The La Paz Department of
Bolivia
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comprises with a 2012
census population of 2,706,359 inhabitants. It is situated at the western border of Bolivia, sharing
Lake Titicaca with adjacent
Peru. It contains the ''
Cordillera Real'', which reaches altitudes of . Northeast of the Cordillera Real are the ''
Yungas'', the steep eastern slopes of the
Andes Mountains
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...
that make the transition to the
Amazon River basin to the northeast. The capital of the department is the
city of La Paz and is the administrative city and
seat of government
The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority".
In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...
/national
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of Bolivia.
Provinces
The Department of La Paz is divided into 20 provinces (''provincias'') which are further subdivided into 85
municipalities (''municipios'') and - on the fourth level - into
cantons.
The provinces with their capitals are:
Government
The chief executive office of
Bolivia's departments (since May 2010) is the
Governor; before then, the office was called the
Prefect, and until 2006 the prefect was appointed by the
President of Bolivia and then the governor is elected by the voters. The current governor, Santos Quispe, was elected on 11 April 2021 and took office on 3 May.
Under the
2009 Constitution, Bolivian departments have an elected legislature, known as the Departmental Legislative Assembly. The La Paz Assembly has 45 members including five indigenous / natives minority representatives.
The most recent governor election results (2021) are as follows:
Past executives
Demographics
Languages
The languages spoken in the department are mainly
Spanish,
Aymara,
Quechua and
Guaraní. The following table shows the number of people belonging to the recognized group of speakers.
obd.descentralizacion.gov.bo
(Spanish)
Places of interest
* Apolobamba Integrated Management Natural Area
The Apolobamba Integrated Management Natural Area (''Área Natural de Manejo Integrado Apolobamba'') is a protected area in the La Paz Department, Bolivia, situated in the Bautista Saavedra, Franz Tamayo and Larecaja provinces.
See also
* Ap ...
* Cotapata National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area
Cotapata National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area (''Parque Nacional y Área Natural de Manejo Integrado Cotapata'') is a protected area in the Yungas of La Paz Department, Bolivia. It is situated in the northwest of the department, i ...
* Pilón Lajas Biosphere Reserve and Communal Lands
* Lake Titicaca
* Chacaltaya
Towns and villages
*Arapata
Arapata is a small town in Bolivia
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, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, fla ...
*Belén, Aroma
Belén (Aroma) is a small town 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 ...
References
External links
La Paz City Guide
Weather in La Paz
Bolivian Music and Web Varieties
Full information of La Paz Department
{{Authority control
Departments of Bolivia