La Paz (Spanish: [la ˈpas]; lit. 'the peace'), officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara: Chuqi Yapu, pronounced [ˈtʃoqɛ ˈjapʊ]), is the seat of government of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, it is the third-most populous city in Bolivia. Its metropolitan area, which includes the neighboring city of El Alto, and other smaller towns, is the second most populous urban area in Bolivia, with a population of 2.2 million, after Santa Cruz de la Sierra with a population of 2.3 million. The city is also the capital of the department of the same name.
Located in west-central Bolivia 68 km (42 mi) southeast of Lake Titicaca, La Paz is set in a canyon created by the Choqueyapu River. It is in a bowl-like depression, part of the Amazon basin, surrounded by the high mountains of the Altiplano. Overlooking the city is the triple-peaked Illimani. Its peaks are always snow-covered and can be seen from many parts of the city. At an elevation of roughly 3,650 m (11,975 ft) above sea level, La Paz is the highest administrative capital city in the world. Due to its altitude, the city has an unusual subtropical highland climate, with rainy summers and dry winters.
La Paz was founded on 20 October 1548, by the Spanish conquistador Captain Alonso de Mendoza, at the site of the Inca settlement of Laja as a connecting point between the commercial routes that led from Potosí and Oruro to Lima; the full name of the city was originally Nuestra Señora de La Paz (meaning Our Lady of Peace) in commemoration of the restoration of peace following the insurrection of Gonzalo Pizarro and fellow conquistadors against the first viceroy of Peru. The city was later moved to its present location in the valley of Chuquiago Marka. La Paz was under Spanish colonial rule as part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, before Bolivia gained independence. Since its founding, the city was the site of numerous revolts. In 1781, the indigenous leader and independence activist Túpac Katari laid siege to the city for a total of six months, but was finally defeated. On 16 July 1809, the Bolivian patriot Pedro Domingo Murillo ignited a revolution for independence, marking the beginning of the Spanish American Wars of Independence, which gained the freedom of South American states in 1821.
As the seat of the government of Bolivia, La Paz is the site of the Palacio Quemado, the presidential palace. It is also the seat of the Bolivian legislature, the Plurinational Legislative Assembly, and numerous government departments and agencies. The constitutional capital of Bolivia, Sucre, retains the judicial power. The city hosts all the foreign embassies as well as international missions in the country. La Paz is an important political, administrative, economic, and sports center of Bolivia; it generates 24% of the nation's gross domestic product and serves as the headquarters for numerous Bolivian companies and industries.
La Paz is also an important cultural center of South America, as it hosts several landmarks dating from colonial times, such as the San Francisco Church, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Plaza Murillo and Jaén Street. La Paz is also situated at the confluence of archaeological regions of the Tiwanaku and Inca Empire. The city is renowned for its markets, particularly the Witches' Market, and for its nightlife. Its topography offers views of the city and the surrounding mountains of the Cordillera Real from numerous natural viewing points. La Paz is home to the largest urban cable car network in the world.
Name and toponyms
The Spanish conquistadors founded the city in 1548 with the name Nuestra Señora de La Paz (meaning "Our Lady of Peace"). The name commemorated the restoration of peace following the insurrection of Gonzalo Pizarro and fellow conquistadors four years earlier against Blasco Núñez Vela, the first viceroy of Peru.
In 1825, after the decisive victory of the republicans at Ayacucho over the Spanish army in the course of the Spanish American wars of independence, the city's full name was changed to La Paz de Ayacucho (meaning The Peace of Ayacucho).
The region in which La Paz is located in was known as Chuquiago Marka (marka means village; Chuqi Yapu means 'gold farm', probably due to the exploitation of gold nuggets in the small rivers of the place; spelling differences due to Aymara writing compared to Spanish transliteration) in the Aymara language, leading former President of Bolivia Evo Morales to suggest renaming the city to "Chuquiago Marka" in a speech in 2017.
History
This area had been the site of an Inca city on a major trading route.
Although the Spanish conquistadors entered the area in 1535, they did not find La Paz until 1548. Originally it was to be at the site of the Native American settlement, Laja. The town site was moved a few days later to its present location in the valley of Chuquiago, which is more clement.
Control over the former Inca lands had been entrusted to Pedro de la Gasca by the Spanish king (and Holy Roman Emperor) Emperor Charles V. Gasca commanded Alonso de Mendoza to found a new city commemorating the end of the civil wars in Peru; the city of La Paz was founded on 20 October 1548, by Alonzo de Mendoza, with Juan de Vargas appointed as its first mayor.
In 1549, Juan Gutierrez Paniagua was commanded to design an urban plan that would designate sites for public areas, plazas, official buildings, and a cathedral. These were meant to express the ideals and relationships of Spanish colonial society. La Plaza de los Españoles, which is known today as the Plaza Murillo, was chosen as the location for government buildings as well as the Metropolitan Cathedral.
Spain controlled La Paz with a firm grip and the Spanish king had the last word in all matters political, but consultation was extended, taking months or longer by sea. Indigenous and other unrest was repeated around the turn of the nineteenth century. In 1781, for a total of six months, a group of Aymara people laid siege to La Paz. Under the leadership of Tupac Katari, they destroyed churches and government property. Thirty years later Indians conducted a two-month siege against La Paz. This incident was the setting for the origin of the legend of the Ekeko. In 1809, the struggle for independence from the Spanish rule brought uprisings against the royalist forces. On 16 July 1809, Pedro Domingo Murillo said that the Bolivian revolution was igniting a lamp that nobody would be able to turn off. This uprising formally marked the beginning of the liberation of South America from Spain. The first open rebellions against the Spanish Crown took place in La Paz and the city of Sucre simultaneously. This event is known as the Primer Grito Libertario de América and brought about the Bolivian War of Independence.
Pedro Domingo Murillo was hanged at the Plaza de los Españoles several months later, on 29 January 1810. After Bolivia gained independence, La Paz named this plaza after him, to commemorate him always. He is remembered as the voice of revolution across South America.
In 1898, La Paz was made the de facto seat of the national government, with Sucre remaining the nominal historical as well as judiciary capital. This change reflected the shift of the Bolivian economy away from the largely exhausted silver mines of Potosí to the exploitation of tin near Oruro, and resulting shifts in the distribution of economic and political power among various national elites.
The segregation of Cholitas (women of Andean indigenous background) continued until the 1980s. They were not allowed to enter certain public places and were banned from cinemas and some restaurants, with more emphasis in Bolivian eastern cities like Santa Cruz De La Sierra.
Geography
La Paz is in the valleys of the Andes, close to the Eastern split of the Altiplano region. The metropolitan area is near to the Cordillera Real range, which includes such notable mountains as Illimani (guardian of La Paz), Mururata, Huayna Potosi, Chacaltaya, Kunturiri, Llamp'u, Chachakumani, Chearoco, and Ancohuma.
La Paz is built in a canyon created by the Choqueyapu River (now mostly built over), which runs northwest to southeast. The city's main thoroughfare, which roughly follows the river, changes names over its length, but the central tree-lined section running through the downtown core is called the Prado.
The geography of La Paz (in particular the altitude) is marked by social differences. The more affluent residents live in the lower, central areas of the city southwest of the Prado. Many middle-class residents live in high-rise condos near the center. Lower-income residents live in makeshift brick houses in the surrounding hills. The satellite city of El Alto, where the airport is, is spread over a broad area to the west of the canyon, on the Altiplano.
An earthquake in July 1994 rated at 8.2 struck 200 miles (322 km) north of La Paz. It could be felt near La Paz and caused damage throughout the villages of the area. In February 2002 the city was subjected to a hail and rainstorm that resulted in flooding causing serious damage and over 50 deaths.
Climate
At more than 4,000 meters (13,000 ft) above sea level, higher parts of La Paz have a cold subtropical highland climate (Köppen: Cwc), bordering on a tundra climate (Köppen: ET). At this altitude, night-time temperatures range from cold to very cold. Snow flurries can occur in winter, especially at dawn and usually melts before noon. Despite being located only 16 degrees from the equator, this part of the city has average temperatures similar to that of cities such as Bergen, Norway or Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.
Temperatures in central La Paz, at 3,600 meters (11,811 feet), and in the Zona Sur (Southern Zone), at 3,250 m (10,663 ft) above sea level are warmer and are classified as subtropical highland climate (Köppen: Cwb). Heavy precipitation typically occurs throughout summer, and often causes destructive mudslides. At an altitude of 3,250 meters, in the southern part of the city, the wettest month is January with a monthly average of 114 mm (4.5 in), and the driest is July with 8 mm (0.3 in).
