# La Paz Department (Bolivia)

The La Paz Department of Bolivia comprises 133,985 square kilometres (51,732 sq mi) with a 2024 census population of 3,022,566 inhabitants. It is situated at the western border of Bolivia, sharing Lake Titicaca with the neighboring Peru. It contains the Cordillera Real mountain range, which reaches altitudes of 6.6 kilometers (22,000 ft). Northeast of the Cordillera Real are the Yungas, the steep eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains that make the transition to the Amazon River basin to the northeast. The capital of the department is the city of La Paz and is the administrative city and seat of government/national capital of Bolivia.

## Provinces

The Department of La Paz is divided into 20 provinces (provincias) which are further subdivided into 85 municipalities (municipios) and - on the fourth level - into cantons.
The provinces with their capitals are:
| Province | Area km$^2$ | Population (2012 census) | Capital |
| Abel Iturralde | 42,815 | 18,073 | Ixiamas |
| Aroma | 4,510 | 97,364 | Sica Sica |
| Bautista Saavedra | 2,525 | 16,308 | Charazani |
| Caranavi | 3,400 | 59,365 | Caranavi |
| Eliodoro Camacho | 2,080 | 53,747 | Puerto Acosta |
| Franz Tamayo | 15,900 | 26,997 | Apolo |
| Gualberto Villarroel | 1,935 | 17,782 | San Pedro de Curahuara de Carangas |
| Ingavi | 5,410 | 134,535 | Viacha |
| Inquisivi | 6,430 | 66,346 | Inquisivi |
| José Manuel Pando | 1,976 | 7,381 | Santiago de Machaca |
| José Ramón Loayza | 3,370 | 47,295 | Luribay |
| Larecaja | 8,110 | 86,481 | Sorata |
| Los Andes | 1,658 | 77,579 | Pucarani |
| Manco Kapac | 367 | 27,154 | Copacabana |
| Muñecas | 4,965 | 29,694 | Chuma |
| Nor Yungas | 1,720 | 36,983 | Coroico |
| Omasuyos | 2,065 | 84,484 | Achacachi |
| Pacajes | 10,584 | 55,180 | Coro Coro |
| Pedro Domingo Murillo | 4,705 | 1,663,099 | La Paz |
| Sud Yungas | 5,770 | 105,013 | Chulumani |
| Total: | 133,985 km$^2$ | 2,706,359 | |
| Note: More than 3,770 km$^2$ of Lake Titicaca |

## Government

The chief executive office of Bolivia's departments (since May 2010) is the Governor; before then, the office was called the Prefect, and until 2006 the prefect was appointed by the President of Bolivia and then the governor is elected by the voters. The current governor, Santos Quispe, was elected on 11 April 2021 and took office on 3 May.
Under the 2009 Constitution, Bolivian departments have an elected legislature, known as the Departmental Legislative Assembly. The La Paz Assembly has 45 members including five indigenous / natives minority representatives.
The most recent governor election results (2021) are as follows:
| Candidate | Candidate | Party | First round | First round | Second round | Second round |
| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| | Santos Quispe | Together for the Call of the Peoples | 392,132 | 25.18 | 831,816 | 55.23 |
| | Franklin Flores | Movement for Socialism | 618,221 | 39.70 | 674,220 | 44.77 |
| | Rafael Quispe | For the Common Good - We are the People (MDS) | 349,384 | 22.44 | | |
| | Félix Patzi | Third System Movement | 67,948 | 4.36 | | |
| | Franclin Gutierrez | Front for Victory | 23,519 | 1.51 | | |
| | Beatriz Alvarez | Sovereignty and Liberty | 22,625 | 1.45 | | |
| | Claudia Bravo Terrazas | National Unity Front | 21,331 | 1.37 | | |
| | Juan Choque | Overcome | 16,314 | 1.05 | | |
| | Rufo Calle | Christian Democratic Party | 11,033 | 0.71 | | |
| | Mateo Laura | Civic Community - Autonomies for Bolivia | 8,578 | 0.55 | | |
| | Julio Tito | Patriotic Social Alliance | 7,944 | 0.51 | | |
| | Orlando Quispe | Bolivian National Action Party | 6,886 | 0.44 | | |
| | Federico Zelada | Movement for Sovereignty | 6,269 | 0.40 | | |
| | Santiago Quenta | For my La Paz, United Invincible | 5,025 | 0.32 | | |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,557,209 | 100.00 | 1,506,036 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,557,209 | 90.35 | 1,506,036 | 92.90 |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 166,386 | 9.65 | 115,092 | 7.10 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,723,595 | 100.00 | 1,621,128 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 1,950,428 | 88.37 | 1,947,828 | 83.23 |
| Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ |||||||

### Past executives

| Date Began | Date Ended | Prefect/Governor | Party | Notes |
| 23 Jan 2006 | 10 Aug 2008 | José Luís Paredes Muñoz | Social and Democratic Power | First elected prefect. Elected in Bolivian general election, December 2005, and removed by the 2008 recall election. |
| 12 Aug 2008 | 29 Aug 2008 | Alejandro Zapata (acting, de facto) | | |
| 29 Aug 2008 | 30 May 2010 | Pablo Ramos Sánchez (acting) | MAS-IPSP | Final prefect |
| 30 May 2010 | 31 May 2015 | César Hugo Cocarico Yana | MAS-IPSP | Elected in regional election on 4 April; first elected with the renamed title of governor |
| 31 May 2015 | 3 May 2021 | Félix Patzi | MTS | Elected in regional election |
| Source: worldstatesmen.org |||||

## Languages

The languages spoken in the department are mainly Spanish, Aymara, Quechua and Guaraní. The following table shows the number of people belonging to the recognized group of speakers.
| Language | Department | Bolivia |
| Quechua | 158,260 | 2,281,198 |
| Aymara | 1,181,593 | 1,525,321 |
| Guaraní | 1,526 | 62,575 |
| Another native | 4,446 | 49,432 |
| Spanish | 1,973,708 | 6,821,626 |
| Foreign | 70,448 | 250,754 |
| Only native | 257,242 | 960,491 |
| Native and Spanish | 1,027,999 | 2,739,407 |
| Spanish and foreign | 946,650 | 4,115,751 |

## Places of interest

* Apolobamba Integrated Management Natural Area
* Cotapata National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area
* Pilón Lajas Biosphere Reserve and Communal Lands
* Lake Titicaca
* Chacaltaya

## Towns and villages

* Arapata
* Belén, Aroma
* Khasani
* La Chojlla
* Machacamarca, Aroma
* Marquirivi
* Palcoco
* Pasto Pata
* Puerto Guaqui