San Ignacio de Moxos (or ''San Ignacio'') is a town in the Beni Department of northern Bolivia.

History

San Ignacio de Moxos was founded in 1689 by the Jesuit missionaries Antonio de Orellana, Juan de Espejo and Alvaro de Mendoza. Its first location was 20 miles south of the current location of San Ignacio.

Geography

San Ignacio is the capital of the

Moxos Province Moxos is a province in the Beni Department, Bolivia. It is named after the Moxos savanna. The province consists of one municipality, San Ignacio de Moxos Municipality, which is identical to the province. The province is divided into three canto ...

and is situated at an elevation of 144 m above sea level at Laguna Isiboro, a lake of 20 km² west of the town. San Ignacio is located 100 km south-west of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, the department's capital. San Ignacio de Moxos is located in the wettest region of the Beni department, situated on the border between the Amazon rainforests of the Chapare region, and the monsoonal llanos of western Santa Cruz and southwestern Beni. While San Ignacio de Moxos experiences a short dry season, rain is plentiful year round, and temperatures are generally warm to hot. The area has 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 ...

according to the Köppen Classification System, bordering on a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

Population

The town population has risen from 4,832 (

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 ...

1992) to 9,064 (census 2001) and 10,054 (census 2012).

Languages

Camba Camba is a word historically used in Bolivia to refer to the indigenous population in the eastern tropical region of the country, or to those born in the area of Santa Cruz, Beni, and Pando. Nowadays, the term "Camba" is used predominantly to ...

Spanish is the primary vernacular lingua franca spoken in the town. Ignaciano, a Moxo dialect, is the main indigenous language spoken.

Government

The current mayor of San Ignacio de Moxos is Basilio Nolvani Nojune (of the MAS-IPSP party), who was elected in the 4 April 2010 elections and took office in late May 2010.

Gallery

File:Iglesia de San Ignacio de Moxos frontal.jpg, San Ignacio de Moxos mission church File:Iglesia de San Ignacio de Moxos.JPG, San Ignacio de Moxos mission church File:Iglesia - San Ignacio de Moxos.jpg, San Ignacio de Moxos mission church frontal view

References

External links

Detailed map of Moxos Province
{{Authority control Populated places in Beni Department Populated places established in 1689 1689 establishments in the Spanish Empire Jesuit Missions of Moxos