnic Affairs (SAE), under the National Secretariat for Ethnic Gender and Generational Affairs, which in turn depended on the Ministry of Human Development.

The SAE achieved, the application of the Law in indigenous and native areas; title of Community Land of Origin, in accordance with the INRA Law and the inclusion of the sectoral theme in national legislation.

The government administration (1997-2002), made Institutional and Policy changes, reorganized the Executive Power between 1997 and 1998, through Law 1783 and Supplementary Decrees Nos. 24855, 25055 and 25060, create the Vice Ministry of Indigenous and Native Affairs (VAIPO ), under the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Planning, and the Indigenous Affairs Units of the Departmental Prefectures and also create the Indigenous and Originating Participation Councils, concerted entities of the Indigenous and Originating Peoples Organizations with the State, for the purpose to jointly prioritize standards, policies and projects at the national, regional and departmental levels.

The peasants of the La Paz Altiplano, with the support of rural teachers, on April 3, 2000, began blocking roads, due to the breach of several agreements that the government had not complied with and especially to avoid the approval of the draft Law Water and labor flexibility

On April 10, the government dictates a state of siege and confines 23 union leaders, including Felipe Quispe. The conflict ended on April 15, with the signing of an agreement between field unions and the government, an agreement in which the government promised to meet the demands of the rural sector in 90 days, such as reworking the Water Law , the approval of the regulation of the INRA Law, Respect for Trade Union Law and others.

On September 18, 2000, the 6 Federations of the Cochabambino Tropics begin the blockade of the Santa Cruz-Cochabamba highway, demanding that the Government pay attention to their demands and for the construction of 3 military barracks in the Chapare. On the other hand, the organizations that made up the Coordinator of Water and Life, on September 19, began their pressure measures, with a blockage of roads by the irrigators, who requested the approval of the Supplementary Regulation to the Water Law and they sympathized with the coca growers and the teachers, the same who were on an indefinite general strike.

On September 20, the CSUTCB decided to block the roads, due to the breach by the government of the agreement signed in April, a conflict that joined the Chapare and the city of Cochabamba. After 3 weeks of conflicts, the peasants and the Government signed an agreement, which contained a claim with 50 points, backed by 13 Supreme Decrees and two Ministerial Resolutions.

Following the commitments assumed by the government and given the Importance of the peasant-Indigenous issue, on October 20, 2000, the government decides to create the Ministry of Peasant Affairs, Indigenous and Native Peoples (MACPIO, based on the then Vice Ministry of Indigenous and Native Affairs (VAIPO) that depended on the Ministry of Sustainable Development.

The new Ministry (MACPIO) must:

· Conduct the Government's relations with the Peasant, Indigenous and Native Peoples sector, channeling their demands and promoting their participation in the attention of their needs

· Formulate norms, execute and coordinate actions, for the integral development of the peasant sector, indigenous people and native of the country.

· Promote programs and projects, aimed at reducing poverty and improving the productivity of these sectors.

XXI century

The 21st century begins with a new and different peasant, indigenous and native landscape. The democracy established and strengthened at the end of the previous century allows a considerable advance in the recognition of Indigenous, territorial rights, greater participation and social equity, economic opportunity, although not in optimum degree. However, it is not the scene of persecution, racism and abuse of a society and the State against the Indigenous, native and peasant as in the last century.

Thanks to the legal changes, the recognition of international laws and conventions, the indigenous struggle itself and international cooperation, the indigenous issue has legal basis and defense to henceforth fulfill indigenous rights, consolidate the legal security of land and territory, reduce and end discrimination, increase the participation and decision of the indigenous people and, above all, achieve, with harmony and sustainability, the development with identity of Bolivia.

With the tool of democracy, equity, tolerance and, above all, dialogue, the new century is imposed, solving so much unjust injustice towards the Peasants, Indigenous and Native Peoples

On June 14, 2001, the Joint Task Force occupies the town of Asunta, to eradicate surplus coca, the next day the peasants of the population faced the uniformed. The conflicts ended on June 20 with the signing of an agreement between coca growers and government, where the most important point was that the Government decided not to eradicate coca from Nor and South Yungas

On June 21, 2001, Felipe Quispe, Executive Secretary of the CSUTCB, without the support of Cochabamba, begins blocking roads in the La Paz Highlands, in support of the coca growers of the Paceños Yungas, although the conflict with that sector It had been fixed. It also called for the repeal of several laws.

The farmers at the head of Felipe Quispe delivered to the Minister of Peasant Affairs Wigberto Rivero, a petition document with 45 points, in which the replacement of the INRA Law, delimitation of traditional areas of coca, review of the Middle Law Environment and Biodiversity and abrogation of: Law 1008, Educational Reform and Decree 21060.

On July 18, 2001, Felipe Quispe for the peasants, allies with Evo Morales Executive Secretary of the 6 Federations of the Tropic Cochabambino and Oscar Olivera, representative of the National Single Mobilization Coordinator, to convene a national road block.

Union of union that forced the government to seek solutions to the conflict, so on July 21, the Government and peasants signed a pre-agreement, for which the government ordered the withdrawal of military and police troops, released and lifted the judicial charges and the peasants lifted the blockades. Pre-agreement, where the government and peasants took a 10-day truce, days in which negotiations between peasants and government took place

Thanks to the dialogue 45 points of the 50 have been fulfilled, of the agreement signed on October 7, 2000, the remaining 5 have been added to the last agreement, signed in the town of Pucarani

On August 6, General Hugo Banzer Suárez resigns his mandate and takes an oath to the office of President of the Republic, Mr. Jorge Quiroga Ramírez.

On August 8, the peasants change their specifications, in which it is no longer contemplated, the repeal of Law 21060 and Law 1008.

On August 23, the Government with the Peasants sign an agreement, in the Population of Pucarani, the main commitments are: the development of Agrarian, for which the government will create a rural development program; 1,000 tractors, with financing; Peasant Markets, these will be built in Villa Tunari, El Alto, and Santa Rosa; Electrification of the rural area; Compensation for the injured and dead; improvement and construction of roads and bridges in the 20 provinces of La Paz.

Alejo Veliz, First Secretary of the CSUTCB, was expelled from this organization, on August 28, 2001, for instigating the division of the peasant movement and defame the leaders who signed the agreement in Pucarani.

The Quechuas, met on September 3 and ignored the leadership of Felipe Quispe, for not being a genuine representative of the Quechuas. They recognized Alejo Veliz as the only representative and rejected the expulsion of the same from the CSUTCB. The Quechuas renewed their board and elected Celso Carrillo as the executive secretary of the Federation of Peasant Workers of Cochabamba.

Social organization

The social organization of the Quechuas communities is based on the nuclear family, the same that is supported by the ayllu structure. The ayllu structure is mainly represented by a sustainable economy and a political-administrative hierarchy.

Cultural aspects

Religion and Mythology: Quechua religion is closely related to agricultural activity, through agrarian rituals they get pachamama favors.

The Quechua, have their own conception of time and space, which are represented in three worlds: The kay pacha (our world) the world of humans, where living beings develop, everything that surrounds us and can be palpable, the soil, the fields, etc.

The janaq pacha (world above), is the place where God and his saints live; the sun, the moon and the stars, also call it the world of glory.

With regard to religious syncretism, each Quechua community has a patron saint, to whom it worships.

The Quechua go to the janaq pacha, to ask the Sun and all the stars, in the sun they identify him with the Christian God, whose golden rays surround the custody over the binding of the Catholic churches, he is a God who knows everything and orders everything, He is a good doctor that heals (sumi miriku) and that for the faults you commit, as punishment he sends you diseases. The Sun and the moon govern the passage of regular and predictable time. The meteorological forces that are irregular and sometimes violent come from the deities of the hills that also have the power to suddenly make people sick.

The manqha pacha (world of bass), is the one that is inhabited by forces of good and evil, just as wak´ao demon of the Andean world is not the same as the demon of the spiritual world, since for Quechua it can be sacred.

Other inhabitants of the world below are the dead, which can still affect the lives of the living.

Therefore, since there is a relationship with both worlds, the Quechua try to be well with the world above and below, for which they use the offerings, which are usually aimed at the pachamama and what it represents (fertility ).

As far as religious syncretism is concerned, each Quechua community has a patron saint, to whom they worship.

Land and Territory

Access Situation and Land Tenure: Most Quechua Communities have access to their territory. The Quechua own communal lands and some of them own individual titles.

Indigenous Territory State: The Quechua as well as the Aymara have individual and communal titles. Not all communals are entitled.

Infrastructure

Quechua communities use both the services of formal medicine (health posts and few with hospitals), as well as traditional medicine represented by a healer, who has knowledge of medicinal plants.

Economy and Productive Activities

The economy of the Quechuas, is based on agriculture and mining, agricultural production varies according to the ecological floor where they live.

In the Altiplano, the main activities are Agriculture, mining and the production of camelids, sheep and cattle. Agriculture is essentially of tubers such as papa, goose, papaliza and cereals such as quinoa, kanawa and barley.

In the Valleys, the main activities are agriculture, poultry and floriculture. They are engaged in the agriculture of, corn, potatoes, vegetables; they raise sheep, pigs, goats and cattle; They are also dedicated to the raising of poultry and lately the cultivation of flowers has been implemented.

In the Chaparé region, Quechua settlers are dedicated to agriculture, especially coca, fruit growing, floriculture and timber extraction.

Quechua living in semi-urban and urban areas are dedicated to the sale of their workforce, such as masons, young men, domestic workers, commerce, medicine, Law, Dentistry and other professions.

Marketed Products: Corn, potatoes, vegetables, goose, papal, barley, quinoa, coca, coffee, fruits, flowers; llamas, huanacos, alpacas, sheep, pigs, goats, cows; tin, silver, gold, bismuth and other minerals; Flowers, fruits, chickens.

Subsistence Activities: Agriculture, labor sales.

Productive or Marketing Organizations: Several.

Environment and Natural Resources

Habitat: The Quechuas mostly inhabit temperate valleys and a minority in the highlands of Bolivia, between 1200 and 3800 m / s / m, with average annual temperatures between 2 and 18 °, river rainfall varies between 400 and 1000 mm .

Foreign exploitation: Mining Cooperatives, businessmen and others carry out various activities such as mining and agriculture in Quechua territory.

Environmental problems: The pollution of rivers is of great magnitude, by mining companies and the pollution caused by the chacking causes serious damage to the ecosystem.

Language

Quechua is a suffixing language, it does not admit prefixes of any kind, there are three vowels the a, i, u; the words usually end in vowel, the accent is almost always serious or flat; there is no definite article, the one that is replaced with a pronoun: the gender of the names is replaced with the words Orko and Chinese that precedes the names only in animals and the plural is formed with the particle Kuna suffixed to the names.

Personal pronouns
Me: Ñuca
Your camera
He - She: Ñucanchi
We: Ñucayku
You: paykuna
Demonstrative pronouns
East-East: Kay
That-That-That: Chay
That-That-That: Hacay

Interrogatives
Who ?: Pi
What ?: Ima
Which one ?: Maican
How many? Beech

The Quechua words used most frequently and with which Castilian - Quechua combinations are made are the following:
Water: yacu
Hand: Maqui
Chili: uchu
Piss: ispa
Ayahuasca: ayahuasca
Nose: shinga
Black: yana
Mouth: simi
Child: bus
Boa: yacumama
No: mana
Head: upa
Eye: ñahui
Canoe: canoe
Pot: sleeve
House: huasi
Ear: rinri
Food: micuna
Chest: chucchu
Fish: challua
Teeth: quiru
Foot: chaqui
Ten: dodgy
Stone: rani
Flower: armhole
Skin: face
Fire: Nina
Leg: changa
People: Rune
Rowing: rowing
Hammock: hammock
Red: puca
Leaf: panga
Salt: Cachi
Luna: keel
Sun: inti
Long: suni
Viper: machacuy

Mother: mama

(36 Ethnicities of Bolivia) Ethnicity The Uru Chipayas

2019-05-19T14:22:00.002-07:00

General data

Total population:	2383 inhabitants
Ecoregion:	Andean
Department:	La Paz and Oruro.
Province:	Ingavi, Atahuallpa, Cercado, Poopo, Abaroa, Sebastián Pagador, Ladislao Cabrera, Sur Carangas, Saucari.
Municipality:	Chipaya, El Choro, Poopo, Pazña, Challapata, Sanctuary of Quillacas, Santiago de Huari, Pampa Aullagas, Andamarca Toledo.
Community:	Llapallani, Vila Ñeque, Puñaka Tinta María.
Linguistic family:	Uru
Main activity:	Agriculture, Sale of its Work Force, Breeding of domestic animals and Handicrafts.
Products:	Pejerrey, Karachi; Quinoa, potato.
Access roads:	Terrestrial: The Chipaya communities are accessed by the Oruro-Pisiga road, the same road that joins the towns of Toledo, Huachacalla and Escara. The Hiruito community is accessed by the La Paz-Desaguadero highway, deviating a few kilometers from the Desaguadero section that joins this main road with the road to Jesús de Machaca.

Demographic situation

Evolution: The population growth rate is positive.

Migration: Migrations are usually temporary, approximately for 3 months, the same ones that they do in search of work and / or higher education.

The Chipaya migrate temporarily to Chile in search of work and to sell their products, this is done at any time of the year.

The definitive migrations are carried out in search of lands, the communities that have been deprived by the Aymara.