The whole city has rainy summers and dry winters. The city has a relatively dry climate, with rainfall occurring mainly in the slightly warmer months of November to March. Heavy precipitation typically occurs throughout summer, and often causes destructive mudslides. The wettest month is January with a monthly average of 100–140 mm (3.9–5.5 in) of precipitation, and the driest months are June and July with around 5 mm (0.2 in) of precipitation.
In the highest part of the city, above 4,000 meters, the two cloudiest months are February and March, in late summer, when sunshine averages around 5 hours per day. The two sunniest months are June and July, in winter, when sunshine averages around 8 hours per day.
Colonial architecture
The city of La Paz has a consistently decreasing volume of colonial buildings, mostly centered around the vicinity of the Plaza Murillo. Due to a lack of funds and the inability of property owners to pay for restorations to colonial buildings, many have been torn down, or are in a dilapidated state. As historic buildings are more expensive to keep, land owners find it less of a burden to construct more modern buildings as opposed to keeping the old ones. Although there has been an increasing number of projects and propositions to restore some of the city's colonial buildings, the future of these historic edifices remains uncertain.
Economy
The economy of La Paz has improved greatly in recent years, mainly as a result of improved political stability. Due to the long period of high inflation and economic struggle faced by Bolivians in the 1980s and early 1990s, a large informal economy developed. Evidence of this is provided by the markets found all around the city.
While there are stable markets, almost every street in the downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods has at least one vendor on it.
La Paz remains the principal center of manufacturing enterprises that produce finished-product goods for the country, with about two-thirds of Bolivia's manufacturing located nearby. Historically, industry in Bolivia has been dominated by mineral processing and the preparation of agricultural products. However, in the urban center of La Paz, small plants carry out a large portion of the industry. Food, tobacco products, clothing, various consumer goods, building materials, and agricultural tools are produced. "The tin quotations from London are watched in La Paz with close interest as an index of the country's prosperity; a third of the national revenue and more than half of the total customs in 1925 were derived from tin; in short, that humble but indispensable metal is the hub around which Bolivia's economic life revolves. The tin deposits of Bolivia, second largest in the world, ... invite development."
Sports
The most popular sport in La Paz, as in the rest of the country, is football. Currently, three teams compete in Bolivia’s first division: Bolívar, The Strongest, and Club Always Ready. Between Bolívar and The Strongest, the Clásico Paceño is played, also considered the Bolivian clásico, since this match pits the two most decorated and popular teams in the country against each other. In 2012, FIFA recognized a list of the 120 official club derbies worldwide; in the case of Bolivia, the Clásico Paceño is the only one included on this list.
- Club Bolívar : Founded in 1925, it was named in honor of the Libertador Simón Bolívar, the team has won most of the tournaments national and international championships in the last 20 years, and is the largest team, by number of fans, of the country. The year 1964 was a bad year, as it was relegated from the top division, playing the next year in the second division. But it soon returned to the top flight.
- The Strongest : Founded in 1908 the club hosts some of its games and trains on their home stadium named Rafael Mendoza after Don Rafael Mendoza, one of the most important presidents of the club. In 1968 an airplane accident took the life of almost all the players, but Rafael Mendoza made many efforts that allowed the team to rise again as one of the most important in the country.
- La Paz F.C. : Founded in 1989, the club quickly rose through the ranks to become the third major club in the capital, only behind in popularity to the two well-established city rivals.
The city is host to several other teams that play in the first and second divisions such as:
- Academia de Balompié Boliviano
- Always Ready
- Chaco Petrolero
- Club 31 de Octubre
- Deportivo Municipal de La Paz
- Fraternidad Tigres
- Mariscal Braun
- Universitario de La Paz
- Club Unión Maestranza
With the exception of Deportivo Municipal and Unión Maestranza, all the other teams play the majority of their games in the city stadium, the Estadio Hernando Siles, which also hosts the national football team and international games. Always Ready frequently play at the Estadio Rafael Mendoza which belongs to The Strongest, who rarely use the stadium due to its relatively small capacity.
Education
The city hosts some of the most important universities of the country: