Yapacaní (or Villa Yapacaní) is the largest city in the province of

Ichilo Ichilo River is a Bolivian river at the foot of the Eastern Andes-Cordillera in South America. It lends its name to the Ichilo Province, one of the 15 provinces of the Santa Cruz Department of Bolivia. Location Ichilo River has its source in M ...

in the

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 ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Santa Cruz. It lies on the west bank of the Yapacani River, at the mouth of the Surutú River, 100 km north-west of

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), P ...

, the largest city in Bolivia. It is the centre of the district of

Yapacaní Municipio Yapacaní (or Villa Yapacaní) is the largest city in the province of Ichilo Province, Ichilo in the Bolivian Departments of Bolivia, department of Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz. It lies on the west bank of the Yapacani River, at the ...

. Prior to its foundation on 23 August 1953, there was a military post called El Comando. In 1963, the road west from Montero stopped at the

Yapacaní River The Yapacaní River is a river of Bolivia, part of the Amazon River basin. The river is a tributary of the Rio Grande. The river runs northwards through the Santa Cruz Department and joins the Mamoré River. Geography The Yapacaní River or ...

. Previous efforts at bridge building were unsuccessful and the only way to get to Villa Busch, the administrative camp for the colony, was by boat. If the river was running high, it was necessary to delay crossing up to three or four days. The trip from Villa Busch to the colony was best made by foot as vehicles became bogged down and could not cross log foot bridges. In the last two decades the town's population has risen from 8,585 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 incl ...

1992)'', to 14,665 ''(census 2001)'', to 26,270 inhabitants ''(2012 estimate)''.World Gazetteer
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Geography

Yapacaní is located in the wettest region of the Santa Cruz department, situated on the border between the tropical montane rainforests of Amboró and Carrasco, the Amazon rainforests of the Chapare region, and the monsoonal llanos of western Santa Cruz and southwestern Beni. While Yapacaní 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 ...

Transportation

The town has a four lane road through its center, which was re-surfaced and stop lights were installed in 2010. Transportation in Yapacani is dominated by motorcycles, , and micro-buses. Motorcycle taxis operate the streets of the town allowing one to arrive from one place to another for about 2

Bolivianos The boliviano (; sign: BsBanco Central de Bolivia. "Galeria de monedas y billetes''." Accessed 26 February 2011.Banco Central de BoliviaOfficial websiteAccessed 26 February 2011. ISO 4217 code: BOB) is the currency of Bolivia. It is divided int ...

. Travel between towns is usually done in which are cars operated by collectives. A trip to Santa Cruz is 20 Bolivianos, to Montero 10 Bolivianos, Santa Fe 2 Bolivianos, San Juan de Yapacani 4 Bolivianos, and

Bulo Bulo Bulo Bulo is a town in central Bolivia, in Cochabamba Department. Transport * It is served by Bulo Bulo Airport. * In 2013, a railway connection to Montero is proposed. See also * *List of reduplicated place names This is a list of pla ...

11 Bolivianos. One bus leaves from Yapacani direct to Cochabamba.

Economy

The small villages surrounding Yapacani produce rice, cane sugar, mandarin oranges, and other products. Rice is by far the largest crop produced and provides income to many small communities that lie to the north of town. These communities are accessed by a road called "Faja Norte" where a two Boliviano fee is charged to enter. This road makes a loop from Yapacani north-west later re-joining the main Santa Cruz-Cochabamba road near the community of Ichilo. The road is almost entirely gravel and sometimes becomes difficult to navigate in the rainy season. The towns along the Faja Norte that produce rice from nearest to farthest from Yapacani are: Km 7,Villa Imperial (Km 23), El Comandito (Km 35), Km 48, Challavito, and Cascabel. A natural gas compound exists at the north end of the loop where there are two communities called Los Pozos and Patajusal.

Natural events

The town is located on a zone of land between the Andean plateau and the Brazilian shield. It is normally not seismically active but has a potential for earthquakes. The most recent seismic activity in the area occurred on the morning of January 23, 2010 when an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 occurred 10 miles southeast of the town. No injuries or damage were recorded in the town center.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yapacani Populated places in Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia)