| Santa Cruz de la Sierra | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Autonomous City — | |||
| Images from top, clockwise: Southern skyline, Cristo Redentor Avenue, Santa Cruz Municipal Library, Autonomy protests of 2008 at El Cristo monument, La Casona Apartment Complex, and the Basilica Menor de San Lorenzo at night. | |||
|
|||
|
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
|
|||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Bolivia | ||
| Department | Santa Cruz | ||
| Province | Andrés Ibáñez | ||
| Municipality | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | ||
| Founded | February 26, 1561 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Type | City Governement | ||
| • Mayor | Percy Fernandez | ||
| Area | |||
| • Autonomous City | 535 km2 (206.6 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 416 m (1,365 ft) | ||
| Population (2010)[1] | |||
| • Autonomous City | 1,616,063 | ||
| • Density | 4,215.24/km2 (10,917.4/sq mi) | ||
| • Metro | 2,102,998 | ||
| Time zone | BOT (UTC−4) | ||
| HDI (2001) | 0.630 – médium[2] | ||
| Website | http://www.gmsantacruz.gov.bo/ | ||
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia and the largest city in the country.[3] Situated on the river Piray in Eastern Bolivia, the city of Santa Cruz and its metropolitan area are home to over 70% of the population of the department[4] and it is one of the fastest growing cities in the world.[5]
The city was first founded in 1561 by Spanish explorer Ñuflo de Chavez about 200 km east of its current location, and was moved several times until it was finally established on the Piray River in the late 16th century. For much of its history, Santa Cruz was mostly a small outpost town, and even after Bolivia gained its independence in 1825, there was little attention from the authorities or the population in general to settle the region. It was not until after World War II and profound agrarian and land reforms that the city began to grow at a very fast pace.
Nowadays, the city is the most populated, and the Department of Santa Cruz, rank second in total population, produce nearly thirty five percent of Bolivia's gross domestic product, and receive over forty percent of all the foreign direct investment in the country. This has helped make Santa Cruz the most important business center in Bolivia and the preferred destination of migrants from all over the country.[6]
Contents |
Like much of the history of the peoples of the region, the history of the area prior to the arrival of European explorers is not well documented, mostly because of the somewhat nomadic nature and the absence of a written language in the culture of the local tribes. However, recent data suggests that the current location of the city of Santa Cruz was inhabited by an Aruwage tribe that later came to be known by the Spanish as Chane. Remains of ceramics and weapons have been found in the area, leading researchers to believe they had established settlements in the area. Among the few known facts of these tribes, according to accounts of the first Spanish explorers that came into contact with the Chane, they had a formal leader, a cacique, called Grigota, for several years but his reign came to an end after one of the several Guarani incursions in the area.
The first Europeans to set foot in the area were Spanish conquistadores from the recently created Governorate of New Andalusia that encompassed the territories of present-day Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Bolivia.
In 1549, Captain General Domingo Martinez de Irala became the first Spaniard to explore the region, but it was not until 1558, when Ñuflo de Chaves, who had arrived in Asuncion in 1541 with Alfredo Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, led a new expedition with the objective of settling the region. After discovering that a new expedition from Asuncion was already underway, he quickly traveled to Lima and successfully persuaded the Viceroy to create a new province and grant him the title of governor on February 15, 1560. Upon returning from Lima, Chaves founded the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Holy Cross of the Hills) on February 26, 1561, 220 km east of its present-day location, to function as the capital of the newly formed province of Moxos and Chaves. The settlement was named after Chaves’s home town in Extremadura, where he grew up before venturing to America.
Shortly after the founding, attacks from local tribes became commonplace and Ñuflo de Chaves was killed in 1568 by Itatine natives. After Chaves’s death, the conflicts with the local population as well as power struggles in the settlement forced the authorities in Peru to order the new governor, Lorenzo Suarez de Figueroa to relocate the city to the west. Many of the inhabitants, however, chose to stay behind and continued living in the original location. On September 13, 1590 the city was officially moved to the banks of the Guapay Empero river and renamed San Lorenzo de la Frontera. Nevertheless, the conditions proved to be even more severe at the new location forcing the settlers to relocate once again on May 21, 1595. Although this was the final relocation of the city, the name San Lorenzo continued to be used until the early 1600s, when the settlers who remained behind in Santa Cruz de la Sierra were convinced by the colonial authorities to move to San Lorenzo. After moving, in 1622, the city was finally consolidated and took its original name of Santa Cruz de la Sierra given by Ñuflo de Chaves over 60 years before. Remnants of the original settlement can be visited in Santa Cruz la Vieja ("Old Santa Cruz"), an archeological site south of San José de Chiquitos.[7][8]
Over the next 200 hundred years, several tribes were either incorporated under Spanish control or defeated by force. The city also became an important staging point for Jesuit Missions to Chiquitos and Moxos, leading to the conversion of thousands of Guaranies, Moxeños, Chiquitanos, Guarayos, and Chiriguanos that eventually became part of the racially mixed population of the modern Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, and Tarija departaments of Bolivia. Another important role the small town played in the region for the Spanish Empire was to contain the incursions of Portuguese Bandeirantes, many of which were repelled by the use of force over the years. The efforts for consolidating the borders of the Empire were not overlooked by the authorities in Lima, who granted the province a great degree of autonomy. The province was ruled by a Captain General based in Santa Cruz, and, in turn, the city government was administered by two mayors and a council of four people. Citizens of Santa Cruz were exempt from all imperial taxes and the mita system used in the rest of the Viceroyalty of Peru was not practiced. However, in spite of its strategic importance, the city did not grow much in colonial times. Most of the economic activity was centered in the mining centers of the west and the main source of income of the city was agriculture.
