Totora () (in Hispanicized spelling), Tutura or T'utura (

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 ...

and

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 ...

for ''

Schoenoplectus californicus ''Schoeneoplectus californicus'' is a species of sedge known by the common names California bulrush, southern bulrush and giant bulrush. It is also sometimes called "tule", but the closely related ''Schoenoplectus acutus'' is the species most oft ...

'', an aquatic plant) is a town in the

Carrasco Province Carrasco is a province in the Cochabamba Department in central Bolivia. Its capital is Totora. Geography Some of the highest mountains of the province are listed below: Subdivision Carrasco Province is divided into six municipalities whic ...

of 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 ...

. It is the capital and most-populous place of the Totora Municipality. As of the 2012

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the population is 1,925. The first settlers were 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 ...

. Totora was officially settled in 1876, and declared a town by the

Government of Bolivia The politics of Bolivia takes place in a framework of a Presidential system, presidential Representative democracy, representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Bolivia, president is head of state, head of government and head of ...

in 1894.

History

The first settlers of the city were from the

Inca Empire 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 ...

. From 1530 until 1722, the land Totora occupied was in control of

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

, who mainly used the land for coca production. The first time the town was mentioned was in 1639, when a landowner named Don Fernando García Murillo had established a

chaplaincy A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligen ...

. The city was officially settled on 24 June 1876 after the Mizque Municipality was divided into the Mizque and the Totora Municipality. It was officially declared a city by the Bolivian Government on 27 October 1894. The first residents of Totora were wealthy landowners, traders, and textile artisans. It was also a trading stop between western and eastern Bolivia. On 22 May 1998, a 6.8 M_W earthquake hit the Totora and

Aiquile Aiquile is a town in the Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. It is the capital of the Narciso Campero Province and Aiquile Municipality. Most of its population is Quechua, and its residents are reputed to be the best charango The charango is a ...

area. There were four

foreshock A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic eventthe mainshockand is related to it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake as ''foreshock'', ''mainshock'' or aftershock is only possible after the full sequenc ...

s—ranging from 2.7 to 5.8—and consistent

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in Epicenter, the same area of the Mainshock, main shock, caused as the displaced Crust (geology), crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthq ...

s until 27 May. 105 people were killed, and it was considered a "national tragedy" by then-President

Hugo Banzer Hugo Banzer Suárez (; 10 May 1926 – 5 May 2002) was a Bolivian politician and military officer who served as the 51st president of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978 as a military dictator; and then again ...

. In 2000, Totora was declared "Cultural Heritage of Humanity" by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Geography

Climate

Demographics

According to the 2012 Bolivian

, the population of Totora was 1,925, an annual increase of 1.71% from 2001. The increase was unexpected, as the Association of Municipality of Cochabamba (AMDECO) projected the population to drop to 1,469. There were 892 (46.33%) men and 1,033 (53.66%) women, for a ratio of 1.15 women to men. In 2012, there were 1,069 homes, and 457 families, for an average

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

of 1.80 persons. Throughout history, the highest population of the city was 3,501 in 1992; the lowest population was 1,000 in 1845. With an estimated area of , Totora has a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 46 people/km2. Within the municipality Totora is the most-populous place, with 13.1% of the total population and, as of 2012, is the only town in its municipality with a population over 1,000. As of 2001, the racial makeup of the town was 88.6%

, 2.2%

, 1.4%

Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guarani language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * G ...

, 0.3%

Chiquitano The Chiquitano or Chiquitos are an indigenous people of Bolivia, with a small number also living in Brazil. The Chiquitano primarily live in the Chiquitania tropical savanna of Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia, with a small number also living in ...

, and 7.3% from other races. As to languages, a majority of the population (65.4%) speak either

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 ...

or both language. As of 2005, 98% of the population are of the

Catholic religion The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and 2% are

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Cityscape

Totora is noted for having colonial-style building and architecture. Because of the town's

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

, the streets have an atypical distribution. The most common style of house includes adobe walls, land floors, and cement roofing. From 1999 to 2005, 44.2% of the households use

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of firelog, recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellet fuel, pellets. ...

to power their house, 55.1% use gas power, and 0.6% use other means. In 2011,

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s were introduced in the town to power its schools, with the help of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The protected

Carrasco National Park Carrasco National Park is a national park in Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. It has a surface area of 6,226 square kilometers. More than 5,000 plant species have been registered in the area, placing the park among Bolivia's most biologically diver ...

is northeast of Totora. Created in 1991, the park has an area of and it ranges in altitude from . It is estimated that there are 3,000

plant species Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Sometimes ...

, estimated 700 species of birds, and 382 confirmed type of

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

located in the park. The main tourist attractions are The House of Culture, which used to be a mansion but is now a museum; the colonial bridges; the plaza; ''Phaqcha'' ''(Pajcha)'', a

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

; Julpe, a place that holds cave paintings.

Culture

Economy

In 2013, a deal was made with the Local Committee for the Productive Development of Wheat and Potato Township Totora to have around 300 families in Totora produce wheat for five cereal companies in Cochabamba.

Education

There are three schools located in Totora: José Carrasco Torrico High school, named after ex-Vice President José Carrasco Torrico, Martin Mostajo Middle school and La Paz Middle School. The college has 320 students. The middle school was constructed in 2013 and cost ($). It holds 11 classrooms and supports up to 250 students. As of 2001, the

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

in Totora is 82.4%, lower than the country average of 86.7%.

Transportation

The main two ways to reach Totora by road are from Route 7, if coming from Cochabamba, and Route 5, if coming from

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 ...

. The Bolivian Department of Education is in the process of making a road from Tarata to Totora, since both are historic towns.

Notes

References

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