History

Historical Synthesis: The Uru, inhabited in the American Continent from 1500 to 2000 years before Christ, lived scattered throughout the lake basin of Lake Poopó.

In the precolonial stage, the Uru were first subdued by the Aymara, then by the Incas, where they lost part of their lands, coming to depend on the Aymara authorities; having to grow, weave and deliver dried fish to their oppressors. During the Inca Empire, they worked in the mita and cultivated corn in the valleys of Cochabamba.

In the colonial era, the Uru, as Traveling People and for their extreme poverty, were imposed less half of tributary obligations than to the other conquered peoples, leaving them to retain their freedom as an itinerant people.

So to maintain their freedom, the Uru renounced some of their rights, and part of them depended to a greater degree on the Aymara, assimilating to the Aymara culture, as a consequence of the settlement in their lands; only the Uru who lived on the margin of the Aymara, managed to maintain their cultural identity.

During this time a group of Urus de Paria, was sent to Cochabamba to work in the encomienda, the same that was under the command of Don Lorenzo de Aldana. The entrusted Aldana in 1568, ordered to build two hospitals in the towns of Challacollo and the other in Capinota, declaring as universal heirs to the Uru, hospitals administered by the Augustinian priests.

Chipaya woman

With the passing of time the Uru, are taken and assimilated by other original peoples, in this course give their name to Oruro, the same that was founded in 1604, after they were discovered silver mines. They move to Oruro and abandon the work in Potosí, because the mining mills of Oruro, offered better working conditions, the Uru workers were a majority before the other indigenous peoples.

The Churaito Kuraca, near the year 1632, ordered the Uru, to obey their authorities, The Uru of Ochosuma refused to the order, arguing that they were not Christians, so they were killed the cacique Juan Pachacayo and five Urus.

Later the Kuraca Aymaras of Chucuito, ordered the Uru to subject themselves to them as well as to the Spaniards, which did not happen, since the Uru people were independent and decided to confront the Aymara. The Aymara came to the Urus settlements, in order to burn their homes and steal their livestock. Time after the Curaca de Chucuito, entered by the river Desaguadero in 20 rafts with 200 men, attempt of submission that failed, since the Uru to be skilful navigators hid in totorales, where the Aymara perished, leaving the Uru victorious.

For the defeat suffered by the Aymara, the Spanish Corregidor of Pacajes, with 60 men arrives at the place to stop them; the Uru Ochosumas, they ambush them, where several Spaniards die, the corregidor having to retreat to Tihuanacu and ask for reinforcements to Cochabamba, Oruro, Potosí and La Plata.

In the year of 1780, the abuses suffered by the Indians were unbearable, so there were uprisings in the North of Potosí, commanded by Tomás Katari. In similar ways there are uprisings in La Paz and Sorata, the same ones that were repressed, killing their leaders.

After the death of Tomás Katari, some community members, instigated by priest Troncoso, accepted the pardon of the authorities and handed over the brothers of Katari and other leaders to the troops of Commander Flores, Dámaso and Nicolás were put on trial and executed. .

Between 1931 and 1932, Los Uru are affected by natural phenomena such as droughts and the Chaco War, which caused them to leave their communities, to obtain food and escape the obligation to enlist for the Chaco War.

In 1937, the lake dried up again and was reduced to a large pampa, which made the Uru look for areas with better environmental conditions. Settlements where they still live today.

Between years 1960 and 1964, the Aymara begin to learn the technique to fish of the Uru, this causes tensions between both towns, by the diminution of the resources of the lake Poopó.

Currently, the problems caused by the invasion by the Aymara to the traditional territory of Uru, cause them problems of access to their territory and traditional resources, to the extreme that the Uru, have had to change their traditional activities such as fishing and hunting for Sale of your Work Force.

Social organization

The social organization of the Urus, is based on the nuclear family, with the family being the basic unit of production. They maintain inbred relationships of kinship. The father is the maximum authority.

The Putukus or C'uyas

Cultural aspects

The Uru Chipaya women comb small braids on both sides of their heads.

The urban organization and the conical shape of their homes are cultural aspects of the Uru Chipaya.

Religion and Mythology: The Urus worshiped two deities: the serpent (quwak) and Wari; the serpent connected the upper world or sky with the e below; Wari was the creator of the world, he lived in Uracharku, territory of fire, so it was related to volcanic activity, it is considered a male principle because it is close to the gold deposits that related it to the sun and the fire. The feminine principle was the Warsicharcu or dominion of the water that was reflected by silver reefs the same one that was related to the moon and the water.

When they were subdued by the Aymara, the gods Quwak and Wari were the only deities that survived the process of transculturization.

The Uru, perform rites in all their activities such as hunting, agriculture, fishing, construction of their homes, fishing rites are practiced twice a year the first between March and April and the second in August.

Land and Territory

Situation of Access and Land Tenure: Access to the territory of the Uru, is limited because they are surrounded by the Aymara, which prevents them from accessing their traditional territory and therefore their natural resources. The possession of land in the Chipaya is communal, there is a limited possession of land, each year land is distributed for agriculture and livestock; in the Murato is parcelario and the community Hiruito, owns 54.50 has.

The Chipaya government has provided 5,000 hectares. in Alto Beni, where the elderly have not been able to get used to it, only some young people have been able to get used to the environment so different from theirs.

State Indigenous Territory: The Chipaya and Murato have filed lawsuits with the government, for the consolidation of their territory as Community Land of Origin.

Infrastructure

The Uru communities have health posts.

Economy and Productive Activities

The Uru Murato and Hiruito have as their main activities the raising of animals such as pigs, sheep and llamas, the sale of their labor force, work for the Aymara in the agricultural activity, in the concentration of minerals in Poopó, concentration of limestone and in the population of Uyuni in the salt beneficiary plant and crafts.

They have as complementary activities to fishing, agriculture, waterfowl hunting, salt extraction and collection.

The Chipaya currently have subsistence agriculture as their main activity, they cultivate especially quinoa, with fishing and hunting remaining as complementary activities, due to the limited space they have been reduced to.

Marketed Products: Pejerrey, Karachi; quinoa, crafts.

Subsistence Activities: Agriculture

Productive or Marketing Organizations: The Uru Muratos and Hiruito, have the commercial organization "Anapqui", which is in charge of marketing the quinoa produced by these two peoples.

The Murato, have two productive organizations, one in the Community of Llapallapani and the other in Tinta María, they produce handicrafts. They sell their handicrafts through the Uru Murato Crafts Project in Llapallapani.

Environment and Natural Resources

Habitat: The Uru, inhabit the Bolivian Altiplano, a plain flanked by the two foothills of the Andes mountain range, on the shores of Lake Poopó, Lauca River, Salar and Lake Coipasa, important hydrological route of the Altiplano endorheic basin.

The area between 3,100 and 4,000 meters above sea level, with temperatures of 7 °

Average Celsius. They are recorded from 60 to 180 days a year with frost.

The Urus, use natural resources from the aquatic environment of lakes and rivers, such as: fish, waterfowl, seaweed, totora, salt.

Foreign Exploitation: Fishing, agriculture, hunting, exploitation of salt.

Environmental problems: The territory of the Uru, mainly that of Lake Poopó have been contaminated and damaged by mining activity, lead tin mills and others, a situation that is accentuated by low rainfall, seriously affecting the environment.

Language

The Uru had as language the Uruquilla, the one that later changed for the Puquina, to the subjection Aymara, Quechua and Spanish, adopting the same like own. Currently some Uru Chipayas, Iruhito and Murato speak their mother tongues.

Afro-Bolivian Ethnicity

2018-05-16T06:51:00.001-07:00

Total population:	22,000 inhabitants
Ecoregión:	Amazon (subtropical)
Department:	Peace
Province:	Nor Yungas and Sud Yungas
Municipality:	Chulumani, Coroico, Coripata
Community:	Chicaloma, Mururrata, Tocaña, Coripata, Dorado, Chico Chijchipa, Negrillani
Linguistic family:	Spanish
Main activity:	farming
Products:	Coca, Yuca, Bananas, Citrus, rice.
Access roads:	Land

DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION

There is a tendency towards population growth. Afro-Bolivians migrate to urban and semi-urban centers of our country in search of better living conditions, work, education, land and opportunities.

HISTORY

The Afro-Bolivians were brought from Africa, to work in subhuman conditions in the silver mines of Potosi, withstanding the cold and the altitude of 4200 meters above sea level, a situation to which they were not accustomed. When the fall of mining migrated to the yungas of La Paz. They arrived at the yungas through 3 Inca roads: El Choro, Taquesi and Yunga Cruz.

In the Yungas they had to learn to cultivate the coca leaf. The landowners who owned haciendas in the Yungueña area required the services of the now Afro-Bolivians for agricultural work, where they also exploited them as slaves.

In the year 1945, President Gualberto Villarroel promulgated Supreme Decree No. 319, which declared the services of Pongueaje and Mitanaje abolished. In 1952, free labor and servitude were eliminated. On August 2, 1953, through Decree Law No. 3464, "pongueaje" and "mitanaje" were abolished, which favored Afro-Bolivians because they were freed from slavery, and they were also granted land where they currently live and work.

In February of 1992 the First Assembly of First Nations and People was held, in which several addresses of the indigenous and indigenous organizations participated, headed by the CSUTCB and the CIDOB, it had the objective that the First Nations and the People have an instrument of power and unity, which constitutes a valid interlocutor for the whole people, that recovers its territory and bears the ideological contents of: class, nation, identity and culture, for the construction of a Multinational State, Pluricultural, Multilingual, Community Socialist, Democratic with dignity, participatory, with mutual respect among the indigenous peoples, impoverished middle class, mestizo peoples and black people.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

The social organization of the Afro-Bolivians, is based on the nuclear family, the family unit, shows very strong ties between its members, due to the segregation that exists because of its color. This reflects their closed ethnic organization, inside the same keep alive features of their culture of origin.

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

The political authority of the Afro-Bolivian communities is the Board of Directors of the Union, headed by a General Secretary, followed by 5 or 7 members, who are elected annually.

CULTURAL ASPECTS

The Afro-Bolivian Indigenous people have a strong cultural root, based on their migrated ancestors from Africa, the suffering of their elders for slavery in Potosí and their natural assimilation of the Aymara people.

The Afro-Bolivians make the Saya, a true musical cultural expression, where they capture the social anxieties, joys, sorrows, criticisms with rhyming couplets to the African rhythm of drums, the same ones that carry the mischievousness of the copleros who on the fly improvise stanzas of expression group and social. Music as in most of the indigenous peoples also accompanied harvests, the work and commemorative dates of the communities.

The Languages and their dialectical variations, the music, the attitude and way of being of the Afro-Bolivian, is a special mixture of the black race, the Aymara and the mestizo criollo with their own personality.

Religion and Mythology: Afro-Bolivians, in addition to having Christian influence, still preserve ritual elements from the Macumba and the Vuh-duh; especially in the populations of Chicaloma and Mururata, some traditions survive although with the names changed and / or completely forgotten.

LAND AND TERRITORY

As for land tenure, there are few Afro-Bolivians who have titles to their lands and the community properties they possess, belonged to their former patrons. The lands with permanent crops represent the capital of the town.

It is important to note that a large part of the Afro-Bolivian population live in cities such as La Paz and Santa Cruz.

INFRASTRUCTURE

They have health posts and health personnel.

In schools there are two cycles (primary and secondary)

Only some communities have telephone, radio and television.

ECONOMY AND PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES

The main economic activity of Afro-Bolivians is slash-and-burn agriculture. They cultivate mainly coca, which is the economic base of the home and which is the fundamental source of the community's economy. They also cultivate coffee, citrus, banana, yucca, papaya and cereals for self-consumption.

The coca is planted when the earth is tired, the cocal lasts approximately 30 years.

Coffee is the Arabica of poor yield, but resistant to impoverished soils and variable rains. It does not need seedbeds, it is sown directly inside the coffee plantation and when the plant is large, it is removed to transplant it in large holes, three or four plants in each, these activities are carried out between the months of January and March. After pruning the coffee trees, the land is used to plant bananas, yucca, papaya and other fruits.

Marketed Products: Coca, coffee, citrus, bananas, yucca and papaya.

Subsistence Activities: Agriculture, fruit, coffee and handicrafts Sale of labor, extraction of wood.

Productive or Marketing Organizations: They have marketing organizations ACOPCA; ADEPCOCA.

ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Habitat: They inhabit the Yungas of La Paz, at a height above sea level, which varies between 800 and 200 meters, the ambient temperature is higher than 17 ° C, the annual fluvial rainfall is 2000 mm.

Environmental problems: The wear of nutrients in the soil, because the coca plant, the same that absorbs them, the lack of fertilizers and fertilizer and the so-called chaqueo are the environmental problems that seriously affect the environment of the Afro-Bolivians.

LANGUAGE

Afro-Bolivians speak Castilian and Aymara deformed in pronunciation and sometimes in semantics.
Rice: Aró, aló
Drummer: pump
candle: candela
butler: caporal
I have it: loi
you: oté
whip: suraigo
Cry: Yoris
mother: mai
Father: pai
compadre: compai
hut, house: bohío
What does it say ?: Insé?
black: prieto-preto
coca deposit: matuasi
you are: you are
give away
be: istar

City Beni - Bolivia

2018-05-16T06:32:00.002-07:00

Beni is one of the nine departments that make up the Plurinational State of Bolivia. Its capital is Trinidad. It is located in the center of the country, bounded on the north by Brazil, on the east by Santa Cruz, on the south by Cochabamba, on the west by La Paz and on the northwest by Pando. With a territorial surface of 213,564 km², Beni is the second largest department in Bolivia- behind Santa Cruz-.

