La Paz

La Paz, city, administrative capital of Bolivia, west-central Bolivia. It is situated some 42 miles (68 km) southeast of Lake Titicaca.

La Paz, which lies between 10,650 and 13,250 feet (3,250 and 4,100 metres) above sea level, is the world’s highest national capital. Visitors, upon arrival, often find exertion difficult because of the rarefied atmosphere at those elevations. The centre of the city lies in a deep, broad canyon formed by the La Paz, or Choqueyapu, River. The city’s location, about 1,400 feet (430 metres) below the surface of the Altiplano, the high intermontane plateau, affords some protection from the cold winds of the highlands. Population growth since the latter part of the 20th century has expanded the city up the canyon walls to the edge of the Altiplano. La Paz was Bolivia’s most populous city until the turn of the 21st century, when it was overtaken by Santa Cruz.

Founded in 1548 as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (“Our Lady of Peace”) by the conquistador Captain Alonso de Mendoza on the site of an Inca village, the city was renamed La Paz de Ayacucho in 1825, in commemoration of the last decisive battle in the wars of independence. The seat of national government was established there in 1898, but Sucre remains Bolivia’s constitutional capital, home to the country’s Supreme Court; La Paz is the seat of the executive and legislative branches. The Plaza Murillo, on the northeastern side of the river, is the heart of the city and site of the huge modern cathedral and government and legislative palaces. Although few colonial buildings survive, the narrow, steep, older streets, red-tile roofs, many skyscrapers, and highland Indians in colourful dress, with Nevado Illimani (21,004 feet [6,402 metres]) and other snowcapped peaks of the Cordillera Real in the background, give La Paz a distinctive atmosphere. La Paz is the site of the University of San Andrés (1830) and Bolivian Catholic University (1966). The National Museum of Art, a children’s museum, the Museum of Ethnography and Folklore, the National Museum of Archaeology, and the Mercado de Brujas (“Witches’ Market”), where herbs and other remedies used by the Aymara are sold, are among the city’s cultural assets. The city was hit by an earthquake in 1998 that killed hundreds of residents and destroyed many buildings.

La Paz’s industries are chiefly food processing and the manufacture of textiles, clothing, shoes, and chemicals. The city is connected by railways and highways with seaports in Peru and Chile and also with Argentina and Brazil. Its international airport is located above the city on the plateau. Pop. (2001) 789,585; (2010 prelim.) 835,400.