Cobija is a city in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

, capital of the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Pando, is located about 600 km (373 mi.) north of

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bol ...

in the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Boliv ...

on the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...

with Brazil. Cobija lies on the banks of the

Rio Acre The Acre River (called Aquiry in the local Iñapari language; locally, ''Rio Acre'') is a long river in central South America. Course The river is born in Peru, and runs North-Eastwards, forming part of the border between Peru and Brazil and the ...

across from the Brazilian city of Brasiléia. Cobija lies at an elevation of ca. 280 m (920 ft.) above sea level and has a tropical and rainy climate. Cobija has approximately 80,000 inhabitants, is the seat of a university and capital of the Bolivian

Pando Department Pando is a department in Northern Bolivia, with an area of , in the Amazon Rainforest, adjoining the border with Brazil and Perú. Pando has a population 154,355 (2020 census). Its capital is the city of Cobija. The department, which is named ...

. Cobija has two airports and is connected by one road to El Choro in the Beni Department, which is not always passable during the rainy season. When the rain allows it, Cobija is connected to the rest of Bolivia also via road. Cobija is connected to Brazil by two bridges.

History

Cobija was founded in 1906 by Colonel Enrique Cornejo, originally under the name of ''Bahía'' and received its current name in 1908 in commemoration of the former Bolivian seaport Cobija on the Pacific, which has been a part of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

since the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...

. In the early 1900s, Cobija experienced a boom as an

India rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

industry center. When the industry collapsed, a major source of income being lost, Cobija became impoverished and its population fell. Nowadays, Cobija is developing again and its population is increasing. Currently, the region's primary industry is Bolivia nuts, although tourism and commerce are growing. There is a

Free economic zone Free economic zones (FEZ), free economic territories (FETs) or free zones (FZ) are a class of special economic zone (SEZ) designated by the trade and commerce administrations of various countries. The term is used to designate areas in which c ...

in the city, the largest in Bolivia.

Population

The inhabitants of Cobija has risen very strongly during the past two decades to more than five-fold. Currently the estimated population is as much as 80,000 inhabitants with a population growth of 6 to 8% per year.

Sports

The Estadio Roberto Jordán Cuellar is located in Cobija. The football stadium has a capacity of 24,000.

Climate

The city of Cobija sits on a sharp curve of the Acre river, at an altitude of above sea level and in the north-western Amazon region of Bolivia. Cobija is classified as a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

, ''Am'' in the Köppen classification system. Cobija has two distinct seasons, with a noticeable dry season and a wet rainy season fed by powerful thunderstorms, with hot temperatures year-round.

Gallery

File:COBIJA 149 Busto José Manuel Pando.JPG, Cobija, Bolivia File:Cobija Parque Central por Richard Weiss.JPG, Central Park in Cobija File:Riberalta to Cobija por Richard Weiss.JPG, View along the road towards Riberalta File:Cobija Airport1.JPG, Old facade of Cobija airport, before the reformation. File:COBIJA 135 Simón Bolívar.JPG,

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...

bust in Cobija File:COBIJA 140 Pileta Plaza Potosí.JPG, Cobija, Pando, Bolivia File:CBJA - 15Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Pilar.JPG, Nuestra Señora del Pilar Cathedral in Cobija and the city main square File:Cobija (Bolívia).jpg, Cobija, 1930.

Transportation

Cobija is served by major Bolivian airlines at Captain Aníbal Arab Airport and by buses to

Riberalta Riberalta is a town in the Beni Department in northern Bolivia, situated where the Madre de Dios River joins the Beni River. Riberalta is on the south (south east) bank of the Beni River. As the capital of the province of Vaca Diez, the city ...

. The

Interoceanic Highway The Interoceanic Highway or Trans-oceanic highway is an international, transcontinental highway in Peru and Brazil to connect the two countries. The east–west passageway spans 2600 kilometers. From Peru's Pacific Ocean coastline, it continues ...

passes through the city of Cobija.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Pando Department Populated places established in 1906 Bolivia–Brazil border crossings 1906 establishments in Bolivia