Oruro, Bolivia

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Oruro
Oruro Location in Bolivia
Coordinates: 17°58′S 67°07′W / -17.967, -67.117
Country	Bolivia
Department	Oruro Department
Province	Cercado Province
Elevation	12,172 ft (3,710 m)
Population (2001)
- Total	215, 660

Oruro is a city in Bolivia with a population of over 215, 660 (2001), located about equidistant between La Paz and Sucre at approx. 3710 meters above sea level. It is the capital of the department of Oruro.

The city was first founded in 1606 as a silver-mining-center in the Urus region. At the time, it was named Real Villa de Don Felipe de Austria after the Spanish monarch Philip III. It was eventually abandoned as the mines became exhausted, but was reestablished in the late nineteenth century, this time as a tin-mining-center. For a time, the La Salvadora tin-mine was the most important source of tin in the world. Gradually, this resource was also exhausted, and Oruro again went into a decline. The city does manage, however, to attract tourists to its carnival, the Carnaval de Oruro, considered one of the great folkloric events in South America for its masked "devil-dances".

Oruro was named after the native tribe "Uru-Uru".

The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oruro.

[edit] External links

• Information and photos on the Diablada, the Anata Andina and the indigenous culture

• BOLIVIAN DANCES!

Coordinates: 17°58′S, 67°07′W