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La Paz

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This article is about the administrative capital of Bolivia. For other uses, see La Paz (disambiguation).

Nuestra Señora de La Paz or Chuquiago Marka or Chuqiyapu (Aymara: "chuqi" = gold, "yapu" = farm) is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of La Paz Department. As of the 2001 census, the city of La Paz had a population of around one million, and together with neighbour cities of El Alto and Viacha, make the biggest urban area of Bolivia, with a population of around 1.6 million inhabitants

History

Founded in 1548 by Alonso de Mendoza at the site of the Native American settlement called Chuquiago, the full name of the city was originally 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 South American Wars of Independence, the city's full name was changed to La Paz de Ayacucho (meaning The Peace of Ayacucho).

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 of tin near Oruro, and resulting shifts in the distribution of economic and political power among various national elites.

La Paz is the highest capital city in the world, and is home to the world's highest golf course. The air is so thin that a well-hit shot will travel several meters farther than at sea level.

Timeline of the history of La Paz

Year Event
1548 The city of La Paz was founded by Spanish settlers on the pre- existing site of Choqueyapu, an ancient Aymara village. It was founded as Nuestra Senora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace) by Alonso de Mendoza, commissioned by Pedro de la Gasca, to commemorate the "pacification" of Peru. It was started as a commercial city, lying on the main gold and silver route to the coast. The Spaniards came for the Bolivian gold found in the Choqueapu River that runs through present-day La Paz. The Spaniards took the gold mines away from Aymara people and made them work as slaves. The primarily male Spanish population soon mixed with the indigenous people, creating a largely mestizo, or mixed, population.
1549 In November of this year, Juan Gutierrez was given the task of designing an urban plan, in keeping with the Code of the Indies (regulations on Spanish Colonial Cities from Spain). As such, he was to lay out plazas and public lands and designate sites for public buidings. The Plaza Murillo (pictured below) was later selected as the site for the city Cathedral, elite homes, and government buidings.
1600 As the gold slowly diminished, the city's location between Potosi (the primary silver mining town) and Lima grew in importance, as La Paz became a main stop on the trade route. Soon La Paz was the most flourishing town in the Altiplano area of the Andes, although it was not as wealthy as Potosi.
1800 La Paz emerges as the largest city of Upper Peru (the early name for Bolivia) in the late eighteenth century, acting as the center for the population and agricultural production zone. The heavily populated Altiplano hinterland above La Paz fed its growth. Many large estate land holders, known as haciendados, lived in La Paz throughout most of the year while they maintained a small community of indigenous people to live and work on their haciendas (landed estates).
1825 Bolivia gained independence, which sparked even more growth in the city. Simon Bolivar was the first president of the Republic. The country was divided in 5 departments: La Paz, Cochabamba, Potosí, Charkas and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
1800 La Paz emerged as the capital of the Intendencia, the home of a thriving commercial community, and the center of an important network of interregional and international trade routes. The majority of the absentee landed elite resided in La Paz, creating the commerce and royal treasury from which more wealth could be generated for investment in the rural zones of the Intendencia. At that time in history, the capital and its provincial hinterland were one of the wealthiest tax-producing areas in all of the Andes. This early beginning, as the home of the rich land-lords of the haciendas, is still evident in the structure of the city today, as the finest example of old Spanish Colonial Architecture seen in houses is located close to the central plazas and offices of the city.
1840 Bolivia started exporting more than it imported, allowing the government to engage in infrastructural investments with the surplus funds. This led to a growth of La Paz as the financial, commercial, and political capital of the area. "With new urban classes emerging, and new capital to spend, there was both increased demands for foodstuffs production and an aggressive class of urban-based capitalists willing to engage in agricultural production"(Klien 1993 134). However, at this time La Paz was virtually isolated from the rest of the world due to the poor roads and lack of rail lines leading over the harsh Altiplano to ports in Peru and Chile. Contact between La Paz and the eastern part of the country, surrounded by rainforest, was even more difficult.
1879 The Pacific War with Chile. The Chileans entered the country at the coast for the salitre and the guano(Nitrate-rich bird dung). The result of this brutal war was the loss of Bolivia's coast land to Chile.
1898 La Paz becomes Bolivia's administrative capital and the seat of the government, thus starting the process of development into the large city it is today.
1900 Construction began on the international railroad network linking La Paz to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, thus solidifying the future role of La Paz as a primate city.
1921 The first oil company came to Bolivia. Bolivia was found to have great reservoirs of oil, in addition to all the precious minerals.
1952 The great national revolution when the revolutionaries won the rights for the indegenous people. Their biggest accomplishment was agrarian land reform, which allowed peasants to have freedom from the obligations of working on the elite-owned land, diffusing the long-established hacienda system. This in turn sparked a great growth spurt in the city, as many working-class and poor migrated to urban areas.
1963 Playing at home, Bolivia wins South American football (soccer) championships.
1964 Military revolution, with the help of the US, that established the dictatorial rule that would remain until 1980. The last dictator was General Hugo Banzer. He held elections in 1980, although, suspiciously, Banzar's candidate won and was president until the year 1982.

Geography

At (-16.5, -68.1333), La Paz was 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.

La Paz' geography (in particular, altitude) reflects society: the lower you go, the more affluent. While many middle-class paceños live in high-rise condos near the center, the really rich houses are located in the lower neighborhoods southwest of the Prado. The reason for this division is that the lower you go in the city, the more oxygen there is in the air and the milder the weather is. And looking up from the center, the surrounding hills are plastered with makeshift brick houses of those struggling in the hope of one day reaching the bottom. Its name is translated into English as "Our Lady of Peace"

The satellite city of El Alto, in which the airport is located, is spread over a broad area to the west of the canyon, on the altiplano.

La Paz is renowned for its unique markets, very unusual topography, and traditional culture.

Due to the altitude at which the city is located, temperatures are consistently cool throughout the year, though the diurnal temperature range is typically large. The city has a relatively dry climate, with rainfall occurring mainly in the warmest months of November to March.

Gallery

See also

References

External links



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Last updated on Tuesday March 04, 2008 at 14:15:18 PST (GMT -0800)
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