According to the last official census carried out in 2012, the department has a population of 422,008 inhabitants. The density is of 2.0 hab / km² being the second less densely populated department - only in front of Pando-. The department was founded on November 18, 1842 by the marshal of Ingavi José Ballivián Segurola.

Administratively, the department of Beni is made up of 8 provinces, which, at the same time, are divided into 19 municipalities. The municipality of Trinidad is the most populated with a population of 106,596 inhabitants, concentrating 25.25% of the total departmental population. Other municipalities also of importance for the amount of population they have are the following respectively: Riberalta, Guayaramerin, San Borja, Rurrenabaque, Reyes, Santa Ana de Yacuma and San Ignacio de Moxos.

The economy of the Department of Beni has traditionally been characterized by being a department supported in the Livestock sector being that Beni owns most of the head of cattle of the country's total. Beni is the eighth departmental economy of the country (penultimate) - after Santa Cruz, La Paz, Cochabamba, Tarija, Potosí, Chuquisaca and Oruro only above Pando.

According to official data from the National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia, in 2016 the economy of the entire Department of Beni (Gross Domestic Product) reached US $ 939 million dollars, which represents 2.76% of the Total Economy of Bolivia (34,053 million). In terms of per capita income (GDP per capita), the department closed 2016 with US $ 2,060 dollars on average for each Beniano.

History

Prehispanic era

Since before 4000 a. C. The region was the settlement of organized human groups in pre-state societies (in some cases very centralized), defined as curacazgos, led by curacas.

Towards the IV century a. In the plain of Moxos an important pre-Columbian civilization was established, known as hydraulic culture of the hills (until the XIII century AD). They were based on the use of environmental characteristics (use of aquatic plants as fertilizers and gigantic fishing systems) and on the construction of large hydraulic works that allowed the connection between human nuclei in any season, besides allowing the cultivation during the time of floods (creation of high cultivation fields, visible even today from the air), using embankments, dams, canals and lagoons with different functions.

Colonial period

Upon the arrival of the Spaniards, the region was already in full decline for three centuries. In the same way, the region remained one of the centers of origin and propagation of many agricultural products of worldwide diffusion: tobacco, peanuts, cotton, cassava (Manihot esculenta), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas).

After a season of intense interest on the part of the Spanish in the first phase of the colonial era, when it was believed that in the region could be one of the headquarters of the mythical El Dorado (or Paititi), the region will remain in a state of strong marginality for some centuries.

Republican era

In tribute to the first year of the Bolivian victory at the Battle of Ingavi on November 18, 1841, it is founded and detached from the department of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and the department of Beni is created that all the Beni formerly the territory of the Governorship of the Department of Santa Cruz de la Sierra on November 18, 1842 by law promulgated by the Marshal and President of Bolivia José Ballivián y Segurola, on the basis of the Missions of Moxos: San Ignacio, Trinidad, Magdalena, Baures, San Joaquín , Santa Ana and Loreto, among others, all of them were part of the department of Santa Cruz at the time of the Republic of Bolivia. Ballivián paid tribute, in that way, to the first anniversary of the victorious battle of Ingavi, which not only definitively sealed national independence, but also mutilated all glimpses of a Pan-Peruvian project and remembered for the death of the Peruvian leader Agustín Gamarra.

In the Republican era, between the mid-nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, the north of the department was the protagonist of the economic boom of rubber or rubber in the country and the world. The abundance of syringa trees (Hevea brasiliensis) called a large number of people to the region, many adventurers and workers, most of whom were indigenous, who worked in conditions of semi-slavery. For decades, the area became one of the most active and dynamic regions of Bolivia. Cachuela Esperanza and an important rubber transit center, on the bank of the Beni River, had at the end of the 19th century one of the most equipped hospitals in Bolivia.

At the moment the syringuera exploitation practically has disappeared of the area for lack of profitability in front of the production of the South Asia: many of the old rubber barracks have been transformed into cattle ranches. Only small local producers of gummed ponchos for river navigation and other objects of traditional use survive.

Government and administration

According to the current Political Constitution of Bolivia, the highest authority of the department is the governor. Since 2005 the governor is elected by direct popular vote for a term of 5 years (previously the position was designated by the president of Bolivia).

In the same way, the department of Beni also has a Departmental Legislative Assembly (similar to a departmental legislature, but with restricted functions) of 12 members, called "assembly members". Each province of the department receives a minimum of 1 counselor, with the remaining councilors assigned according to the number of inhabitants. The election of the councilors corresponds by law to the municipalities.

As of 2010, a governor and a departmental legislative assembly are elected, in accordance with the provisions of the new Bolivian constitution.

City Cochabamba - Bolivia

2018-05-16T06:04:00.000-07:00

Cochabamba is a Bolivian city, capital of the homonymous department and of the province of Cercado, being at present the third city in economic importance of Bolivia. It is located in the center of the country, located in the valley of the same name.

Official Name: Cochabamba
Department: Cochabamba
Province: Cercado
Foundation: August 15, 1571 (Gerónimo Osorio)
Surface: 348 km²
Population: 630,587 hab.
Density: 1.812 hab / km²
Gentilicio: Cochabambino / a
Time zone: UTC-4
Telephone Area Code: +591 4

Cercado is the official name used to designate the old territory that covers the entire Cochabamba valley or Kanata valley, where in 1571 the Villa de Oropeza was founded, which today is the city of Cochabamba.

The Municipality of Cochabamba is located in a small valley formed by the provinces of Cercado, Quillaquollo and a part of the Chapare (Sacaba), also known as the central valley.

According to José Macedonio Urquidi, Cochabamba is an original name of Quechua "kjocha" which means puddle or lagoon and "pampa" plain or flat ground.

The climate of the Cochabamba Valley is the most ideal of all Bolivia, since it is stable and constantly temperate, varies from winter to summer, but without extremes, as it happens in the other cities of the country, the climate varies between 10º C to 30ºC .

Historical background

The Cercado province was created as Administrative Unit of the department of Cochabamba, by Supreme Decree on October 9, 1855, during the presidency of General Jorge Cordova. It was established as a city by order of the Viceroy Francisco de Toledo, given to Captain Jerónimo de Osorio who founded the "Villa de Oropeza" on August 15, 1571 in the territory called Kocha - Pampa populated by the Indians of Kanata.

Today the city of Cochabamba, is one of the most modern cities of Bolivia, which holds the titles of the city of "Eternal Spring and Cochabamba Única"; It is a competitive, productive, attractive and thriving city that offers visitors an unforgettable place thanks to the diversity of its attractions and the hospitality of its people.

Attractions

- Natural places

- Urban Heritage - architectural

- Churches and convent

- Museums and exhibition centers

- Traditional streets and neighborhoods

- Festivities.

How to get

Air and land route.

City Santa Cruz de la Sierra - Bolivia

2018-05-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

Tourism in Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Santa Cruz de la Sierra is one of the main cities of Bolivia, located in the east, its inhabitants are known as "cambas". The city of tropical climate has important industries, as well as places of entertainment, restaurants, museums and cultural centers.

Santa Cruz is a city that serves as a starting point for different excursions.

How to get to Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Santa Cruz de la Sierra is very well connected with the rest of Bolivia and bordering countries. Viru Viru International Airport operates several national and international airlines.

From the Bus Terminal of Santa Cruz you can travel to La Paz in 16 hours, to Cochabamba in 10 hours, to Trinidad in 12 hours, to Vallegrande in 6 hours. There are also services to Yacuiba and Bermejo on the border with Argentina and Asunción in Paraguay.

By Train (Expreso Oriental) communicates Santa Cruz with Puerto Quijarro on the border with Brazil.

Visit to Santa Cruz

The center of the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra is formed by the Plaza 24 de Septiembre, around which rise important buildings, many of them colonial style, buildings of colonial style. The most important buildings around the Plaza are the Metropolitan Cathedral, Departmental Prefecture, City Hall, House of Culture.

The Metropolitan Cathedral, also known as the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo, was built in 1770. Inside, the wooden vaults and decorative frescoes stand out. The main altar and several decorative elements come from the Jesuit mission of San Pedro de Moxos.

Trip to Santa Cruz

Within the Cathedral operates the Cathedral Museum of Sacred Art, where visitors will find a varied collection of religious art divided into four rooms: wood carvings, liturgical ornaments, silverware and art gallery. Many elements belonging to the Jesuit missions.

Also in front of the square is the House of Culture, the place was established in 1978 and is an important center for culture and the arts. Inside, talks, plays, concerts, workshops and courses, film screenings, photography, painting and sculpture exhibitions are held. The Center works with local, national and foreign artists. In addition inside it works a souvenir shop.

Other walks to take place in the city is the visit to the Botanical Garden where you can see more than a thousand species of plants and trees, and the Noel Kempf Mercado Zoo where you can see specimens of the local fauna in semi-freedom condition like the spectacled bear, Macaws or lazy.

Also on days of oppressive heat a good option may be to visit the Aqualand and Playland Water Parks.

Walks and excursions from Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Jesuit Missions

The Jesuit Missions in Bolivia are the only ones that still exist in South America after more than 300 years of their foundations. They are located in the region known as Chiquitos. The missions are those of San Jose, Santa Ana, San Rafael, San Miguel, San Ignacio, Concepción and San Xavier. In 1991, the Jesuit Missions of Bolivia were declared as Cultural Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO.

Espejillos

Espejillos is located 40 km away. of Santa Cruz. It is a place to enjoy the outdoors and the baths in crystalline rivers and waterfalls. It's a frequent walk among the families of the city looking for a little rest. + See more of Espejillos

Porongo

Porongo is a small and peaceful village at 18 km. from the city of Santa Cruz. The town preserves the atmosphere and customs of the towns of yesteryear and a picturesque 18th century church.

City Potosi - Bolivia

2018-05-15T10:39:00.001-07:00

Tourism in Potosí

Potosí, located at 3826 meters above sea level, is one of the highest cities in the world. Next to the city is the Cerro Rico whose history goes back to the years of the Spanish conquest.

Potosí (Villa Imperial de Potosí) was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco.

How to get to Potosí

Potosí has a new bus terminal to which different companies that connect the city with the rest of the country arrive and depart.

Estimated travel time by bus to and from Potosí: La Paz 11 hours. Sucre 3 hs. Uyuni 7 hs. Oruro 8 hs. Villazón 11 hs. Tarija 14 hs.

Places to visit in Potosí

Cathedral of Potosí

It was built in 1808 and stones and bricks were used, it has a central dome and two towers. The Cathedral of Potosí is one of the most characteristic temples of the Neoclassical architectural style. Inside there are important religious relics of gold and silver. Also an organ donated by Simon I. Patiño. A sector works as a museum of religious art.

Company Tower

One of the symbols of the city is the Tower of the Company, a religious convent of the eighteenth century, its construction was conceived as a triumphal arch with five openings, thirty-two salomonic columns and three half-orange domes. The Tower can be visited and from its top you get a privileged view of Potosí. Hours: 8:30 am to 12:00 pm and from 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm.

Mint

It is the main museum of Potosí. The building was built in 1759 to work as a mint. Today it is a museum with different rooms dedicated to painting and the arts, to history, numismatics and machinery to mint coins. The building with its patios, cedar doors, ceilings and sales is an unmissable architectural attraction.

Church and Convent of San Francisco

The current building began to be built in 1707. The church of San Francisco has a two-body tower, a beautiful portal and an external altarpiece for the cross, inside it kept its ornamentation of Baroque style, with architecture work in wood as the altarpieces and pulpit. In the temple we see the image of the Cristo de la Vera Cruz, which dates back to 1550, making it the oldest in Bolivia. Inside there is a museum that can be visited from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 2.34 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Saturdays only in the morning.

Visit to the Cerro Rico mines

An unforgettable tour is to visit the mines of Cerro Rico. In the hill there are different miners' cooperatives that extract minerals such as zinc and lead quite primitively. Many of these cooperatives receive tourists, so some travel agencies have an agreement to take visitors. The visit to the mines shows the harsh reality of the miners, who work very hard in extreme conditions, often suffering serious or fatal accidents, to extract the mineral that they exchange for little money.

The Pailaviri mine (4200Mt.) Belonging to COMIBOL, is the oldest mine in Potosí, in continuous operation since 1545; there the silver is extruded and now the tin is exploited. The hill came to have more than 5,000 bocaminas and sinkholes very many of them interconnected.

Before visiting the mine, it is recommended to go through the Mining Market, where they sell peaks, shovels, coca leaves, alcohol, wicks and dynamite cartridges. In the market it is a good idea to buy some present to take to the miners, such as coca.

Some tourists arrive at the mines on their own, taking some "combi" from the center of Potosí and on the hill they arrange the tour with the miners themselves. This option is more free but also more risky.

Other attractions of Potosí

Termas de Tarapaya

This volcanic lagoon is very frequent to take thermal baths with healing properties. It is 25 km away. from Potosí and can be easily reached in "micros" and "combis".

Lagoons Kari Kari

They were built by order of the Spanish Viceroy in the sixteenth century with very advanced techniques for their time. In the lagoons they serve to accumulate rainwater for domestic consumption. They are located 8 km from Potosí and in the area you can make different walks.

