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departments of Bolivia

{{Short description|First-level administrative divisions of Bolivia}}

{{Infobox subdivision type

| name = Departments of Bolivia

| alt_name = Departamentos de Bolivia (Spanish)

| map = 250px

| category = Unitary state

| territory = Plurinational State of Bolivia

| start_date =

| current_number = 9

| number_date =

| population_range = 110,436 (Pando) – 3,412,921 (Santa Cruz)

| area_range = {{Convert|14526|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}} (Tarija) – {{Convert|143098|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}} (Santa Cruz)

| government = Departmental governments, national government

| subdivision = Provinces

}}

Bolivia is a unitary state consisting of nine departments ({{langx|es|departamentos}}). Departments are the primary subdivisions of Bolivia, and possess certain rights under the Constitution of Bolivia. Each department is represented in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly—a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Each department is represented by four Senators, while Deputies are awarded to each department in proportion to their total population.

Out of the nine departments, La Paz was originally the most populous, with 2,706,351 inhabitants as of 2012 but the far eastern department of Santa Cruz has since surpassed it by 2020; Santa Cruz also claims the title as the largest, encompassing {{Convert|370621|km2|mi2}}. Pando is the least populated, with a population of 110,436. The smallest in area is Tarija, encompassing {{Convert|37623|km2|mi2}}.

Departments

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"

!class="unsortable"|Flag

!Department

!ISO 3166-2 code

!Capital city

!Largest city

!Population
(2024)

!Area
km2 (sq mi)

!Density per
km2 (sq mi)

!Deputy
seats

File:Flag of Beni Department, Bolivia.svg

| Beni

| B

|colspan="2"|Trinidad

| {{nts|477441}}

| {{Convert|213564|km2|mi2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| {{Convert|{{#expr: 477441 / 213564 round 2}}|PD/km2|2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| 9

File:Flag of Chuquisaca.svg

| Chuquisaca

| H

|colspan="2"|Sucre

| {{nts|600132}}

| {{Convert|51524|km2|mi2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| {{Convert|{{#expr: 600132 / 51524 round 2}}|PD/km2|2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| 11

File:Flag of Cochabamba.svg

| Cochabamba

| C

|colspan="2"|Cochabamba

| {{nts|2005373}}

| {{Convert|55631|km2|mi2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| {{Convert|{{#expr: 2005373 / 55631 round 2}}|PD/km2|2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| 19

File:Bandera de La Paz.svg

| La Paz

| L

| La Paz

| El Alto

| {{nts|3022566}}

| {{Convert|133985|km2|mi2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| {{Convert|{{#expr: 3022566 / 133985 round 2}}|PD/km2|2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| 29

File:Flag of Oruro.svg

| Oruro

| O

|colspan="2"|Oruro

| {{nts|570194}}

| {{Convert|53588|km2|mi2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| {{Convert|{{#expr: 570194 / 53588 round 2}}|PD/km2|2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| 9

File:Flag of Pando.svg

| Pando

| N

|colspan="2"|Cobija

| {{Nts|130761}}

| {{Convert|63827|km2|mi2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| {{Convert|{{#expr: 130761 / 63827 round 2}}|PD/km2|2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| 5

File:Flag of Potosí.svg

| Potosí

| P

|colspan="2"|Potosí

| {{Nts|856419}}

| {{Convert|118218|km2|mi2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| {{Convert|{{#expr: 856419 / 118218 round 2}}|PD/km2|2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| 14

File:Flag of Santa Cruz.svg

| Santa Cruz

| S

|colspan="2"|Santa Cruz de la Sierra

| {{Nts|3115386}}

| {{Convert|370621|km2|mi2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| {{Convert|{{#expr: 3115386 / 370621 round 2}}|PD/km2|2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| 25

File:Flag of Tarija.svg

| Tarija

| T

|colspan="2"|Tarija

| {{Nts|534348}}

| {{Convert|37623|km2|mi2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| {{Convert|{{#expr: 534348 / 37623 round 2}}|PD/km2|2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| 9

=Former Departments=

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"

!class="unsortable"|Flag

!Department

!Capital city

!Largest city

!Population

!Area
km2 (sq mi)

!Fate

File:Bandera del Litoral, Bolivia.png

| Litoral Department

|colspan="2"| Antofagasta

| {{nts|15000}} (1879)

| {{Convert|154393|km2|mi2|abbr=values|sortable=on}}

| Incorporated into Chile

By population

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"

|+

! scope="col" |Department

! scope="col" |2024{{Cite web| last = Instituto Nacional de Estadística| title = Somos 11.312.620 bolivianos y Santa Cruz es el departamento que más creció y más poblado| work = CENSO BOLIVIA| format = Página Oficial del Censo de Población y Vivienda Bolivia| access-date = 2024-09-30| date = 2024-08-29| url = https://censo.ine.gob.bo/somos-11-312-620-bolivianos-y-santa-cruz-es-el-departamento-que-mas-crecio-y-mas-poblado/}}

