Los Andes is one of the twenty provinces in the central parts of the Bolivian La Paz Department. The province was legally founded on November 24, 1917, during the presidency of

José Gutiérrez Guerra José Manuel Gutiérrez Guerra, known as "the last Oligarch," (5 September 1869, in Sucre, Bolivia – 3 February 1929, in Antofagasta, Chile) was a Bolivian economist and statesman who served as the 28th president of Bolivia from 1917 to 1 ...

. The Spanish name of the province means "The

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

", referring to its position within the Cordillera Real which is part of the Bolivian Andes mountain range. The capital of the province is

Pucarani Pucarani (from Aymara language, Aymara Pukarani) is a small town in the La Paz Department, Bolivia, La Paz Department in Bolivia. It is the seat of the Pucarani Municipality, the first Municipalities of Bolivia, municipal section of the Los Andes ...

, which has a population of 918 as of the 2001 census. Pucarani is situated in the

Altiplano The Altiplano (Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechua and Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extensive high plateau on Earth outside Tibet. The plateau is located at the ...

west of the Cordillera Real offering a view of some of its highest mountains such as Ch'iyar Juqhu,

Chachakumani Chachacomani (possibly from Quechua ''chachakuma'' a medical plant) is a mountain in the Cordillera Real of the Andes Mountains, east of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. It is situated in the La Paz Department, Larecaja Province, Guanay Municipality, ...

, Kunturiri, Wayna Potosí and

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 ...

Location

The province is located between 16° 00' and 16° 47' South and between 68° 08' and 68° 45'

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

. It extends over 90 km from north to south, and 75 km from east to west. It is situated on the south-eastern shores of

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, i ...

and borders Omasuyos Province in the northwest,

Ingavi Province Ingavi is a province in the La Paz Department in Bolivia. This is where the Battle of Ingavi occurred on November 18, 1841 and where the World Heritage Site of Tiwanaku is situated. During the presidency of Eliodoro Villazón the province was f ...

in the south,

Pedro Domingo Murillo Province Pedro Domingo Murillo is a province in the Bolivian La Paz Department. It was created on January 8, 1838, with the name Cercado and on October 17, 1912, during the presidency of Eliodoro Villazón, its name was changed in honor of Pedro Domingo ...

in the east and

Larecaja Province Larecaja is a province in the Bolivian La Paz Department. It was founded by Antonio José de Sucre on October 18, 1826. Its capital is Sorata. Geography The Cordillera Real traverses the province. Some of the highest peaks of the province a ...

in the north.

Geography

One of the highest peaks of the province is Kunturiri. Other mountains are listed below:

Population

The population of the Los Andes Province has increased by 20% over the recent two decades: *1992: 62,185 inhabitants (

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 in ...

) *2001: 69,636 inhabitants (

) *2005: 74,693 inhabitants (est.) *2010: 76,181 inhabitants (est.) 96.2% of the population speak

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 ...

, 63.8% speak

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 ...

, and 0.1%

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 ...

. ''(2001)'' Most of the people are bilingual, they speak Aymara and Spanish. The

literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

of the province's population is 81.1%, with 90.6% among males and 72.4% among females. ''(2001)'' Infant mortality from 1992 (6.8%) to 2001 (7.3%) has remained high over that decade. 63.5% of the population have no access to electricity, 70.1% have no sanitary facilities. ''(2001)'' 57.5% of the households have a radio, 13.0% a TV-set, 32.4% a bike, 1.1% a motorbike, 2.5% a car, 0.4% a fridge, 0.9% a phone. ''(2001)'' 71.5% of the population are Catholics, 24.2% are Protestants. ''(1992)''

Division

The province comprises four

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 ...

which are further subdivided into cantons.

Places of interest

Suriki Island is known for the construction of balsas, totora boats which are still used on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and Peru. The

Ra II Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000&nb ...

is famous for

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000& ...

's successful trans-Atlantic voyage from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

.Vikingos de los Andes que navegan en totora
(in Spanish)

References

External links

Population data (Spanish)
{{Authority control Provinces of La Paz Department (Bolivia)