The La Paz Department of Bolivia comprises with a 2024 census population of 3,022,566 inhabitants. It is situated at the western border of Bolivia, sharing Lake Titicaca with the neighboring Peru. It contains the Cordillera Real mountain range, which reaches altitudes of . Northeast of the Cordillera Real are the Yungas, the steep eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains that make the transition to the Amazon River basin to the northeast. The capital of the department is the city of La Paz and is the administrative city and seat of government/national capital of Bolivia.
Provinces
The Department of La Paz is divided into 20 provinces (provincias) which are further subdivided into 85 municipalities"En abril nacen diez nuevos municipios; habrá elecciones en un total de 337"; . www.bolivia.com. (municipios) and—on the fourth level—into cantons.
The provinces with their capitals are:
ProvinceArea km2Population (2012 census)CapitalAbel Iturralde42,81518,073IxiamasAroma4,51097,364Sica SicaBautista Saavedra2,52516,308CharazaniCaranavi3,40059,365CaranaviEliodoro Camacho2,08053,747Puerto AcostaFranz Tamayo15,90026,997ApoloGualberto Villarroel1,93517,782San Pedro de Curahuara de CarangasIngavi5,410134,535ViachaInquisivi6,43066,346InquisiviJosé Manuel Pando1,9767,381Santiago de MachacaJosé Ramón Loayza3,37047,295LuribayLarecaja8,11086,481SorataLos Andes1,65877,579PucaraniManco Kapac36727,154CopacabanaMuñecas4,96529,694ChumaNor Yungas1,72036,983CoroicoOmasuyos2,06584,484AchacachiPacajes10,58455,180Coro CoroPedro Domingo Murillo4,7051,663,099La PazSud Yungas5,770105,013ChulumaniTotal:133,985 km22,706,359Note: More than of Lake Titicaca
Government The chief executive office of Bolivia's departments (since May 2010) is the Governor; before then, the office was called the Prefect, and until 2006 the prefect was appointed by the President of Bolivia and then the governor is elected by the voters. The current governor, Santos Quispe, was elected on 11 April 2021 and took office on 3 May.
Under the 2009 Constitution, Bolivian departments have an elected legislature, known as the Departmental Legislative Assembly. The La Paz Assembly has 45 members including five indigenous / natives minority representatives.
The most recent governor election results (2021) are as follows:
Past executives Date Began Date Ended Prefect/Governor Party Notes 23 Jan 2006 10 Aug 2008 José Luís Paredes Muñoz Social and Democratic Power First elected prefect. Elected in Bolivian general election, December 2005, and removed by the 2008 recall election. 12 Aug 2008 29 Aug 2008 Alejandro Zapata (acting, de facto) 29 Aug 2008 30 May 2010 Pablo Ramos Sánchez (acting) MAS-IPSP Final prefect 30 May 201031 May 2015 César Hugo Cocarico Yana MAS-IPSP Elected in regional election on 4 April; first elected with the renamed title of governor 31 May 2015 3 May 2021 Félix Patzi MTS Elected in regional electionSource: worldstatesmen.org
Demographics
Languages The languages spoken in the department are mainly Spanish, Aymara, Quechua and Guaraní. The following table shows the number of people belonging to the recognized group of speakers.obd.descentralizacion.gov.bo (Spanish)
Language Department BoliviaQuechua158,2602,281,198Aymara1,181,5931,525,321Guaraní1,52662,575Another native4,44649,432Spanish1,973,7086,821,626Foreign70,448250,754Only native257,242960,491Native and Spanish1,027,9992,739,407Spanish and foreign946,6504,115,751
Places of interest Apolobamba Integrated Management Natural Area Cotapata National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area Pilón Lajas Biosphere Reserve and Communal Lands Lake Titicaca Chacaltaya
Towns and villages
Arapata Belén, Aroma Khasani La Chojlla Machacamarca, Aroma Marquirivi Palcoco Pasto Pata Puerto Guaqui
References
External links
La Paz City Guide Weather in La Paz Bolivian Music and Web Varieties Full information of La Paz Department