The La Paz Department of

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 ...

comprises with a 2012

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

population of 2,706,359 inhabitants. It is situated at the western border of Bolivia, sharing

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, ...

with adjacent

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. It contains the '' Cordillera Real'', which reaches altitudes of . Northeast of the Cordillera Real are the ''

Yungas The Yungas (Aymara ''yunka'' warm or temperate Andes or earth, Quechua ''yunka'' warm area on the slopes of the Andes) is a bioregion of a narrow band of forest along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains from Peru and Bolivia, and extends into ...

'', 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 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 Bolivi ...

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 A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

(''municipios'') and - on the fourth level - into

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...

. The provinces with their capitals are:

Government

The chief executive office of Bolivia's departments (since May 2010) is the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

; before then, the office was called the

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

, and until 2006 the prefect was appointed by the

President of Bolivia The president of Bolivia ( es, Presidente de Bolivia), officially known as the president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia ( es, Presidente del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia), is head of state and head of government of Bolivia and the ca ...

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 Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

and

Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guaraní language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * ...

. 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 *

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, ...

Pilón Lajas Biosphere Reserve and Communal Lands Pilón Lajas Biosphere Reserve and Communal Lands (''Reserva de Biosfera y Tierra Comunitaria de Origen Pilón Lajas'') is a protected area in Bolivia located in the departments of La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La P ...

Chacaltaya Chacaltaya ( Mollo language for "''bridge of winds''" or "''winds meeting point''", Aymara for "cold road") is a mountain in the Cordillera Real, one of the mountain ranges of the Cordillera Oriental, itself a range of the Bolivian Andes. Its ...

Towns and villages

* Arapata * Belén, Aroma

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