Tapacarí is a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in the

Cochabamba Department Cochabamba (, , ), from Quechua ''qucha'' or ''qhucha'', meaning "lake", ''pampa'' meaning "plain", is one of the nine departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the " granary" of the country because of its variety of agricultural products from ...

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 ...

. Its capital is

Tapacarí Tapacarí, Thapa Qhari is a town and the capital of Tapacarí Province in Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. It is located at an elevation of 2,997 m. At the time of census 2001 it had a population of 411. Most of the population lives either in adja ...

. The province is located at a turnoff from the major highway that links

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 ...

and

Oruro Oruro (Hispanicized spelling) or Uru Uru is a city in Bolivia with a population of 264,683 (2012 calculation), about halfway between La Paz and Sucre in the Altiplano, approximately above sea level. It is Bolivia's fifth-largest city by populat ...

. It has traditionally been amongst the poorest in the department. Tapacarí Province and neighboring

Arque Province Arque is a rural province in Cochabamba Department in the eastern cordillera of the South American state of Bolivia. Geography The province is surrounded by the provinces of Tapacarí in the northwest, Quillacollo in the northeast, Capinota ...

are the two poorest of the 16 provinces that make up the department of Cochabamba. The provincial capital of Tapacarí is the namesake of the that formally made Bolivia a constituent country of the

Peru–Bolivian Confederation The Peru–Bolivian Confederation () was a short-lived state that existed in South America between 1836 and 1839. The country was a loose confederation made up of three states: North Peru and South Peru—states that arose from the division of th ...

Geography

The approximate elevation of the province is above sea level. The terrain is very rough. Some of the highest mountains of the province are listed below:IGM Bolivia 1:50,000 Leque 6241-IIIIGM Bolivia 1:50,000 Mazo Cruz 6241-I

Subdivision

The province is not further subdivided into

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. So Tapacarí Municipality and Tapacarí Province are identical. The province is divided into four

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

People and economics

The majority of the people who live in Tapacarí are

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...

villagers or ''campesinos'' as they are known in

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. The principal economic activities of the families are agriculture and livestock, with wheat, barley, potatoes, corn and other staples being the major cash crops and sheep, goats, pigs, and guinea pigs being the most popular animals. Food is first and foremost used for domestic consumption, while the excess is traditionally sold at the local markets. While the men work in agriculture and haul the excess off to larger markets in

Quillacollo Quillacollo is the capital of Quillacollo Province in Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. The municipality was established on 14 September 1905 under the Presidency of Ismail Montes. Population and growth The city of Quillacollo is located westwar ...

and Cochabamba, the women of the Tapacari valley are known as superb

weaver Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainmen ...

s. The fur from the sheep is removed and dyed with traditional flowers that grow in the wild. and then spun by the women. Finally, in the same fashion that the

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

s used centuries ago, it is then extended on the loom to make beautiful products. Although some of the weavings are exported, the majority is sold in the city at centric markets. Aramasi, which is the site of a weaving center funded via PRODEVAT, in addition to a mill which was funded in part by USAID, is located in Ramadas Canton. The Mary Mahoney Medical Center, which is funded by Asociacion Amistad, also works out of Aramasi. Finally, Aramasi also celebrates an annual weaving and music fair which was started by a US Peace Corps Volunteer. Politically, the province is almost entirely behind the ruling party of

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...

- ''

Movimiento al Socialismo Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (; MAS or MAS-IPSP), is a socialist political party in Bolivia. Its followers are known as ''Masistas''. In the December 2005 election, MAS-IPSP won the first ...

'', or ''MAS''. Ref.: obd.descentralizacion.gov.bo

Languages

The languages spoken in the Tapacarí Province are mainly

and

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 ...

.obd.descentralizacion.gov.bo / Observatorio Bolivia Democrático
(Spanish)

Transport

There are virtually no paved roads in the entire province, with the exception of the interdepartamental route linking Cochabamba and

and

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 ...

References