Miraflores thermal baths

Achieved in the colonial era, stone arches, between mixed with infinity of temperatures in its sulfurous thermal. It is 18 km away on the way to Oruro.

City Oruro - Bolivia

2018-05-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

Tourism in Oruro

Oruro is the capital city of the homonymous department, is located at 3,700 meters between the departments of La Paz and Potosí. Every year in Oruro, one of the most important carnivals in the world takes place.

How to get to Oruro

Several bus companies connect Oruro with the main cities of Bolivia.

Travel time to: La Paz from 3 to 4 hours. Potosí 5 hours. Cochabamba from 4 to 5 hours. Sucre from 8 to 10 hours. Santa Cruz de la Sierra from 6 pm to 8 pm There are also buses to Chile.

By train you can travel from Oruro to Uyuni and Villazón.

Visit to Oruro

Many attractions of Oruro have to do with mining activity, in addition to native cultures and traditions.

The Sanctuary of the Virgen del Socavón is one of the most visited sites in the city. The Virgen del Socavón is adored by the miners of Bolivia and there are many devotees who make pilgrimages from all regions of the country to ask and thank. On Carnival Saturday the virgin is visited by thousands of dancers.

Trip to Oruro

The Oruro Carnival is the most important celebration in Bolivia. Thousands of dancers and musicians parade with their comparsas. During the carnival it is difficult to get accommodation.

Monument and Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Candelaria del Socavón

virgin sanctuary socavon

The Monument to the Virgin of the Socavón in the city of Oruro is located at 3,845 meters above sea level and has a height of 45.4 meters and the weight is 1,500 tons. The imposing figure has 8 floors and a chapel at its base where many pilgrims arrive. The work was inaugurated in 2013 and blessed by Pope Benedict XVI.

Places to visit in Oruro

Spa of Obrajes

Very famous thermal baths located 25 kilometers from Oruro. An ideal place to have relaxing and therapeutic baths.

Capachos spa

These thermal baths are 10 kilometers away from the city.

Lake Poopó

The Lake Poopó is one of the main ones of Bolivia, is located 55 km. of Oruro. On the lake is Panza Island ideal for fishing or spending a day outdoors. Near Lake Poopó live peasant and indigenous families with ancestral customs. The most known villages are Poopo, Pazña, Aullagas. The area is considered an ecological reserve because of its diversity of fauna, where birds such as flamenco stand out.

Uru Uru Lake

The Uru Uru Lake is located to the south of the city on the railroad town of Machacamarca. In the lake you can fish and know the coastal populations. In Machacamarca there is a very complete railway museum.

Salar de Coipasa

The Salar Coipasa is the second most important salt flat in Bolivia after Uyuni. It is located 225 km. of Oruro. It has an area of 2,218 km2. The landscape of the salar is impressive. In some places there are communities that live from the extraction of salt and in other sectors there are lagoons.

Church of Yarvicoya

The Church of Yarvicoya is located a few kilometers from Oruro, within the jurisdiction of Caracollo, near the road to La Paz. The temple has a mestizo baroque architectural style and has been declared a national monument.

Calacala

Calacala is an archaeological site located 21 kilometers from Oruro. Between the hills and the water springs, there is an important collection of cave paintings.

Oruro Museums

House of Culture Museum

Address: Calle Soria Galvarro corner Ayacucho.

Description: Exhibition of historical objects. It was founded in 1975 and depends on the Mayor of Oruro.

San Miguel Museum of Sacred Art

Address: Soria Galvarro Street and 1st November S / N.

Hours: Monday to Friday from 8:00 - 12:00 and from 2:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Description: Paintings, altarpieces, sculptures, liturgical ornaments and other pieces from the colonial era are on display.

Mineralogical and Geological Museum

Address: University Citadel (southern zone)

Telephones: (591-2) 5261250

Hours: Monday to Saturday from 8:00 - 12:00 and from 2:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Description: This museum houses an exhibition of more than 2000 samples of minerals from the Andean, central and eastern regions of Bolivia.

Mining Museum of Socavón

Address: Socavón Sanctuary

Telephones: (591-2) 5250616

Hours: Monday to Sunday from 9:00 -12: 00 and from 15:00 - 18:00 hs.

Description: The Mining Museum is a repository dedicated to the extraction of minerals and the traditions of underground workers.

Theme: History

Collections: It is located inside an old mine. It contains machinery, instruments, photos, maps, minerals, etc., referring to mining work.

Eduardo López Rivas National Anthropological Museum

Address: Av. España S / N, Zoological Park.

Telephones: (591-2) 5274020

Hours: Monday to Sunday from 8:00 - 12:00 and from 2:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Description: This is a space dedicated to the exhibition of archaeological pieces from the pre-Columbian cultures of Oruro.

Simon I. Patiño Museum

Address: Calle Soria Galvarro y Ayacucho S / N.

Telephones: (591-2) 5254015

Hours: Monday to Friday from 8:00 - 12:00 and from 2:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Description: Historic objects are exhibited in this house.

City La Paz - Bolivia

2018-05-14T16:24:00.001-07:00

View of La Paz at sunset, from the "Killi Killi" lookout.

Its metropolitan area, which is formed by La Paz, El Alto and Viacha, makes up the most populous urban area in Bolivia, with a population of 2.3 million. It is also the capital of the La Paz Department.

The city, located in west-central Bolivia 68 km (42 mi) southeast of Lake Titicaca, is set in a canyon created by the Choqueyapu River. It is located in a bowl-like depression surrounded by the high mountains of the Altiplano. Overlooking the city is the towering, triple-peaked Illimani. Its peaks are always snow covered and can be seen from many parts of the city. At an elevation of roughly 3,650 m (11,975 ft) above sea level, La Paz is the highest capital city in the world. Due to its altitude, La Paz has an unusual subtropical highland climate, with rainy summers and dry winters.

La Paz was founded on October 20, 1548 by the Spanish conquistador Captain Alonso de Mendoza at the site of the Inca settlement of Laja as a connecting point between the commercial routes that led from Potosí and Oruro to Lima; the full name of the city was originally Nuestra Señora de La Paz (meaning Our Lady of Peace) in commemoration of the restoration of peace following the insurrection of Gonzalo Pizarro and fellow conquistadors against the first viceroy of Peru. The city was later moved to its present location in the valley of Chuquiago Marka. La Paz was under Spanish colonial rule as part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, before Bolivia gained independence. Since its founding, the city was the site of numerous revolts. In 1781, the indigenous leader and independence activist Túpac Katari laid siege to the city for a total of six months, but was finally defeated. On July 16, 1809 the Bolivian patriot Pedro Domingo Murillo ignited a revolution for independence, marking the beginning of the Spanish American Wars of Independence, which gained the freedom of South American states in 1821.

As the seat of the government of Bolivia, La Paz is the site of the Palacio Quemado, the presidential palace. It is also the seat of the Bolivian legislature, the Plurinational Legislative Assembly, and numerous government departments and agencies. The constitutional capital of Bolivia, Sucre, retains the judicial power. The city hosts numerous foreign embassies as well as international missions in the country. La Paz is an important political, administrative, economic, and sports center of Bolivia; it generates 25% of Bolivia's Gross Domestic Product and serves as the headquarters for numerous Bolivian companies and industries.

La Paz is also an important cultural center of Latin America, as it hosts several landmarks belonging to the colonial times, such as the San Francisco Church, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Plaza Murillo and the Jaén Street. The city is renowned for its unique markets, particularly the Witches' Market, and for its vibrant nightlife. Its unusual topography offers unique views of the city and the surrounding mountains of the Cordillera Real from numerous natural viewing points. La Paz is also home to both the longest and highest urban cable car network in the world. In May 2015, it was officially recognized as one of the New 7 Wonders Cities together with Beirut, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur and Vigan. La Paz is listed on the Global Cities Index 2015, and is considered a global city type "Gamma" by Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC).

This area had been the site of an Inca city, located on a major trading route.

Although the Spanish conquistadors entered the area in 1535, they did not found La Paz until 1548. Originally it was to be at the site of the Native American settlement, Laja, with the full name of the city being Nuestra Señora de La Paz (meaning Our Lady of Peace). The name commemorated the restoration of peace following the insurrection of Gonzalo Pizarro and fellow conquistadors four years earlier against Blasco Núñez Vela, the first viceroy of Peru.[20] The town site was moved a few days later to its present location in the valley of Chuquiago, which is more clement.

Control over the former Inca lands had been entrusted to Pedro de la Gasca by the Spanish king (and Holy Roman Emperor) Emperor Charles V. Gasca commanded Alonso de Mendoza to found a new city commemorating the end of the civil wars in Peru; the city of La Paz was founded on October 20, 1548 by Alonzo de Mendoza, with Juan de Vargas appointed as its first mayor.

In 1549, Juan Gutierrez Paniagua was commanded to design an urban plan that would designate sites for public areas, plazas, official buildings, and a cathedral. These were meant to express the ideals and relationships of Spanish colonial society. La Plaza de los Españoles, which is known today as the Plaza Murillo, was chosen as the location for government buildings as well as the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Government Palace of Bolivia in downtown La Paz

Spain controlled La Paz with a firm grip and the Spanish king had the last word in all matters political, but consultation was extended, taking months or longer by sea. Indigenous and other unrest was repeated around the turn of the nineteenth century. In 1781, for a total of six months, a group of Aymara people laid siege to La Paz. Under the leadership of Tupac Katari, they destroyed churches and government property. Thirty years later Indians conducted a two-month siege against La Paz. This incident was the setting for the origin of the legend of the Ekeko. In 1809 the struggle for independence from the Spanish rule brought uprisings against the royalist forces. On July 16, 1809 Pedro Domingo Murillo said that the Bolivian revolution was igniting a lamp that nobody would be able to turn off. This uprising formally marked the beginning of the liberation of South America from Spain. The first open rebellions against the Spanish Crown took place in La Paz and the city of Sucre simultaneously. This event is known as the Primer Grito Libertario de América.

Pedro Domingo Murillo was hanged at the Plaza de los Españoles that night. After Bolivia gained independence, La Paz named this plaza after him, to commemorate him always. He is remembered as the voice of revolution across South America.

In 1825, after the decisive victory of the republicans at Ayacucho over the Spanish army in the course of the Spanish American wars of independence, the city's full name was changed to La Paz de Ayacucho (meaning The Peace of Ayacucho).

In 1898, La Paz was made the de facto seat of the national government, with Sucre remaining the nominal historical as well as judiciary capital. This change reflected the shift of the Bolivian economy away from the largely exhausted silver mines of Potosí to the exploitation of tin near Oruro, and resulting shifts in the distribution of economic and political power among various national elites.

The city in winter, with Illimani in the background.

Geography

Located at 16°30′0″S 68°08′0″W (−16.5, −68.1333), La Paz is built in a canyon created by the Choqueyapu River (now mostly built over), which runs northwest to southeast. The city's main thoroughfare, which roughly follows the river, changes names over its length, but the central tree-lined section running through the downtown core is called the Prado.

The geography of La Paz (in particular the altitude) is marked by social differences. The more affluent residents live in the lower, central areas of the city southwest of the Prado. Many middle-class residents live in high-rise condos near the center. Lower-income residents live in makeshift brick houses in the surrounding hills.

The satellite city of El Alto, in which the airport is located, is spread over a broad area to the west of the canyon, on the Altiplano. La Paz is renowned for its unique markets, unusual and dramatic topography, and traditional culture.

La Paz is located in the valleys of the Andes, close to the Eastern split of the Altiplano region. It is closer to such notable mountains as the Illimani (guardian of La Paz), Huayna Potosi, Mururata, and Illampu. On the Western side of the Altiplano divide, about an hour to the west of the La Paz, is the Sajama Volcano, the tallest mountain in Bolivia and ninth-tallest mountain in the Andes.

In July 1994, an earthquake rated at 8.2 struck just 200 miles (322 km) north of La Paz. It could be felt near La Paz and caused damage throughout the villages of the area.

Climate

At more than 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) above sea level, higher parts of La Paz have an unusual subtropical highland climate (Cwc, according to the Köppen climate classification), with subpolar oceanic characteristics (less than 4 months have a mean temperature above 10 °C), bordering on a tundra climate (ET). The whole city has rainy summers and dry winters. Night-time temperatures range from cold to very cold. Snow flurries can occur in winter, especially at dawn and it usually melts before noon. At these high altitudes despite being located only 16 degrees from the equator, the city's average temperature is similar to that of cities such as Bergen, Norway or Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, located as far as 60 and 62 degrees from the equator respectively.

The temperatures in the central La Paz, at 3,600 metres (11,811 feet), and in the Zona Sur (Southern Zone), at 3,250 m (10,663 ft) above sea level, are warmer (subtropical highland climate Cwb, according to the Köppen classification).

Owing to the altitude of the city, temperatures are consistently cool to mild throughout the year, though the diurnal temperature variation is typically large. The city has a relatively dry climate, with rainfall occurring mainly in the slightly warmer months of November to March.

At 4,012 metres, February and March, the two cloudiest months of the year, both in late summer, receive a low daily average of around 5 hours of sunshine. Conversely, June and July, the two sunniest months of the year, both in winter, receive an abundant daily average of around 8 hours of sunshine.[24]

The seasonally uneven distribution of the year's annual precipitation often results in destructive mudslides experienced in summer, due to the excessive amount of precipitation typically observed throughout the season. At 3,250 metres, the wettest month is January with a monthly average of 114 mm (4.5 in) and the driest is July with 8 mm (0.3 in).

