Departments of Bolivia
  • Also known as:
  • Departamentos de Bolivia (Spanish)
CategoryUnitary state
LocationPlurinational State of Bolivia
Number9
Populations110,436 (Pando) – 3,412,921 (Santa Cruz)
Areas37,620 km2 (14,526 sq mi) (Tarija) – 370,620 km2 (143,098 sq mi) (Santa Cruz)
Government
Subdivisions

Bolivia is a unitary state consisting of nine departments (Spanish: 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 370,621 square kilometres (143,098 sq mi). Pando is the least populated, with a population of 110,436. The smallest in area is Tarija, encompassing 37,623 square kilometres (14,526 sq mi).

Departments

Flag Department ISO 3166-2 code Capital city Largest city Population
(2020) 		Area
km2 (sq mi)		 Density per
km2 (sq mi)		 Deputy
seats
Beni B Trinidad 480,308 213,564 (82,458) 1.97 (5.10) 9
Chuquisaca H Sucre 637,013 51,524 (19,894) 11.18 (28.96) 11
Cochabamba C Cochabamba 2,028,639 55,631 (21,479) 31.6 (81.84) 19
La Paz L La Paz El Alto 2,926,996 133,985 (51,732) 20.2 (52.32) 29
Oruro O Oruro 551,116 53,588 (20,690) 9.22 (23.88) 9
Pando N Cobija 154,355 63,827 (24,644) 1.73 (4.48) 5
Potosí P Potosí 901,555 118,218 (45,644) 6.97 (18.05) 14
Santa Cruz S Santa Cruz de la Sierra 3,370,059 370,621 (143,098) 7.16 (18.54) 25
Tarija T Tarija 583,330 37,623 (14,526) 12.82 (33.20) 9

Former Departments

Flag Department Capital city Largest city Population Area
km2 (sq mi)		 Fate
Litoral Department Antofagasta 15,000 (1879) 154,393 (59,611) Incorporated into Chile

By population

Department 2012 2001 1992 1976 1950 1900 1882 1854 1845 1835 1831
Beni 421,196 362,521 276,174 168,367 71,636 24,500 16,700 33,400 48,400 N/A[lower-alpha 1]
Chuquisaca 576,153 531,522 453,756 358,516 260,479 187,100 113,300 189,500 156,000 95,000 112,600
Cochabamba 1,758,143 1,455,711 1,110,205 720,952 452,145 310,600 176,800 322,900 279,000 162,400 226,700
La Paz 2,706,351 2,350,466 1,900,786 1,465,078 854,079 406,600 312,700 471,200 412,900 373,600 348,100
Litoral N/A[lower-alpha 2] 5,500 4,500 5,100 3,800
Oruro 494,178 391,870 340,114 310,409 192,356 82,000 111,400 91,800 95,300 111,000 84,100
Pando 110,436 52,525 38,072 34,493 16,284 N/A[lower-alpha 3]
Potosí 823,517 709,013 645,889 657,743 509,087 310,100 234,000 250,700 243,300 226,300 192,200
Santa Cruz 2,655,084 2,029,471 1,364,389 710,724 244,658 163,400 94,000 120,400 75,600 54,400 43,800
Tarija 482,196 391,226 291,407 187,204 103,441 64,700 31,500 60,000 63,800 33,000 36,200
Other N/A 6.900 7,200 4,400 N/A 41,200

Notes

  1. ↑ The Department of Beni was created November 18, 1842
  2. ↑ The Litoral Department was taken from Chile after the War of the Pacific
  3. ↑ Pando Department was created 24 September 1938

See also

References

  • National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia (2012). "Bolivia Caracteristicas de Populacion y Vivienda: Censo Nacional de Populacion y Vivienda 2012" [Bolivia Characteristics of Population and Housing: National Censo of Population and Housing 2012] (PDF) (PDF) (in Spanish). Bolivian National Institute of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
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