Diario las Américas., 1958-06-25
Know thv
NeighborI
By ANTONIO RUIZ

bOLlNlA - Inc temperature
in La Paz, capital of Bolivia as
well as the principal city of the
"altiplano" and the country, ran
ges from twenty-six degrees Fa-
hrenheit in June, to rs degrees
in November. From these ex-
tremes in temperature, it is easy
to see that the seasons in Bolivia
are the reverse of those in North
America. That is because the coun-
try lies in the south Of the tenn
perate zone between the Equator
and the Tropic of Capricorn.
The altipIano or high pleateau,
presents in general a bleak APP
pearance, although the deepest val
leys are covered with vegetation.
The harder cereals make up the
major part of what agricultural
production there is. The principal
representatives of the animal king
dom are alpacas and llamas, as
well as the famous vicunas. 1t is in
this section also that abundant
mineral deposits, the backbone of
the Bolivian economy, r found.
Here, too, r most OF the coun-
try's inhabitants and its industrial
c~enters, in the departments of
Oruro and PotoSi.
In the departments of La Paz
and Cochabamba, the "yungas,"
consisting of deep valleys covered
with semi-tropical forests, separ-
ate the altiplano from the low
land plains, Further south, in the
Departments of Chuquisaca, Tari-
ia and Western Santa Cruz, the
yungas flatten out somewhat. This
is the valley district, characterized
by a cooler temperature. 1t des-
cends gradually toward the Chaco
plains in the southeast, The yum
gas vary in altitude from 1900 to
5000 feet above sea level. The
mean temperature is around 10 de-
grees Fahrenheit, and the atmo-
sphere is charged with humidity.
In the valleys the altitude is from
5000 to 5000 feet, the temperature
is lower, about "a degrees, and the
atmosphere is drier. In agriculture,
the jungas of Bolivia are more de-
veloped than any other region of
the country. The principal crops
are corn, wheat, barley, oats, cot
fee, cacao and sugar cane.
The Llanos, or lowland plains
districts of Bolivia, contain the de-
partments of Ell Benz, Pando and
Santa Cruz. In the northeastern
part of Bolivia, these plains are
part of the Amazon River Basin.
There are tropical forests and
dense vegetation. Further south,
on the other hand, the plains form
part of the La Plata River basin
and constitute a northward extern
sion of the Argentine pampas.
This part of Bolivia is the most
sparsely populated and least de-
yeloped, Notwithstanding its large,
tracts of fertile land and the fact
that it contains more than one
half of the area of the entire coun-
try.
In addition to the drainage sy-
stems formed by the Amazon and
La Plata rivers and their tributa-
ries, there is a third correspond
ing to the altiplano or plateau re-
gion. 1t consists of Lake Titicaca
and the Desaguadero River. Lake
Titicaca is the largest South Anne
rican lake and the highest n in
the world in which steamships
operate. 1t is located at an altitude
of 12,513 feet above sea level, COW
ering an area of 1920 square miles.
1t is 139 miles long and a maxi
mum width of SO miles. 1t con-
tains several islands, the most i'm
portant being those of the Sun and
the Moon.
The boundary of Bolivia and Pc
ri runs through Lake Titicaca,
near its middle. The Desaguadero
River, which is navigable, con-
meets Lake Titicaca with Lake
Poopo, which is 1876 miles to the
southeast and lies several hundred
feet below Lake Titicaca.
Spanish Version Page 8