Animosity towards imperial authorities began at the turn of the eigteenth century, when the new system of intendencias reached the new world. The seat of government was taken away from the city and moved to Cochabamba, and many of the powers delegated by the viceroyalty were now in the hands of appointees of the crown. Like in many parts of Spanish America at the time, angered by the reforms the criollos saw as a threat to their way of life, and taking advantage of the Peninsular War, the local population, led by Antonio Vicente Seonane, revolted on September 24, 1810, overthrowing the governor delegate. In his place, a junta of local commanders took control of the government. The revolutionaries, as it was the case with most of the revolts in Spanish America, remained loyal to the King of Spain, while repudiating the colonial authorities until after the end of the Peninsular War.
By 1813, the city was once again under imperial control. At this time, by orders of General Manuel Belgrano, the revolutionary armies of Argentina sent a small force led by Ignacio Warnesto "liberate" Santa Cruz. After his successful campaign, he assumed control of the government of the city. In a little over a year, Warnes was able to gather tremendous support from the population, enlisting criollos, mestizos and natives to the revolutionary army, and allying with the revolutionary leader of Vallegrande, Alvarez de Arenales, to defeat a strong imperial force in the Battle of Florida. This victory proved to be a serious blow to Spanish forces in the region. Nevertheless, two years after the victory of Florida, imperial forces launched a new offensive in the province led by Francisco Javier Aguilera. This campaign ended with the defeat and death of Ignacio Warnes and his forces in the Battle of Pari. Triumphant, Aguilera marched into the city with orders to quell the insurrection and reinstate the Spanish governor. This proved to be a very difficult task, with several revolutionary leaders, such as Jose Manuel "Cañoto" Baca and Jose Manuel Mercado, rising up in the coming years from the city itself and elsewhere in the province. These new leaders fought colonial authorities for seven years until they finally deposed the last Spanish governor, Manuel Fernando Aramburu, in February 1825, after news of the defeat of the imperial armies in the west had reached the city.[9]
The city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra is located in the eastern part of Bolivia (17°45', South, 63°14', West) at 416 m above sea level. It is part of the province of Andrés Ibáñez and the capital of the department of Santa Cruz.
The city has a tropical savanna climate, with an average annual temperature around 23 °C (or 73.4 °F). Although the weather is generally warm all year round, cold wind patterns, called "surazos", can blow in occasionally (especially in the winter) from the Argentine pampas making the temperature drop considerably. The months of greatest rainfall are January and February.
| Santa Cruz de la Sierra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate chart (explanation) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The first settlers of Santa Cruz were mainly Spaniards that accompanied Ñuflo de Chávez, as well as Guarani natives from Paraguay, and some Flemings, Portuguese, Germans and Italians working for the Spanish crown.[10]Among the first settlers there were also Sephardic Jews[11] recently converted to Christianity who were persecuted in by the inquisition in Spain. Santa Cruz has a multicultural population: 60% of the population is White of European descent, 30% is mestizo with both Native and European ascendants and 10% Natives.
Museums, Cultural Centers and Galleries
Santa Cruz offers an interesting circuit of cultural and art spaces, from natural history, to religious art up to the newest contemporary art. There is an young art market which is growing fast.
The city of Santa Cruz has benefited from a fast paced growing economy for the last 15 years. This has allowed for a multicultural and ethnically diverse city to develop. Despite its fast growth, the city preserves much of its traditions and culture. This is particularly reflected in its typical foods.
The Spaniards introduced cows, poultry, rice, citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines and lemons), from southern Asia they brought sugar cane and from Africa plantains, bananas and coffee (which is cultivated in the yungas near Buena Vista. Moreover, local dishes include native vegetables such as corn, peanuts, yuca and squash, and also local fish such as surubi and pacu.
There is evidence of the influence of Jewish kosher cuisine in many traditional Santa Cruz dishes,[12] where it is noticeable, the general absence of pork meat, and the combination of rice, yuca, corn and peanuts with either meat or milk products, but never both (at least while being cooked).
Native spices such as urucum, and native fruits (unique to the region) such as achachairu, guapuru and guabira, add to the uniqueness of Santa Cruz rich traditional cuisine.The agricultural richness of the region allows Santa Cruz to enjoy a vast variety of flavours and ingredients. The following is a list which describes the most typical foods:
Typical Foods
Typical Drinks
Typical Pastries
The city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra has utility infrastructure, roads and highways, and a lively shopping and business. The main sectors that drive the economy are the oil, forestry companies, agribusiness, and construction. Santa Cruz to more than 80% of national agricultural production, and also contributes to GDP over 35% according to recent years. It also has the country's largest airport, making it an ideal city for trade shows, international events and investments.
It is noteworthy that in Santa Cruz there is considerable investment in the construction sector (office buildings and houses), business (large supermarket chains and mass consumption centers), the health sector (high-tech private clinics ), the fashion industry, national and international shows, agribusiness, hospitality and cuisine (highly developed), not to mention many private universities. The airline AeroSur has its headquarters in Santa Cruz.[13]
Santa Cruz de la Sierra has one of the best infrastructures of hotels in the country.
Five Star Hotels *****
Four Star Hotels ****
|
|title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://idh.pnud.bo/usr_files/informes/regional/municipios/capitulos/I2%20IDH%20Municipios%20Bolivia%20part%201.pdf.