HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Oruro (Hispanicized spelling) or Uru Uru is a city in
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
with a population of 264,683 (2012 calculation), about halfway between
La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...
and
Sucre Sucre (; ) is the ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...
in the
Altiplano The Altiplano (Spanish language, Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechuan languages, Quechua and Aymara language, Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla people, Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extens ...
, approximately above sea level. It is Bolivia's fifth-largest city by population, after
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; ), 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), Pirai River in the eastern Tropical ...
,
El Alto El Alto (Spanish for "The Heights") is the List of Bolivian cities by population, second-largest city in Bolivia, located adjacent to La Paz in Pedro Domingo Murillo Province on the Altiplano highlands. El Alto is today one of Bolivia's fastest- ...
, La Paz, and
Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...
. It is the capital of the Department of Oruro and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oruro. Oruro has been subject to cycles of boom and bust owing to its dependence on the
mining industry Mining is the extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or feasibly created artificially in a la ...
, notably tin,
tungsten Tungsten (also called wolfram) is a chemical element; it has symbol W and atomic number 74. It is a metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively in compounds with other elements. It was identified as a distinct element in 1781 and first ...
,
silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
and
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
.


History

The city was founded on November 1, 1606, by Don Manuel Castro de Padilla as a silver-mining center in the Urus region. At the time it was named Real Villa de San Felipe de Austria, after the Spanish monarch Philip III. It thrived for a while, but it was eventually abandoned as the silver mines became exhausted. Oruro was reestablished by European Bolivians in the late nineteenth century as a tin mining center. It was named after the native tribe ''Uru-Uru.'' For a time, the La Salvadora tin mine owned by Simon I. Patino was the most important source of tin in the world. Gradually, as this resource became less plentiful, Oruro again went into a decline. Its economy is still based on the mining industry.


Economy

While traditionally based upon mining, Oruro has become increasingly popular for tourism since the late 20th century. In the early 21st century, Oruro's economy grew through trade and economic connections with
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, especially for exporting products to Pacific markets. It transported products by road through Chile to the Pacific port of
Iquique Iquique () is a port List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the At ...
to open new connections to external markets; it also used the rail connection through Uyuni to the port at
Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...
for exports. Thanks to increased road building, Oruro has become important as a waystation on the overland route of goods from the Atlantic port of Santos, Brazil, through Puerto Suárez and Santa Cruz to the capital,
La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...
. The city is served by the Oruro Airport.


Culture and education

Despite its economic decline, the city attracts numerous tourists to its Carnaval de Oruro, considered one of the great folkloric events in
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
for its masked " diablada" and Anata. The Oruru Carnival was discovered in 1559, when the Augustinian priests were on the land, the festival is in honor of the Virgin of Candlemas. The Oruro Symphony Orchestra is based in the city. Aymara painter and printmaker Alejandro Mario Yllanes (1913–1960) was born here.Raynor, Vivien
ART; "Works by a Vanished Bolivian Painter"
''New York Times.'' 5 April 1992 (retrieved 2 May 2009)
The Universidad Técnica de Oruro, noted for its engineering school, is located in Oruro.


Climate

Oruro lies north of the salty lakes Uru Uru and Poopó. It is three hours (by vehicle) from La Paz. Located at an altitude of 3709 meters above sea level, Oruro is well known for its cold weather. Warmer temperatures generally take place during August, September and October, after the worst of the winter chills and before the summer rains. From May to early July, night-time temperatures combined with a cold wind can bring the temperature down to well below freezing. Summers are warmer, and, although it is an arid area, it has considerable rainfall between November and March. The
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
describes the climate as a cold
subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...
, abbreviated Cfb, with winter precipitation not low enough for a ''Cwb'' designation. Due to the warm days and dry winters, snow is not a frequent occurrence as much as the bitter cold (especially at night); however, flurries can fall usually once every few years, most recently July 4, 2015. The other three most recent snowfalls were those of 13 June 2013, 1 September 2010 (with accumulation), as well as one in 2008.


Main attractions

* Museo Patiño, former residence of "tin baron" Simón Iturri Patiño *Museo Mineralógico (Mineralogical Museum): has exhibits of precious stones, minerals, and fossils *Museo Etnográfico Minero (Ethnographical Mining Museum): housed in a mine tunnel, depicts methods of Bolivian mining *Museo Nacional Antropológico Eduardo López Rivas (National Anthropological Museum): displays tools and information on the Chipaya and Uru tribes, and about Carnaval de Oruro. *Churches: Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Santuario de la Virgen del Socavón, Iglesia de Cunchupata *Inti Raymi, a mine


Education

Because of a high proportion of German-speaking residents, many of whom came as immigrants to work in the mines, the area once had a German school, ''Deutsche Schule Oruro''.Deutscher Bundestag 4. Wahlperiode Drucksache IV/3672
().
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
(West Germany). 23 June 1965. Retrieved on 12 March 2016. p. 18/51.


Gallery

File:Poopo 1991.jpg, Lake Poopó, Bolivia File:Una_vista_a_los_edificios_que_tiene_la_Ciudad_de_Oruro.png, Downtown Oruro, Bolivia File:Superposiciones,_Oruro,_Bolivia_-_panoramio.jpg, Oruro, Bolivia File:Catedral_de_Oruro_-_Vista_Lateral.jpg, Oruro Cathedral File:Taitas.jpg, Taitas de Oruro File:Monumento_a_la_Virgen_del_Socavón_de_noche.jpg, ''Monumento a la Virgen Candelaria'', Oruro, Bolivia File:Plaza10deFebrero.jpg, Plaza 10 de Febrero, Oruro


Twin towns – sister cities

*
Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
, Peru *
Iquique Iquique () is a port List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the At ...
, Chile * Calama, Chile


Notable people from Oruro

* Elsa Cladera de Bravo (1922–2005), trade union leader * Hilda Mundy (1912–1980), Bolivian writer, poet & journalist * Rajka Baković (1920–1941), Croatian student and a member of the anti-fascist resistance movement


See also

* Jach'a Ch'ankha * Qala Qala


References


External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Oruro Department Tin mines in Bolivia Populated places established in 1606 1606 establishments in the Spanish Empire Populated places in the Altiplano eo:Oruro