The warmest temperature recorded was 27.0 °C (80.6 °F) and the coldest was −12.5 °C (9.5 °F).

Districts and neighborhoods

#	District	Population	Area (km²)	Type	Map
1	Mallasa	5,082	32,68	Urbano
2	Zona Sur	127,228	64,15	Urbano
3	San Antonio	115,659	22,59	Urbano
4	Periférica	159,123	26,05	Urbano
5	Max Paredes	164,566	13,31	Urbano
6	Centro	64,272	5,22	Urbano
7	Cotahuma	153,655	16,10	Urbano
23	Zongo			Rural
22	Hampaturi			Rural

Colonial architecture

The city of La Paz has a consistently decreasing volume of colonial buildings, mostly centered around the vicinity of the Plaza Murillo. Due to a lack of funds and the inability of property owners to pay for restorations to colonial buildings, many have been torn down, or are in a dilapidated state. As historic buildings are more expensive to keep, land owners find it less of a burden to construct more modern buildings as opposed to keeping the old ones. Although there has been an increasing number of projects and propositions to restore some of the city's colonial buildings, the future of these historic edifices remains uncertain.

Economy

The economy of La Paz has improved greatly in recent years, mainly as a result of improved political stability. Due to the long period of high inflation and economic struggle faced by Bolivians in the 1980s and early 1990s, a large informal economy developed. Evidence of this is provided by the markets found all around the city. While there are stable markets, almost every street in the downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods has at least one vendor on it. La Paz remains the principal center of manufacturing enterprises that produce finished-product goods for the country, with about two-thirds of Bolivia's manufacturing located nearby. Historically, industry in Bolivia has been dominated by mineral processing and the preparation of agricultural products. However, in the urban centre of La Paz, small plants carry out a large portion of the industry. Food, tobacco products, clothing, various consumer goods, building materials, and agricultural tools are produced. "The tin quotations from London are watched in La Paz with close interest as an index of the country's prosperity; a third of the national revenue and more than half of the total customs in 1925 were derived from tin; in short, that humble but indispensable metal is the hub around which Bolivia's economic life revolves. The tin deposits of Bolivia, second largest in the world, invite development."

Tourism

La Paz is an important cultural center of Bolivia. The city hosts several cathedrals belonging to the colonial times, such as the San Francisco Cathedral and the Metropolitan Cathedral, this last one located on Murillo Square, which is also home of the political and administrative power of the country. Hundreds of different museums can be found across the city, the most notable ones on Jaén Street, which street design has been preserved from the Spanish days and is home of 10 different museums.

The home of the Bolivian government is located on Murillo Square and is known as "Palacio Quemado" (Burnt Palace) as it has been on fire several times. The palace has been restored many times since, but the name has remained untouched.

Principal attractions

Museums and cultural centers

The former home of Pedro Domingo Murillo, martyr of the independence revolution of 1809, has been preserved and is now a museum. The house displays a collection of furniture, textiles, and art from colonial times.
Museo Costumbrista: Displays ceramic dolls wearing traditional customs that show how was life in the early 19th century. Also on display are photos of old La Paz.
Museo Nacional de Arqueología (National Museum of Archeology): Depicts a collection of artifacts of the Tiawanaku culture.
Museo del Litoral (Museum of the Litoral Coastal Region): Displays objects from the 1879 war in which Bolivia lost its sea coast to Chile.
Museo del Oro (Gold Museum): Depicts pre-Conquest works made of gold, silver and copper.
Museo de Etnografía y Folklore (Ethnography and Folkolore Museum): Located in a house built during the late 18th century, it exhibits customs and art of two ethnic groups: Chipayas and Ayoreos.
Museo del Charango (Museum of Charango): Located in Calle Linares, the museum displays an important variety of charangos. Other native instruments are displayed as well.
Museo de Historia Natural (Natural History Museum): Exhibits on Bolivian paleontology, geology, zoology and botanical elements of interest.
Casa Museo Marina Nuñez del Prado (Marina Nuñez del Prado House Museum): Displays Quechua and Aymara-theme sculptures by Bolivian artist Marina Nuñez del Prado.
Museo Nacional de Arte (National Art Museum): Located in Calle Comercio, on a former palace built in 1775, displays works by Melchor Perez de Holguín and Marina Nuñez del Prado, among others.
Mercado de Brujas (Witches' Market): Merchandise sold here includes herbs, remedies as well as other ingredients used in Aymara traditions.
Feria de Alasitas: This fair is celebrated for two weeks each year, beginning January 24. The central figure is a little god of abundance known as Ekeko, which means dwarf in Aymara.
Museo San Francisco Cultural Center.

Churches and cathedrals

Metropolitan Cathedral, built in 1835 and located next to the Presidential Palace, on Murillo Square;
San Francisco Church, founded in 1548 and rebuilt 1784.

Other attractions

Bolivian Presidential Palace, also known as "Burned Palace".
Parque Urbano Central (Central Urban Park)

Local festivals

January: Achocalla Festival: Occurs during the first week of January. The city of La Paz comes together to celebrate this religious festival with traditional dances, music, and a parade. In Bolivia’s harvest calendar, Achocalla marks the time when potato fields begin to bloom. People dance the traditional folklore dance known as “tarqueada” during the festival.
January 24: Alasitas is a yearly fair where people buy miniature gifts and praise the god of prosperity, Ekeko. The fair begins every January 24 and lasts for a month.
February 2: Virgen de Copacabana, (Villa Copacabana)
May 1: San José Obrero (V. Nuevo Potosí)
May 3: Señor de la Santa Cruz (Calvario, Tacagua, Calacoto)
May 13: Virgen de Fátima (Villa Fátima)
May 14: San Isidro, Labrador (San Isidro)
May 17: Señor de la Sentencia (Villa Armonía)
May: Jesus, Señor del Gran Poder (movible, Gran Poder) La Fiesta del Gran Poder occurs according to the Saint’s calendar. Therefore, it happens on different dates every year. But the festival typically occurs during late May to early June. This festival pays homage to El Señor del Gran Poder. During the festival, over 30,000 dancers take the streets of La Paz performing dances with themes that represent both Aymara folktales and Catholic traditions. The dancers wear colorful homemade costumes. The Parade lasts all day throughout the night.
June 13: San Antonio de Padua (San Antonio)
June 24: San Juan Bautista (Valle Hermoso, San Juan)
June 29: San Pedro Apóstol (San Pedro)
July 16: Virgen del Carmen, Patroness of Bolivia and the Armed Forces of the Nation Efemerides of La Paz
July 25: Apóstol Santiago (Munaypata, Pampahasi, Pasankeri, Periférica, Alto Delicias)
August 15: Virgen de Urqupiña (Urkupiña)
August 15: Virgen de la Asunción (Villa Victoria)
September 8: Virgen de las Nieves (V. Copacabana, M. Paredes, La Portada, Achachicala, Alto Irpavi, Cotahuma, Las Nieves)
September 8: Virgen de los Remedios (Miraflores)
September 14: Señor de la Exaltación (Obrajes, G. de Lima, Bajo Tejar, Vino Tinto)
September 24: Virgen de la Merced (Cota Cota)
October 7: Virgen del Rosario (El Rosario)
November: Cristo Rey (Pura Pura)
December 4: Santa Barbara (Santa Bárbara, Llojeta)
December 8: Virgen de la Concepción (Kupini, Sopocachi, Achumani)

Transportation

Automobiles and public transportation are still the main means to get into the city. In March 2012, more than 1.5 million vehicles were registered.[30] Heavy traffic is common in the city center and traffic jams occur on peak hours.

To create awareness of traffic rules, a group of young people known as traffic zebras dress as zebras to encourage people and vehicles to obey traffic lights.

Highways

The La Paz-El Alto Highway is a toll road that connects the city of La Paz with the neighboring city of El Alto. It is the city's main highway. It allows easy access to El Alto International Airport. The highway runs 11,7 km and crosses the city of El Alto:

DISCO BOLIVIA RUTA 3.png Autopista La Paz-El Alto/RN-3 (La Paz-El Alto Highway) - Connects La Paz with El Alto.

A-1Spain.png Autovía La Paz Oruro/A-1 (La Paz-Oruro Highway) - Connects La Paz with the cities of Oruro, Patacamaya and Caracollo. It then connects with Ruta Nacional 1/RN-1 (National Highway 1) heading south to the cities of Potosí, Camargo, Tarija.

The Southern District, one of La Paz's most affluent and commercial neighborhoods, is relatively separated from the rest of the city, including the CBD. The Avenida Costanera and Avenida Kantutani (Costanera and Kantutani Avenues) connect the southern district with the rest of the metropolitan area.

Air

El Alto International Airport (IATA code: LPB) is La Paz's national and international airport and a principal hub for Línea Aérea Amaszonas and Transporte Aéreo Militar. It also serves as a focus city for Boliviana de Aviación, Bolivia's flag-carrier and largest airline. The airport is located in the city of El Alto and is (13 km) south-west of La Paz's city center. At an elevation of 4,061 metres (13,323 feet), it is the highest international airport and fifth highest commercial airport in the world.[31] The runway has a length of 4,000 metres (2.5 mi). It is one of Bolivia's three main international gateways, along with Jorge Wilstermann International Airport and Viru Viru International Airport.

International carriers serving El Alto International Airport include American Airlines, Avianca, Avianca Ecuador, LAN Airlines, LAN Perú, Peruvian Airlines and Sky Airline, which offer direct flights from La Paz to cities such as Miami, Bogotá, Lima, Iquique, Santiago and Cusco. However, most international traffic, including flights to Europe, operates out of Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra which is at a much lower altitude and is capable of handling larger aircraft.

Airport facilities include ATMs, cafés and restaurants, car rentals, duty-free shops, and free Wi-Fi internet. Additionally, the airport supplies travelers with oxygen for those who suffer from altitude sickness.

Bus

La Paz Bus Station, originally a bus and train station, was built by the French architect Gustave Eiffel. It is the main gateway for inter-city buses with several daily departures to all the main Bolivian cities, and routes to Chile and Peru. The city is connected by road with the city of Oruro from where there are routes to Sucre, Potosí and the south of the country. Another highway branches off before Oruro to reach Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. Roads to the west go to Copacabana and Tiwanaku, near Lake Titicaca, and continue to Cuzco, Peru via the border town of Desaguadero. There are also roads north to get to Yungas crossing the Andes Mountains.

Departures to smaller cities and towns within the department use informal stations located in Villa Fátima (departures to Los Yungas, Beni and Pando), Upper San Pedro (for Apolo) and near the General Cemetery (for Copacabana, Lake Titicaca, or via Tiwanaku to Desaguadero on the Peruvian border).

Cable car system

Main article: Mi Teleférico

A system of urban transit aerial cable cars called Mi Teleférico ("My Cable Car") was opened in 2014. Currently three lines are in operation, and six more lines are in the planning stage. The initial three lines were built by the Austrian company Doppelmayr. The first two lines (Red and Yellow) connect La Paz with El Alto.

Line	Length	Travel time	Stations	opened
Red Line	2.4 km	10 min	3	May 2014
Yellow Line	3.9 km	13.5 min	4	September 2014
Green Line	3.7 km	16.6 min	4	December 2014

Red line cable car connecting La Paz and El Alto

The 36 Ethnic Groups of Bolivia

2018-05-14T14:33:00.001-07:00

The 36 Ethnic Groups of Bolivia

Nothing identifies the country better than its diversity. And for the anthropologist Wigberto Rivero Pinto, this diversity constitutes Bolivia's greatest treasure. Afrobolivians, whites, mestizos and indigenous people season the diverse mosaic of cultural manifestations that coexist throughout the country.

"Our diversity expresses wealth. For example, each of the indigenous peoples that inhabit the national territory is the repository of a set of values that manifest themselves in their own ways of seeing the world; the nature of organizing, of generating art, of producing, of living and feeling, "says Rivero, who for years studied the different ethnic groups of the country. The data of this wise work, added to the results of the Population and Housing Census 2001, published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), are the basis of this journalistic note that tries to shed light on 34 of the 36 officially recognized native groups .

To this list must be added to the Nahua -of whom there is no documented data, only the oral word that places them in Pando- and to the Afro-Bolivians, who have not yet been recognized in the INE census, as their complaints complained. representatives before the members of the Constituent Assembly.

However, Rivero, who was Minister of Peasant Affairs, points out that in the South American context, Bolivia has the highest percentage of indigenous people, with 64 percent of the total population. Peru is next with 59 percent. "Brazil has 220 ethnic groups - the largest in the region - but these represent 1 percent of the population of that country."

Despite this wealth, the original groups are losing the customs of their ancestors, due to the lack of a state policy that gives them the necessary tools for their survival, Rivero complains.

1.- Araunah

Baba bizo (good god) is one of the many deities of the araonas. In the 19th century, this group dominated most of the Amazonian rivers. Then, during the boom of the rubber, this ethnic group served as a guide to the industrialists who exploited the precious rubber. Paradoxically, the businessmen expelled them from their lands and enslaved them. The natives who managed to escape lived as nomads until the middle of the 20th century. Currently, about 100 araonas live in the Iturralde province (La Paz). Read More >>>

2.- Aymara

The department of La Paz is the bastion of the Aymaras. However, Oruro and Potosí are also home to the more than 1,200,000 Andean indigenous people. The domain of the Aymaras or Collas began after the fall of Tiwanaku (XII) and was strengthened by the union of several surrounding villages of Lake Titicaca. After several years of frustrated attempts, the Incas dominated them. However, this people kept their language and culture intact. The Aymara religion is closely related to agricultural activity. Read More >>>

3.- Ayoreo

The Germán Busch province is home to the majority of the 800 Ayores who live in Santa Cruz. The first contact of this ethnic group with the Spaniards was in 1537. However, the natives resisted for decades to be part of the Catholic missions. His nomadic life ended with the foundation of the first mission, in the eighteenth century. The chronicles indicate that they considered birds as divinities. In addition, they had knowledge of the cosmic system. His linguistic family is the zamuco. Read More >>>

4.- Baure

Up to 16,000 baures inhabited the current Iténez province (Beni) in the 18th century. Guardians of the Arawak language, now do not pass the 500. It was Father Cipriano Barace who contacted them around 1690. The religious introduced the cattle, unknown in the area, and taught them music and writing. However, after the expulsion of the Jesuits, the majority abandoned the Catholic reductions and entered the forests. For them, all nature is sacred. Read More >>>

5.- Canichana

The Mamoré river has been the vital space of the canichana, known in the Colony as warlike warriors. The less than 300 members of this ethnic group are in the municipality of San Javier (Beni). During the Spanish rule, the bells of all the Moxos missions were melted into their lands. Thus, the natives abandoned their weapons to learn the secrets of silverware and wood modeling. One of his typical dances is the "crazy machetero", the same one that is danced during Holy Week. Read More >>>

6.- Cavineño

The departments of Beni and Pando are home to some 900 Cavinians. Before the arrival of the evangelizing missions, this ethnic group was animist. Its main deities were among the elements of nature, especially those found in the water and in the forest. In the seventeenth century the Cavinians suffered several migrations due to armed conflicts with the esse ejjas. They are currently chestnut pickers. Another of its activities is agricultural production. His linguistic family is tacana. Read More >>>

7.- maybe

A cross made with a splinter is the most precious object for the more than 500 cayubabas that are found in the Yacuma province (Beni). "It is a splinter of the Holy Cross that the Jesuits brought from Peru," say the inhabitants of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It was in 1704 that the missionaries began their evangelizing work in these lands. In addition to agriculture and livestock, the cayubabas have gained fame in the east for their chivé, a derivative of cassava. Read More >>>

8.- Chácobo

Cáco fue el creador de los ríos, según los chácobo. Pano es la lengua originaria de este grupo asentado en el Beni y que hoy no supera los 300 miembros. Antes de la conquista española, esta etnia se movía en un vasto territorio entre los ríos Beni y Mamoré. Nunca fueron reducidos en las misiones, pero adoptaron elementos de la cultura occidental con el contacto con otros grupos. Sus aldeas cuentan con grandes habitaciones comunales y su alimentación está basada en la yuca y el plátano. Leer Mas>>>

9.- Chimán

The Benyan Amazon is home to the approximately 5,000 chimanes, who are dedicated to fishing and harvesting jatata (vegetable fiber). They have a vast knowledge of natural medicine and keep their culture almost intact, like their language, which can be written by a large part. An epidemic decimated them in the mid-nineteenth century. Read More >>>

10.- Chiquitano

Four Santa Cruz provinces nestle to more than 112,000 Chiquitanos. It was in their lands that Santa Cruz (the old one) was founded in 1550. In 1692 the first of the Jesuit missions was founded. These encouraged artistic development among the natives. After the expulsion of the missionaries, this ethnic group almost disappeared in the exploitation of rubber. Read More >>>

11.- Ese Ejja

For this Amazonian town, paradise is found in the currents of the rivers. His nomadic life ended abruptly after contact with Western culture. Today, these about 400 indigenous Pandinos live in Portachuelo. There they keep their language alive, which is made up of 5,000 words. Their women are skilled with the artisan fabric. Read More >>>

12.- Guarasugwe

It is the ethnic group with the least number of members. It is estimated that they do not reach the ten. The provinces Ñuflo de Chávez (Santa Cruz) and Iténez (Beni) inhabit and their linguistic family is the tupi guaraní. The myths of these expert hunters are based on yanerami, their greatest divinity. It was at the rubber boom that these Indians were decimated by diseases.

Guaraní

The search for the ivy imaraä, the "land without evil", caused three migratory flows of Guarani from Mato Grosso to the country. This group was famous for its resistance to the conquest of both the Incas and the Spanish. Currently more than 81,000 Guarani inhabit the Chaco region of the departments of Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and Tarija. Read More >>>

13.- Guarayo

Los indios guaraníes que migraron desde la costa atlántica siglos antes de la llegada de los españoles, dieron vida al grupo étnico guarayo en Bolivia. Ubicados en su mayoría en la provincia Guarayos (Santa Cruz), su población supera en la actualidad los 5.000. El Coro de Urubichá, que interpreta música sacra, es una muestra de la riqueza artística que atesora este pueblo oriental. Además, los guarayos destacan por su elaboración de retablos, cofres y joyeros hechos de distintas maderas. Leer Mas>>>

14.- Itonama

In total state of nudity. This is how Father Lorenzo Legarda found in 1704 the members of this ethnic group, currently settled in the Iténez and Mamoré provinces (Beni). Its almost 1,500 representatives still stand out for being weavers and boat builders. In 1800 they surpassed 8,000 members, but the diseases brought by rubber tappers devastated them. In 1887, Andres Guayocho emerged from the itonama, who started a rebellion in all Moxos against the exploiters. Read More >>>

15.- Joaquiniano

The waters of the river Mamoré, in the Beni, constitute the living space of the joaquinianos. Corn, rice, cassava and plantain are the products harvested by the 169 members of this group. His linguistic family is Arawak, but Spanish, introduced by Catholic missionaries who came to his lands in the early 1700s, is the predominant language. Every year, the Beniana locality of San Joaquín receives the members of this ethnic group to celebrate the patronal feast of this oriental town. Read More >>>

16.- Leco

Nearly 2,500 Lecos inhabit the La Paz and Lazca Tamayo provinces. There, this indigenous town is dedicated to livestock, agriculture and forestry. Leco or lapa lapa is the name of its original language, which, as with many indigenous people in the country, is close to disappearing. Before the conquest of the Spanish, this group had a strong Aymara influence, which today is manifested in several of their spiritual traditions. The Madidi National Park is protected by them. Read More >>>

17.- Machineri

Besides Bolivia, the machineri are in Peru and Brazil, countries that come together in the municipality of Bolpebra, in Pando, through the exchange of products. Beans, wild animals and fish are the products offered by the twenty indigenous people that make up this Amazonian group. Before the arrival of the white man to their lands, the Machineri maintained the tradition of having a cacique who, besides being the authority of its members, was the healer and the shaman. Read More >>>

18.- Moré

Less than 50 morés are currently in the Monte Azul and Vuelta Grande communities of the Beni department. His linguistic family is chapacura and his presence in the Colony extended through the Machupo, Itonama and Blanco rivers. In this area, remains of rock art and pottery were found that are believed to have been elaborated by the ancestors of the moré. In the 1930s, their elders remember, members of the army were used to force the moré to be "educated." Read More >>>

19.- Mosetén

The land of the Mosetenes was the obligatory passage of the Spaniards who unsuccessfully sought the great Paititi. That territory includes the municipalities of San Borja (Beni) and Palos Blancos (La Paz). Before Catholic evangelization, this group was nomadic and lived on hunting, fishing and gathering. Now the majority of the thousand Mosetenes work the land. Read More >>>

20.- Movima

The first references of the movements, which live in the Yacuma province and exceed 6,000 members, date from 1621. Then they added 20,000 Indians, covering most of the rivers of this eastern region. One of its characteristics is that they maintain the cult both of their ancestors and of the "owners" of the forest and of the animals. Read More >>>

21.- Moxeño

They are one of the largest indigenous groups in the Bolivian Amazon. They currently have over 46,000 members and are located in the department of Beni. The archaeological evidences found in the place show that before the Colony, in the XVII century, they developed a sophisticated system of agriculture with embankments, canals and ridges. Read More >>>

22.- Pacahuara

The first contacts of the Spaniards with the Pacahuara -who currently live in Beni and Pando- were not peaceful until 1785, when the missionaries finally managed to found the mission of Cavinas. The perforations in the nose, where they introduce pieces of wood, is one of the signs that identifies them even today. The pano is his linguistic family.

Quechua

With more than 1,556,000 components, the Quechuas are the most numerous indigenous people in the country. After the fall of Tiwanaku, the Quechua language reached these lands in the hands of the Incas, who dominated the rest of the Andean cultures. The largest concentration of Quechuas is found in Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Potosí, Oruro and La Paz. Read More >>>

23.- Sirionó

The Benoan provinces of Cercado and Iténez are home to more than 150 Sirionos. They are guardians of their language, the tupi guaraní, and very little has been investigated about their origin. Some studies, however, indicate that they arrived from Paraguay. One of its characteristics is the practice of the cult to the hunted animal, as a form of gratitude to nature. The hunting of animals of the mount, the fishing and the harvesting of honey of bee are part of their productive activities. Read More >>>

24.- Tapiete

At least twenty tapietes inhabit the Gran Chaco province (Tarija), in the Samawate and Crevaux communities. It was in 1791 that the Franciscan missionaries gave an account of their presence in this Chaco region. Then they were defined as "dangerous barbarians", since for decades they fought against attempts to be bowed down by the faith of the Spaniards. Due to their small population, in order not to break the prohibition of incest, now they look for wives among the Weenhayek and Guarani. One of the traditions that the tapietes maintain is the dance of the wheel and the use of the bow and arrow to hunt. They also have several sacred places like the cemeteries of their ancestors. This indigenous group, which has the Guarani tupi as a linguistic family, is currently engaged in agriculture, fishing and gathering.Empty Mas >>>

25.- Tacana

The La Paz, Beniana and Pandina Amazonia hosts the nearly 4,000 members of the Tacana ethnic group. The archaeological studies give account of the presence of this group long before the arrival of the Spaniards. The Inca invasion, however, destroyed the Tacana social organization. The chronicles of the Franciscans in 1680 point to this town as peaceful and hospitable. At present, in some communities the ancestral celebrations continue on agricultural dates.

26.- Reyesano or Maropa

Some Bolivian researchers identify the 2,700 indigenous Reyesans as maropas. Located in the province of Ballivián (Beni), the history of this town is linked to the old mission of Los Santos Reyes, which was created with the purpose of evangelizing the indigenous groups of the natives of the area located on the Beni River and the lake. Rogaguado. Read More >>>

27.- Mormon

Its existence is surrounded by myths and legends. According to the oral tradition of the indigenous ethnic groups that surround the Madidi National Park (La Paz), the Toromona, led by the cacique Tarano, resisted the Spanish incursions during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. However, there is no documentation that provides reliable data on these facts. In this regard, the Araona elders-who inhabit the La Paz municipality of Ixiamas-assure that this ethnic group was formed after a division among the Araonas. A pair of scientific expeditions tried unsuccessfully to find the members of the Toromonas, who are still supposed to maintain the nomadic life of their ancestors. Thus, in addition to the land of northern La Paz, it is believed that this group of natives moves south of the department of Pando. Read More >>>

28.- Manage

La Paz and Oruro constitute the redoubt of the urus. It is estimated that its population exceeds 2,000 people. The urus are considered the first to inhabit the Bolivian altiplano. Its history began 2,500 years ago, but its roots are linked to the Wankarani, a previous culture. From the sixteenth century, this group was subdued by the Aymaras. Now, however, the Urus are one of the few indigenous groups that keep most of their customs intact, such as their language. Read More >>>

29.- Yaminahua

It was in the first 50 years of the 20th century that the Yaminahuas entered the Bolivian territory from the Peruvian Amazon. They did it fleeing from the incursions of evangelical sects. Currently, this group is located in the Pandina province Nicolás Suárez. The approximately 50 members of this ethnic group keep part of their traditions intact. One of them is to venerate the viper sicurí as one of its main divinities. The Yaminahua are divided into evangelists and non-evangelists. Read More >>>

30.- Yuqui

Tuberculosis is the greatest threat of this ethnic group that lives in the province of Carrasco, in Cochabamba. About thirty of its nearly 200 members suffer from this deadly disease. Despite this, these skilled fishermen keep part of their beliefs intact, such as believing that the human being has two spirits. Read More >>>

31.- Yuracaré

More than 1,300 yuracarés are distributed in the departments of Cochabamba and Beni. This indigenous group was discovered in the sixteenth century by an anthropological expedition. Its members were used as pawns in the opening of roads. Currently, its productive force is centered on citrus, coffee, squash, cassava, peanuts and plantains. Read More >>>

32.- Weenayek

The municipalities of Gran Chaco and Yacuiba (Tarija) host a thousand weenahayek, known in the colonial chronicles as matacos. The missions of the Jesuits saved this ethnic group from total extermination in the 17th century. Their traditional religion was animistic and full of rites. Crafts, fishing and gathering are now their means of subsistence. Read More >>>

33.- Quechuas

Population: 2,556,277 people (2001 Census)

Location: Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Potosí, Oruro and La Paz

Language: Quechua

The social organization of the communities is based on the family, based on the structure of the ayllu. They live off agriculture.

Quechua (from qhichwa runa, "people from the valleys, from the temperate zone") is a term used by several ethnic groups of the Andes mountain range, mainly those that speak Quechua, and a collective name used for the entirety of these ethnic groups. There are Quechua ethnic groups in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Panama and Ecuador. In Ecuador, northern Peru and Argentina, the Quichua phonetic variant (kichwa runa - northern Quichua variants do not distinguish between kyq) and - in addition to the term kichwa - some ethnic groups from Ecuador and the Peruvian jungle are used.

Some Quechua ethnic groups (some acquired the Quechua of the Incas):

Inca

Chanca (in Huancavelica, Ayacucho and Apurímac)

Huanca (in Junín, they spoke Quechua before the Incas)

Cañaris (in Ecuador, they were quechuizados by the Incas)

Linguistic group: Quechua.

Quechua, although derived from Aymara, is a more evolved language, because during the Inca empire new terms and phonetic variations (arawacas and others) were incorporated into it. The language of the Incas further strengthened their presence in the Altiplano during the period of Spanish colonization, since the Spaniards used it for their relations with the Andean inhabitants, without differentiating them from their origin and, therefore, without taking into account the different languages of these peoples. Read More >>>

34.- Afro-Bolivians

Population: 20,711 people

Location: La Paz

Language: Castellano

Their social organization is based on the nuclear family and their ties of kinship are very strong. They live on the agriculture of cassava, plantain, citrus, rice and cultivate coca.

35.- Guaranies or Chiriguanos

Population: 75,500 people

Location: Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and

Tarija Language: Tupi Guaraní

The social organization is based on the nuclear family (father, mother and children). They used to marry cousins. They live off agriculture. Hunting is the task of men and the domestic tasks of women. The story begins with two twin brothers called Tupi and Guaraní. These brothers got married but their wives did not get along very well and they fought all the time and they had no choice but to separate. Each one started a new town but despite spending time they are still very similar in their language, in their customs. This is how the Guarani tell us about their origins.

The Guarani were based in southern Brazil, eastern Bolivia and Paraguay and northeast of Argentina; when the conquerors had not yet arrived. Some even got close to the current Buenos Aires and the Delta del Paraná. They were called chandules and another group came to the Bolivian Chaco denominating them chiriguanos.

It is estimated that when the Spaniards arrived in the sixteenth century in Paraguay, they were about 1,500,000 in all of the territory.

Relations with the other groups in some cases were hostile but in others peaceful. They came to dominate many groups, as is the case of the Chanés. Its language was learned by different peoples and was useful for use in exchange and trade and eventually became the general language known by the tribes of southern Brazil, Paraguay, eastern Bolivia and Argentine northeast.

Due to the migrations they were installed in different places and thus with the passage of time, although they kept part of their customs, they acquired others and weaving their own history. Today the main groups are the Chiriguanos and the Caingua. The chandules disappeared shortly after the Spaniards were installed. Read More >>>

36.- Nahua

Population: 15 people

Location: Manuripi

Language: Nahua

It is not known how many there are, nor the exact area where they settle. It is probable that the Nahuas of Bolivia have been exterminated. It is said that they lived painted in groups of several families to defend themselves against aggressors.

The Nahuas are a group of native peoples of Mesoamerica whose ancestors were the Mexica (descendants of the Aztecs) and other ancient peoples of Anahuac who had in common the Nahuatl language. At the moment the Mexican term is its autodenominación and mexicanero (in the state of Durango). Its main link was its language, Nahuatl or Nahuat, as well as great similarities in its religion and worldview. The prehispanic peoples of Texcoco, Tlaxcala, Chalco, Cholula, Acolhuacán and the Mexicas among others are Nahuas, the latter stand out for the foundation of Tenochtitlán and its influence on the other peoples of the region and with the states of Morelos, Michoacán and Hidalgo.

At the time of the Conquest of America by the Spanish crown, the Nahuas had expanded to Central America and had important settlements on the Pacific slopes of Nicaragua. In addition, there were Nahua communities at the mouth of the San Juan River, as well as in the Bagaces region (Costa Rica) and the Sixaola basin, in the border region between Costa Rica and Panama.

The Nahuas were named differently according to the region where they lived: in Mexico they were called Mexicas; in Guatemala, cachiqueles; in El Salvador, pipiles; in Nicaragua, niquiranos or chorotegas and in Costa Rica, guatusos. Read More >>>

Copacabana - Bolivia

2018-05-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

Panoramic view of Copacabana, at the shore of Lake Titicaca.

Copacabana is the main Bolivian town on the shore of Lake Titicaca. The town has a large 16th-century shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana. Our Lady of Copacabana is the patron saint of Bolivia. The town is a destination for tourism in Bolivia. The town is also known for its famous Basilica, home of the Virgin of Copacabana, its trout, and its quaint atmosphere. Built between Mount Calvario and Mount Niño Calvario, the town has approximately 6,000 inhabitants. Copacabana's religious celebrations, cultural patrimony, and traditional festivals are well known throughout Bolivia. Boats leave for Isla del Sol, the sacred Inca island from Copacabana.

Copacabana is served by Copacabana Airport.

Etymology

There is the belief that the name is derived from the Aymara kota kahuana, meaning "view of the lake." Nevertheless, the social scientist Mario Montaño Aragón, found in the "archives of Indias" in Sevilla, Spain, a completely different history: "Kotakawana" is the god of fertility in ancient Andean mythology, the equivalent to the classical Greek goddess Aphrodite or the Roman Venus. This god is androgynous and lives in the Titicaca, and his court consists of creatures (male and female) that are represented in colonial sculptures and in Catholic churches. They were called "Umantuus", known as mermaids in Western culture.

The present Basilica was built where the main Temple of the Fertility of Kotakawana once stood (nowadays there are small fertility temples along the shores of lakes in Bolivia and Peru). Copacabana has therefore been a sacred place from before the Spanish conquest.

History

During the wars of independence, the Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana was despoiled of most of its rich ornaments and gifts, and ruthless plundering by faithless custodians in the course of political disturbances has further contributed to impoverish it. The edifices, originally very handsome, are in a state of sad neglect. It is a shrine for pilgrims from Bolivia and southern Peru, and on 6 August, the feast of its patron saint, it is attended by thousands.

Before 1534, Copacabana was an outpost of Inca occupation among dozens of other sites in Bolivia. The Incas held it as the key to the very ancient shrine and oracle on the Island of Titicaca, which they had adopted as a place of worship, adopting the veneration with which it was held by the Aymaras from time immemorial. At Copacabana, there were minor shrines in which the ceremonies of the Incas were observed along with those of the original inhabitants. When the Spaniards first visited the Islands of Titicaca and Loati, in 1534 and 1538, the Andean Cosmovision were abandoned and the Dominicans made Copacabana the centre of their missions. Non-monastic priests then replaced them at the instigation of the Viceroy Francisco de Toledo, and finally the mission and its annexes were entrusted to the Augustinians in 1589.

In 1582, the grandson of Inca ruler Manco Kapac, struck by the sight of the statues of the Blessed Virgin which he saw in some of the churches at La Paz, tried to make one himself, and after many failures, succeeded in producing one of excellent quality, and it was placed at Copacabana as the statue of the tutelar protectress of the community. Many miracles have been attributed to it, and its fame has spread far beyond the limits of its surroundings to all five continents. It is kept in a special chapel, where local Aymaras, Bolivians and those from all over the world are untiring in their devotions.

During the Great Indigenous Uprising of 1781, while the church itself was desecrated, the "Camarin", as the chapel is called, remained untouched and exempt from spoiling. Copacabana is the scene of often boisterous indigenous celebrations. On 2 February and 6 August, Church festivals are celebrated with indigenous dances that the clergy have not been able to suppress entirely. Copacabana is surrounded by pre-Columbian ruins of considerable interest.

Climate

Copacabana has a cool subtropical highland climate (Cwc) with an influence of a dry-winter equatorial climate, a rare variant of the type, but commonplace near most of Lake Titicaca. Similar to many areas with this climate, Copacabana features a markedly drier “low-sun” season. Because of the high altitude of Copacabana, the town is chilly throughout the course of the year. However, due to the fact that Copacabana is located in the tropics, there are only slight variations in temperatures. While daytime temperatures hover around 15 °C (59 °F) throughout the year, nighttime temperatures during the ”low-sun” season are somewhat cooler than at other times of the year. It is not uncommon for temperatures to drop below freezing during the “low-sun” season.

Copacabana's famous Basilica, Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana.

View of Copacabana from Lake Titicaca

Shopping street with Lake Titicaca in the background.

Copacabana with the Basilica.

Coroico Yungas - Bolivia

2018-05-14T14:00:00.001-07:00

Coroico is a town in Nor Yungas Province, in the La Paz Department of western Bolivia.

History

Coroico Viejo (Old Coroico) was founded above the river Quri Wayq'u (Quechua quri gold, wayq'u valley, hispanicized spellings Coriguayco, Kori Huayco). The town lived from mining gold, but the massive attacks by Native populations left the first Spanish colonial settlers in search of protection.

Looking for a defendable position in the early 18th century, the settlers arrived at the current location of Coroico only to be chased into a cave by one of Mount Uchumachi's powerful lightning storms. The cave still exists below the church on the main plaza of Coroico. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries Coroico survived a couple of Indians attacks - the biggest one was at the time of the Bolivian War of Independence. 5000 Aymaras attacked the town, which in those days only had 500 inhabitants. The town stood strong, forcing the Aymaras into retreat.

Since then, Coroicans celebrate the Fiesta of the Virgin on October 20. Coroico became the capital of the North-Yungas in 1899 making Coroico the political and industrial center of the region, which produces wood products, fruits, and coca for the La Paz region of Bolivia. In 1958, the city was made the seat of the Territorial Prelature of Coroico, and elevated to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Coroico in 1983.

From the mid-18th century the lands in this region came under the control of a few powerful families, the hacienderos. These families maintained control of this region until the mid-1950s, when they were overthrown by revolution. After the revolution, agrarian reforms were put in place, dividing the lands up between the national government and the locals. Now, Coroico has a mostly Aymara and Mestizo population. The town has become a major market for the surrounding region. Staple products arrive from La Paz and the surrounding areas to be sold in the colorful markets and stores all days of the week. The region around Coroico has remained a traditional coca growing area and is the smallest of three areas of coca production in Bolivia.

New highway: On a part of the road from La Paz to Coroico a new highway has been opened at the end of 2006, and the old Yungas Road is now used mainly for bikers. This Yungas Road is also called the "death road".

The municipality of Coroico also hosts the Unidad Académica Campesina-Carmen Pampa (UAC-Carmen Pampa), a satellite campus of the Catholic University of Bolivia. Founded in 1993, the UAC-Carmen Pampa offers B.S.-equivalent degree programs in agronomy, veterinary/animal science, nursing, education and ecotourism.

The Salar de Uyuni Bolivia

2018-05-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

Reflejo de las Nubes

The reflection of the clouds on the salar

Volcán Tunupa

Pilares de sal

Mountains and jeeps near Salar de Uyuni

Reflections during the sunrise

Reflections

Salar de Uyuni is the largest continuous and high salt desert in the world, with an area of 10 582 km² (or 4085 square miles). It is located at 3650 meters above sea level in the southwest of Bolivia, in the province of Daniel Campos , in the department of Potosí, within the highland region of the Andes mountain range. Salar de Uyuni is the largest lithium reserve in the world with 50-70% of the world's lithium, and also has significant amounts of potassium, boron and magnesium.

Salt formations

Training

The area that today occupies this desert was covered 40,000 years ago by Lake Minchinnota 1 and later, 11,000 years ago, by Lake Tauca or Tauka. Note 2 The Coipasa salt flat and the Poopó and Uru Uru lakes are also vestiges of these great prehistoric lakes. These reached a height of around 100 m above the current level of the salt flat and covered the current Uyuni and Coipasa salt flats, and the Poopó and Uru Uru lakes. In this period, a wet climate phase, with more rains than at present, raised the level of protolagos to approximately 100 m above the current level. Later came a dry and warm period, which produced a great reduction of the surface and volume of the Andean lakes, thus originating the salt flats and the current lagoons.

Salar de Uyuni, in addition to the above, contains very important compounds for basic and industrial chemistry. In Bolivia, in a geological past, extensive lakes existed more extensive than the present ones, known by the names of Ballivián, Minchín and Tauca. The first has been a predecessor of Lake Titicaca; the second one extended from Uyuni towards the north and the Tauca lake, by evaporation, gave origin to the salar of Uyuni.

Economic influence

Sunrise on the salar

The Salar de Uyuni, as estimated, contains 10 billion tons of salt, of which 25 000 tons are extracted each year. A report by the United States Geological Survey indicates that there are 6.5 million tons of lithium in the Salar de Uyuni, making it the largest reserve worldwide for this mineral. All the miners who work in the salar belong to the Cooperativa de Colchani. Every November, the Salar de Uyuni is also the breeding ground for three species of South American flamingos: the Chilean, James and Andean. This is also a significantly tourist destination. The highlights that appear in the image, on the white background, include a hotel built entirely of salt and several islands. As the land of the salar is so flat it serves as a transport route through the Bolivian altiplano.

Satellite calibration

Due to its large size, high percentage of smooth surface and high reflectivity, when the water cover that covers it during a low season, the surface of the Salar de Uyuni works up to five times better for the calibration of satellites than the use of the surface of the ocean. In September 2002, a team took the elevation measurements with the Global Positioning System (GPS) detailed of a part of the salt floors, which were used to evaluate the accuracy and precision of the ICESat instruments.

Reflection of mountains

Composition

There are approximately eleven layers of salt, with thicknesses ranging from less than one meter to ten meters3. The crust that is on the surface has a thickness of ten meters. The depth of the salt is 120 meters, which is composed of layers of superimposed brine and lake mud.

This brine is composed of lithium, boron, potassium, magnesium, carbonates (borax) and sodium sulfates. A very interesting mineral is ulexite, the "television stone". It is transparent and has the power to refract the image of what is below to the surface of the stone. This salt is considered the largest reserve of lithium, although it is very difficult to extract due to lack of water.

Flora and fauna

Vizcacha Boliviana

Chloephaga melanoptera

Oreotrochilus estella

Lycalopex culpaeus

Vicuñas cerca del Salar

Phoenicoparrus andinus al sur del salar

Phoenicoparrus jamesi

Tourism

The Salar de Uyuni is one of the main tourist destinations of Bolivia since it is visited by approximately 60,000 tourists every year:

Hotel of salt

In the month of November it becomes the place of breeding of three species of flamingos: the austral flamenco, the big parina, and the small parina.
Giant cacti up to 10 m high are found on the island of Pescado. This island is the largest of the set of islets located in the center of Salar de Uyuni. It is also a tourist center inside the salar.
Mummies of 3000 years old were discovered in a cavern on the edge of the salt flat.
On the banks of the salt are several hotels built with blocks of salt, a feature that places them among the most extravagant hotels in the world.

Isla Incahuasi

Weather

The following tables show the average monthly and annual values of temperature, relative humidity, winds and insolation in the meteorological stations of the region. The temperature can be related to the altitude and latitude, but also to the exposure of the place.7

Average minimum temperature in ° C

Localidad	Ene	Feb	Mar	Abr	May	Jun	Jul	Ago	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dic
Uyuni	4.9	4.2	3.0	-1.8	-7.4	-10.3	-11.7	-9.4	-6.6	-3.3	-0.5	2.6
Colcha K	6.2	4.3	4.6	1.8	-2.9	-3.2	-3.4	-2.4	-0.5	0.9	8.0	4.5
Oplaca	10.4	10.3	9.5	6.8	3.8	9.9	0.9	2.5	5.2	7.7	9.4	9.9
Río Mulatos	4.6	3.5	2.5	-0.3	-7.2	-8.7	-11.0	-9.6	-8.8	-2.7	0.3	2.8

Average maximum temperature in ° C

Localidad	Ene	Feb	Mar	Abr	May	Jun	Jul	Ago	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dic
Uyuni	20.7	20.4	20.4	18.4	14.8	12.4	12.4	14.9	16.1	19.1	21.0	21.4
Colcha K	20.2	20.3	19.2	18.5	14.2	13.2	12.9	15.7	17.2	19.1	28.3	20.8
Oplaca	24.8	24.5	24.2	23.1	20.4	18.1	18.2	26.2	22.9	25.6	25.1	26.1
Río Mulatos	16.8	16.8	16.8	16.7	14.9	12.7	12.9	14.3	14.8	17.9	17.7	17.9

Average temperature in ° C

Localidad	Ene	Feb	Mar	Abr	May	Jun	Jul	Ago	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dic	Año
Uyuni	13.2	12.8	12.6	9.3	4.7	2.6	1.7	4.4	6.4	9.3	11.6	13.0	8.5
Colcha K	13.2	12.3	11.3	10.2	5.7	5.0	4.8	6.6	8.4	10.0	11.7	12.7	9.4
Oplaca	17.8	17.4	16.9	14.9	11.7	9.5	9.6	11.4	14.8	16.9	18.3	18.0	14.7
Río Mulatos	10.7	10.0	9.5	7.9	3.9	2.0	1.4	2.4	3.4	7.6	9.0	10.0	6.5

Relative humidity in%

The relative humidity is low. Highlights the average recorded value of 33.5% at the Uyuni weather station.

Localidad	Ene	Feb	Mar	Abr	May	Jun	Jul	Ago	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dic	Año
Uyuni	43.5	43.5	40.9	33.1	32.9	32.5	31.1	28.4	27.9	25.8	27.8	34.3	33.5
Colcha K	52.6	44.1	50.2	36.9	34.5	34.7	32.8	29.9	28.1	26.2	30.5	39.9	36.7
Oplaca	54.7	59.5	52.5	44.3	40.8	40.5	39.8	38.7	38.7	40.8	45.5	40.5	44.8

Relative humidity in%

The relative humidity is low. Highlights the average recorded value of 33.5% at the Uyuni weather station.

Physiographic characteristics of the basin

The Salar de Uyuni basin is an endorreic, meaning it has no outlet to the sea. The Salar de Uyuni and its basin of contribution occupy a total area of more than 60,000 km2. The basin is composed of two main basins: the basin of the Grande de Lípez river and the Colorado river basin (Puca Mayu) and the Uyuni salt flat itself.

By means of the Negrojahuira stream, which is around 20 km long, the Uyuni salt flat is connected to the Coipasa salt flat.

The main geomorphological parameters corresponding to the hydrographic basin are:

Frequency of rivers

It is defined as by the total number of rivers divided with the area of the basin. It is measured in rivers / km². For the Uyuni salt basin, the frequency of the rivers is 0.28 rivers / km².

Length of the main channel

It is defined by the water course that reaches the longest in a basin. For the basin of the Grande de Lipez River, the longest length belongs to a tributary, the Quetena River, with 130 km, while the Grande River reaches 90 km.

Average slope of the basin

In the basin there are scattered areas of steep inclination, particularly in the border area with Chile, with slopes greater than 20%, while in the central and final part of the basin the slope is almost horizontal, with values that do not exceed 3% inclination It is evaluated that the weighted average of the slopes, defined as the Average Slope of the basin, is around 5%.

Water availability of the basin

The availability of water resources in a region is determined by its climatic characteristics. It is a region that presents adverse climatic conditions reflected in a permanent water deficit, as a consequence of the differences between precipitation and evaporation. However, the presence of an appreciable amount of surface water is noticeable in the region: lagoons, salt flats and bofedales; this is due to groundwater, which in some way define the hydrological characteristics of the region; that is to say, the formation of lagoons and bofedales on the surface depend on the contribution of groundwater.

In fact, the waters that flow in the region are, in their great majority, of underground origin and also, old. An important part of the water stored in the underground aquifers should be considered a non-renewable resource, because it comes from rains that occurred in distant geological times.

Studies carried out in the area agree that recharge of aquifers in the Lipez region is currently very weak or almost non-existent According to Chaffaut, the recharge of these aquifers could have occurred in a period between a few hundred and several thousands of years, in which the climatic conditions were different from the current ones; Studies have confirmed that the contribution of recent rainfall waters to the water flows that travel along the surface of the basins is low, usually less than 10 percent. It would then be non-renewable water resources. The environmental and social impacts of an irresponsible use of these resources could be irreversible.

Groundwater

As regards the Uyuni basin, whose extension is approximately 60,000 km², the losses and external contributions to the river basin are limited both in the east-west circulation and the fact that currently, with respect to the north-south circulation, the piezometric difference between Popoo, Coipasa and Uyuni is several dozens of meters, then a direct link seems unlikely.

From the point of view of rainfall it can be assumed that everything that precipitates in the Uyuni basin converges in the Uyuni salt flat.

It should not be forgotten that the evapotranspiration in the free surface is more than ten times the precipitation, then any water that after an underground road returns to the surface, is subject to this phenomenon (secondary evapotranspiration). From this derives the reduction over time of the surfaces of the water in the lakes, lagoons and in the salt can be indicative of the state of equilibrium of the hydrogeological system.

As regards the west-south-west area, where the Cordillera area is mostly made up of volcanic rocks (lava and tuff), there is not always a correspondence between hydrographic and hydrogeological basins (eg Fuentes Silala and Alota). In the other study areas, where the terrain is constituted by Paleozoic, Mesozoic or Tertiary terrigenous rocks, there is a good correspondence between hydrographic basin and hydrogeological basin.

In relation to the quantitative water can calculate: if the average precipitation is around 200 mm / year and if these, considering the hydrogeological situation of the area, infiltrates 10% and this amount can be made available 5 %, very high per capita quantitative results are obtained.

Considering that, although the calculations were exaggerated in terms of rainfall, infiltration, removal of infiltrated water and secondary evapotranspiration, and considering that the population density is very low, in any case they would be quantitative of renewable water higher than the needs of the entire population, agriculture and livestock.

On the other hand, if it is true that in some local situations over-exploitation of the stratum has occurred, it is also true that this problem loses its relevance in a general perspective. From the point of view of the waters, it is difficult to make a forecast about the type of water that is found during eventual drilling because, as mentioned, the main aquifers are connected to tertiary or quaternary deposits characterized by very discontinuous lake lacustrine deposits. the area, with occasional presence of evaporite levels and displaced to several heights by the effect of differential tectonics (origin of salty rivers).

Aquifers with better characteristics seem connected to water circulations in lava formations, while pyroclastic volcanic formations seem to act as impermeable barriers.

On the other hand, there is a problem of water quality, because most of these, in their underground road, are loaded with salt and sometimes re-surface, originating rivers of salt water (do not forget that the water exchange between the rivers and the sub-alveo flow is continuous), salty sources and salty resurfaces. Unfortunately, it is difficult to foresee in detail the location of the ancient evaporite levels both in terms of areas and depth, although in general, as it comes out of the drilling data and those related to surface water, proceeding in depth and in the direction of the Salar de Uyuni the quality of the water worsens because the problem of these evaporitic deposits are present from the Miocene to the present time and the thickness of this sequence can reach several hundred meters.

From the point of view of water quality, an additional problem is associated with the presence of boron in waters related to effusive volcanic rocks. This problem affects more or less sensitive all the waters of the area. In this sense, an outline of the analyzes carried out that shows how Boron and Arsenic, which can sometimes be a further problem with respect to which already treated by salinity, is attached. On the other hand, given the different tenor of Boro present, detected in wells and sources sometimes in very different and substantial quantities, some strategic decisions will be affected not only by the amount of salinity or water available, but also by the cost of the reduction of these elements, Arsenic and Boron.

Water quality

There are two types of water sources in the region that have different hydrogeological origins and therefore completely different qualitative characteristics: groundwater and springs or sources of fresh water. The groundwater in the sub-basin of the Grande de Lípez River is saline. Consequently, the water that flows through the Grande de Lípez River, partially fed by groundwater, is also salty and of poor quality from its encounter with the Salado River, which is why it is not used as irrigation water and even less so. as a source of water for human consumption by the inhabitants of the communities of the region through which this river flows. On the other hand, in the region there are fresh water springs that are generated by the sub-superficial flow of rainwater and that emerge mainly in the upper areas of the micro-basins. These springs are used as sources of drinking water by almost all the communities in the region. Despite the volcanism of the area, most of the springs in the region have waters of good physical and chemical quality, except for the almost constant presence of boron in concentrations higher than those allowed by the Bolivian Standard for human consumption. From this it can be inferred that the underground aquifers that give rise to these springs also have good quality waters. Only the aquifers located next to salt flats and salted lagoons have waters with a high content of salts. Special mention is made of the waters of the Silala spring, which is located on the border with Chile. It is freshwater, with an average flow of 200 l / s.

Geology of the Uyuni salt basin

The geology of the Salar de Uyuni basin is represented by Paleozoic formations, few Mesozoic, and mainly Cenozoic formed by volcanic rocks and vulcano-sedimentary sequences. In the area of influence of the Salar de Uyuni, recent (Quaternary) sediments are found grouped in saline deposits, alluvial, fluvial, lacustrine, fluvioglacial, moraine and dune deposits. The geological map also shows a very complex tectonic situation that interests both the Paleozoic formations such as the Cenozoic. The orientation of individual leaf systems indicates a situation that has changed over time and a rather complex structural framework.

In particular, in the area there are:

Lava flows, pyroclastic deposits, stratovolcanoes and domes;
Alluvial, fluvio-lacustrine, fluvio-glacial and glacial deposits;
Flows of lava, tuffs, stratovolcanoes and vulcano-sedimentary successions;
Welded tuffs and lavas interspersed with tuffs.

Lithium Triangle

Main article: Lithium Triangle

The "lithium triangle" refers to a geographical area located in South America, on the border of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

The triangle is made up of the Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia), the Salar de Atacama (Chile) and the salar of the Dead Man (Argentina), so-called because between the three salt flats located in the puna together with others close to these they concentrate more of the 85% of the known lithium reserves of the planet.

Although there are no industries in the area that work properly with the material or any added value is made to the mineral, the work that is done in the area is limited only the extraction of the raw material by foreign mining companies that export the material to countries such as the Netherlands, Russia, EE. UU., China, United Kingdom, Germany among others and / or by automotive companies such as Toyota, Mitsubishi and Magna batteries.

According to experts, the area of the triangle contains lithium resources equivalent to oil in Saudi Arabia and is considered a "strategic resource" because of its future projection because lithium is an indispensable input for energy supply in the country. cellular, computers, modern cars (hybrids and electric) and a wide range of technologies such as glass, ceramics, lubricating greases, in the pharmaceutical industry, among others, so in recent years the area is strongly appreciated by both foreign countries and local and by mining companies and private companies and multinationals, being today studied by local countries in order to know their true industrial potential.