Santa Ana de Velasco (or simply Santa Ana) is a small town in the
Santa Cruz Department
Santa Cruz () is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia, occupying about one-third (33.74%) of the country's territory. With an area of , it is slightly smaller than Japan or the US state of Montana. It is located in the e ...
,
Bolivia.
History
The mission of Santa Ana was founded in 1755 by Julian Knogler.
Location
Santa Ana is the central town of ''Cantón Santa Ana'' and is located in the
San Ignacio de Velasco Municipality,
José Miguel de Velasco Province. It is known as part of the ''
Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos
The Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos are located in Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia. Six of these former missions (all now secular municipalities) collectively were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990. Distinguished by a un ...
'', which is declared in 1990 a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, as a former
Jesuit Reduction
Reductions ( es, reducciones, also called ; , pl. ) were settlements created by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such red ...
. The town is situated at an elevation of 464 m in the
Chiqitanía region between
Santa Cruz capital and the
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian border.
Transportation
Santa Ana is located 441 km north-east of Santa Cruz, the department's capital.
From there, the national road ''Ruta 4'' goes north to
Montero, Santa Cruz where it meets ''Ruta 10''. This road goes east for 339 km to
San Ignacio de Velasco
San Ignacio de Velasco, is the capital of the José Miguel de Velasco Province and the San Ignacio de Velasco Municipality in the Santa Cruz Department of Bolivia.
History
The Jesuit mission of San Ignacio de Velasco was founded in 1748 by the ...
, on its way passing
San Ramón,
San Javier and
Santa Rosa de la Roca.
From San Igancio, a dirt road goes south to
San Rafael de Velasco
San Rafael de Velasco or San Rafael is the seat of the San Rafael Municipality in the José Miguel de Velasco Province, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. It is part of the Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos. In 1990 it was declared a World Heritage Si ...
and passes Santa Ana after 45 km.
Population
The population of the place has increased rapidly over the past two decades:
*1992: 284 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: 483 inhabitants (census)
*2010: 684 inhabitants (updating)
World Gazetteer
/ref>
Languages
Today, Camba Spanish is the most commonly used everyday language. In the past, various dialects of Otuke, such as Covareca and Curuminaca, were spoken at the mission of Santa Ana.
See also
* List of Jesuit sites
This list includes past and present buildings, facilities and institutions associated with the Society of Jesus. In each country, sites are listed in chronological order of start of Jesuit association.
Nearly all these sites have bee ...
* List of the Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos
References
External links
Santa Ana de Velasco: Description of Jesuit mission with pictures and information
{{Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos
Populated places in Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia)
World Heritage Sites in Bolivia
Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos