Departments of Bolivia

Bolivia is divided into nine departments (Spanish: departamentos). Each of the departments is subdivided into provinces (provincias), which are further subdivided into municipalities (municipios).

Departments are governed by the elected governors (until 2010, prefects; and until 2005, appointed by the President) and by independently elected Departmental Legislative Assemblies (until 2010; Departmental Councils).

Bolivia's nine departments received greater autonomy under the Administrative Decentralization law of 1995. Departmental autonomy further increased with the first popular elections for departmental governors, known as prefects, on 18 December 2005. Four departments (Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija) voted for greater autonomy in 2005, and without constitutional authorization, passed statutes of autonomy in 2008.[1] The remaining five departments approved departmental autonomy in the general elections of 2009.

Contents

Department statistics

Departments of Bolivia
Department Abbreviation Population Area (km²) Density Capital (Pop.) Map Flag
Total Bolivia BOL 10,027,644 1,098,581 9.1 Sucre (Constitutional)
Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Seat of Government)
Beni BNI 430,049 213,564 1.9 Trinidad (86,385)
Chuquisaca CHQ 631,062 51,524 11.9 Sucre (280,259)
Cochabamba CBB 1,786,040 55,631 22.7 Cochabamba (586,813)
La Paz LPZ 2,756,989 133,985 19.9 Nuestra Señora de La Paz (835,000)
Oruro ORU 444,093 53,558 8.2 Ciudad de Oruro (281,700)
Pando PND 75,335 63,827 1.1 Cobija (32,217)
Potosí PSI 780,392 118,218 6.5 Ciudad de Potosí (149,246)
Santa Cruz SCZ 2,626,697 370,621 7.1 Santa Cruz de la Sierra (1,638,343)
Tarija TJA 496,988 37,623 12.5 Ciudad de Tarija (170,906)
Source: Demographic Projections 2008, INE.[2] Population density calculated based on 2006 population projections.

See also

References

  1. ^ Dueling rallies spotlight Bolivian split, LA Times, 2007-12-16.
  2. ^ [1]
Departments of Bolivia
First-level administrative divisions of South American countries

* Territories also in or commonly reckoned elsewhere in the Americas (North America).

External links