! scope="col" |2012

! scope="col" |2001

! scope="col" |1992

! scope="col" |1976

! scope="col" |1950

! scope="col" |1900

! scope="col" |1882

! scope="col" |1854

! scope="col" |1845

! scope="col" |1835

! scope="col" |1831

scope="row" |Beni

|{{Nts|477441}}

|{{Nts|421196}}

|{{Nts|362521}}

|{{Nts|276174}}

|{{Nts|168367}}

|{{Nts|71636}}

|{{Nts|24500}}

|{{Nts|16700}}

|{{Nts|33400}}

|{{Nts|48400}}

| colspan="2" |N/A{{efn|The Department of Beni was created November 18, 1842}}

scope="row" |Chuquisaca

|{{Nts|600132}}

|{{Nts|576153}}

|{{Nts|531522}}

|{{Nts|453756}}

|{{Nts|358516}}

|{{Nts|260479}}

|{{Nts|187100}}

|{{Nts|113300}}

|{{Nts|189500}}

|{{Nts|156000}}

|{{Nts|95000}}

|{{Nts|112600}}

scope="row" |Cochabamba

|{{Nts|2005373}}

|{{Nts|1758143}}

|{{Nts|1455711}}

|{{Nts|1110205}}

|{{Nts|720952}}

|{{Nts|452145}}

|{{Nts|310600}}

|{{Nts|176800}}

|{{Nts|322900}}

|{{Nts|279000}}

|{{Nts|162400}}

|{{Nts|226700}}

scope="row" |La Paz

|{{Nts|3022566}}

|{{Nts|2706351}}

|{{Nts|2350466}}

|{{Nts|1900786}}

|{{Nts|1465078}}

|{{Nts|854079}}

|{{Nts|406600}}

|{{Nts|312700}}

|{{Nts|471200}}

|{{Nts|412900}}

|{{Nts|373600}}

|{{Nts|348100}}

scope="row" |Litoral

| colspan="8" |N/A{{efn|The Litoral Department was taken by Chile after the War of the Pacific}}

|{{Nts|5500}}

|{{Nts|4500}}

|{{Nts|5100}}

|{{Nts|3800}}

scope="row" |Oruro

|{{Nts|570194}}

|{{Nts|494178}}

|{{Nts|391870}}

|{{Nts|340114}}

|{{Nts|310409}}

|{{Nts|192356}}

|{{Nts|82000}}

|{{Nts|111400}}

|{{Nts|91800}}

|{{Nts|95300}}

|{{Nts|111000}}

|{{Nts|84100}}

scope="row" |Pando

|{{Nts|130761}}

|{{Nts|110436}}

|{{Nts|52525}}

|{{Nts|38072}}

|{{Nts|34493}}

|{{Nts|16284}}

| colspan="6" |N/A{{efn|Pando Department was created 24 September 1938}}

scope="row" |Potosí

|{{Nts|856419}}

|{{Nts|823517}}

|{{Nts|709013}}

|{{Nts|645889}}

|{{Nts|657743}}

|{{Nts|509087}}

|{{Nts|310100}}

|{{Nts|234000}}

|{{Nts|250700}}

|{{Nts|243300}}

|{{Nts|226300}}

|{{Nts|192200}}

scope="row" |Santa Cruz

|{{Nts|3115386}}

|{{Nts|2655084}}

|{{Nts|2029471}}

|{{Nts|1364389}}

|{{Nts|710724}}

|{{Nts|244658}}

|{{Nts|163400}}

|{{Nts|94000}}

|{{Nts|120400}}

|{{Nts|75600}}

|{{Nts|54400}}

|{{Nts|43800}}

scope="row" |Tarija

|{{Nts|534348}}

|{{Nts|482196}}

|{{Nts|391226}}

|{{Nts|291407}}

|{{Nts|187204}}

|{{Nts|103441}}

|{{Nts|64700}}

|{{Nts|31500}}

|{{Nts|60000}}

|{{Nts|63800}}

|{{Nts|33000}}

|{{Nts|36200}}

scope="row" |Other

| colspan="6" |N/A

|{{Nts|6900}}

|{{Nts|7200}}

|{{Nts|4400}}

| colspan="2" |N/A

|{{Nts|41200}}

Notes

{{notelist}}

See also

{{portal|Bolivia}}

References

{{reflist}}

  • {{Cite web|author=National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia |author-link1=National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia |title=Bolivia Caracteristicas de Populacion y Vivienda: Censo Nacional de Populacion y Vivienda 2012 |trans-title=Bolivia Characteristics of Population and Housing: National Censo of Population and Housing 2012 |language=es |url=http://www.ine.gob.bo:8081/censo2012/PDF/resultadosCPV2012.pdf |type=PDF |publisher=Bolivian National Institute of Statistics |year=2012 |access-date=19 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209134921/http://www.ine.gob.bo:8081/censo2012/PDF/resultadosCPV2012.pdf |archive-date=9 February 2014 }}

External links

{{commons category|Departments of Bolivia}}

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20091113141644/http://www.ine.gov.bo/ National Bolivian Institute of Statistics]

{{Departments of Bolivia}}

{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of South American countries}}

{{Authority control}}

Bolivia

Category:Subdivisions of Bolivia

Bolivia, Departments

Departments, Bolivia

Departments

Category:Decentralization