Quick Facts

Area: 1,098,581sq.km
Capital City: La Paz Sucre (Judicial)
Currency unit: Boliviano
Population: 7'314,000
Climate: varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid
Religion: 95% Roman Catholic, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist
People: 30% Quechua Indian, 25% mestizo, 30% Aymará Indian, approx 15% European (principally Spanish)

Wildlife
The variety and, mainly, the quantity of flora and fauna in Bolivia, make of this earth a wonderful country.The adventurers are easily seduced by the numerous and captivating natural images that are in all their corners. Bolivia is a bastion of the wild life. Bolivia is a bastion of the wild life. The 32 natural ecological regions of their territory, locate it among the countries with more diversity of eco-regions in the world.

At the moment, Bolivia is considered among the 10 richest countries if regarding to varieties of vertebrates in the world. Plus, the more than 1,300 species of birds that inhabit it, locate Bolivia in the seventh place in the world. Statistics also point out, that, 20 species of primates, 20,000 species of superior plants, 220 species of reptiles and near 100 amphibious species inhabit this area.

Stacking Your Postcards

Uyuni Saltflats
Is the largest saltflat in the world covering 10,000km2 (3,861 sq miles), at an elevation of 3,660m. (11,811ft.). The origin of this salt lake has a lot to do with the theory that its waters used to be part of the ocean thousands of years ago, and with its part evaporation, a high percentage of salt has been left behind. And the water that comes from the Western Andes Range, with its high mineral content, has a major effect on the salt lake.

Jesuitic Missions
Declared a Cultural Patrimony of Mankind by UNESCO, these missions are a great example of colonial architecture, sculpture and paintings, and are located in the eastern Amazon lowlands of Chiquitos and Moxos, near the cities of Santa Cruz and Trinidad. The recent discoveries of Baroque music at the Jesuitic missions of scores and manuscripts of the Colonial period, found around 5,000 pages. It is the biggest, most valuable legacy of Colonial, missional Baroque music.

A second part of the compilation is not yet complete and has over 2,000 pages. The native people from that area were, and still are, great musicians and build instrument such as organs and violins. They learned first their native language, then Latin (to read all the music), then Spanish. Their natural talent and ability in music was one of the main reasons why the missionaries decided to establish schools in that area. The Chiquitania and Moxos are the only place where all this treasures were preserved.

Sucre and Potosi
Both cities were declared Cultural Patrimony of Mankind by UNESCO. They are the best example of the wealthy Colonial period, thanks to the rich Silver Mountain of Potosi. The architecture is the main attraction, because they have conserved the Spanish influence in their houses and beautiful churches.Sucre is called the White Capital of Bolivia, because most of their houses in the historic center are white with red roofs.

El Cristo De La Concordia
Immense statute of Jesus Christ. Higher than the Cristo del Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. A great overviews of the city is offered from the top of the monument.

Tomatas
Natural bathing resort located at 5 Km. from the city of Tarija. Its beaches are bathed by waters from the Guadalquivir and Erquis rivers junction. There is also an small forest for camping.

Rincón de la Victoria
Paradisiacal vegetation spot located at 18 Km from the city. Being one of the main tourist attractions, it offers a close encounter with nature and its wonderful scenic views. Ideal for weekend trips.

San Lorenzo
Located at 16 Km from the city of Tarija, this town displays Spanish colonial styles, wood-carved balconies, stone-layered streets. In this town is the house of Eustaquio "Moto" Méndez, hero of Bolivia's fight for independence from the Spanish rule. The house is currently a museum.

Destination Guides

La Paz
Bolivia's administrative capital (seat of government) since 1898, La Paz is also the capital of its most populated province (department). It is the world's highest capital and highest large city (3,580 meters/ 11,740 feet). Its population, which was estimated at nearly 1.2 million in 1990, has doubled over the last twenty years. Sixteen percent of Bolivia's population resides in La Paz. It is situated in the broad deep through like valley of the river that bears the same name well bellow (about 400 meters, 1400 feet) the surface of the Altiplano. The surface of the Lago Titicaca, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) to the northwest is higher by 235 meters (770 feet). The high snow-capped mountains, especially Mount Illimani (6,460 meters, 21,200 feet), which rise east of La Paz, provide a magnificent background to the city.

The city was founded as Nuestra Senora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace) in 1548 by a Spanish expedition headed by Alonso de Mendoza. The site, which was inhabited by Inca peasants, has favourable climatic conditions, sheltered as it is from the cold winds that blow over the Altiplano. The city developed only after it became Bolivia's capital; it had a population of 79,000 in 1900.

There is a little left of the old colonial and nineteenth-century town with the exception of some steep narrow streets and layout of some squares. The Plaza Murillo, with the city's cathedral, legislative buildings, and government institutions, is the focal area of the central part of the city, which has many modern buildings, including skyscrapers. Bolivia's most important university, Mayor de San Andres (founded in 1830), several other institutions of higher learning, and museums give La Paz its dominant position in the country's cultural life.

Santa Cruz
The city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra was founded by Ñuflo de Chávez on February 26, 1560. Chávez named the new city in honor of his beloved native city in Extremadura, Spain. The city originally lay 220 km east of its current location, on the shores of the Piraí river. But, by the end of the 16th century, the city was moved to its present position, 50 km east of the Cordillera Oriental foothills.

Sucre
Sucre , the constitutional capital of Bolivia, preserves the essence of its splendid past. People say that in August of 1825, the members of the Deliberating Assembly met in this welcoming Andean village, to proclaim the independence of the country.

Declared Cultural Patrimony of the Humanity by UNESCO, Sucre -capital of the department of Chuquisaca- is a small place in perpetual serenity. Inspiring, discreet and wrapped in an intellectuality halo, the city is the haven of the young students of the whole country that are formed in the classrooms of the Universidad Mayor, Real y Pontificia de San Francisco Xavier.

Oruro
There is neither panic nor any terror scream when the troops of the hell take for assault, with twirls and scatterbrained movements, the streets of the city. But these "evil princes" -of swaying horns and hideous eyeteeth escaping of their mouths- do not generate neither a tiny piece of fear nor a little dose of terror... and it is for that reason that people applaud and encourage them and in some cases, even want to join to the rhythmic pilgrimage of the devils of Oruro.

Penitent devils in Oruro, the folkloric capital city of Bolivia, that surrenders in February to the frenzy of its singular carnival that mixes the devotion for the Virgin of El Socavón -patron saint that blesses the daily activities in the dark depths of the mines- with diverse pagan expressions.

The Carnival of Oruro is an endless rosary of dancesand faith. Thousands of faithful people carry out a journey through the streets of the city -founded in 1606- before arriving at the Sanctuary of El Socavón. Dances of remote origins like the Diablada, the Morenada, the Tobas, the Llamerada and the Phujllay, among other, are revived by the fifty folkloric groups that participate in the party.

Trinidad
The city of La Santísima Trinidad (the Most Holy Trinity) was founded in 1686 by Padre Cipriano Barace on the shores of the Mamoré river, 14 kilometers from its current location. Later on, in 1769, pestilence and floods along the riverbanks caused the city to be relocated on the shores of Arroyo de San Juan. Trinidad is the capital city of the department of Beni. According to data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, by November 1996, Trinidad had a population of 68,694 inhabitants.