Cochabamba is a city in central Bolivia, located in a valley bearing the same name in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the third-largest city in Bolivia with a metropolitan population of more than 800,000 people. The name derives from a compound of the Quechua words qhocha, or lake, and pampa, or open plain.

The city was founded on August 2, 1571 by orders of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo. It was to be an agricultural production center to provide food for the mining towns of the relatively nearby Altiplano region, particularly the city of Potosí. With the silver mining industry at its height, Cochabamba thrived during its first centuries of existence. The city entered a period of decline during the 18th century as mining began to wane. However, since the late 19th century is has again been generally successful as an agricultural center for Bolivia.

La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of La Paz Department. As of the 2001 census, the city of La Paz had a population of about one million. La Paz is situated in a chasm below a plateau at an altitude of 3600 meters alongside the La Paz river. Atop the plateau is the city of El Alto, where the international airport is located.

Founded in 1548 by Alonso de Mendoza at the site of the Native American settlement called Chuquiago, the full name of the city was originally Nuestra Señora de La Paz (meaning Our Lady of Peace). The name commemorated the restoration of peace following the insurrection of Gonzalo Pizarro and fellow conquistadors two years earlier against Blasco Núñez Vela, the first viceroy of Peru. In 1825, after the decisive victory of the republicans at Ayacucho over the Spanish army in the course of the South American Wars of Independence, the city’s full name was changed to La Paz de Ayacucho (meaning The Peace of Ayacucho).

In 1898, La Paz was made the de facto seat of the national government, with Sucre remaining the nominal capital only. This change reflected the shift of the Bolivian economy away from the largely exhausted silver mines of Potosí to the exploitation of tin near Oruro, and resulting shifts in the distribution of economic and political power among various national elites.

Currently, La Paz is not anymore the richest and most modern city in Bolivia. In the last decades, Santa Cruz de la Sierra is showing a good economic developement.

Oruro, city in western Bolivia, capital of Oruro Department, located on a plateau about 3700 m (about 12,140 ft) above sea level. Oruro is a major railroad junction and an important commercial and processing center in a mineral-, especially tin-mining area. Industries in the city include tin smelting and shoe and clothing manufacture. The Technical University of Oruro (1892) is here. Oruro was settled about 1595 by Spaniards interested in its silver deposits. Silver production declined in the 19th century. Population (1993 estimate) 201,831. Penitent devils in Oruro, the folkloric capital city of Bolivia, that surrenders in February to the frenzy of its singular carnival that mixes the devotion for the Virgin of El Socavón -patron saint that blesses the daily activities in the dark depths of the mines- with diverse pagan expressions.

The Carnival of Oruro is an endless rosary of dances
and faith. Thousands of faithful people carry out a journey through the streets of the city -founded in 1606- before arriving at the Sanctuary of El Socavón. Dances of remote origins like the Diablada, the Morenada, the Tobas, the Llamerada and the Phujllay, among other, are revived by the fifty folkloric groups that participate in the party.

Potosí is a city, the capital of the department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is at an altitude of 3967 meters and has about 115,000 inhabitants. It is claimed to be the highest city in the world. It lies beneath the Cerro Rico (”Rich mountain”), a mountain of silver ore, which has always dominated the city.

Founded 1545 as a mining town, it soon acquired fabulous wealth. In Spanish there is still a saying vale un Potosí meaning “being worth a fortune” and, for Europeans, “Peru” was a mythical land of riches. It is here that most of the Spanish silver came from and Indian labour, forced by Francisco de Toledo through the mita institution, came to die by the thousands. After 1800 the silver mines became depleted, making tin the main product. This eventually led to a slow economic decline.

During the War of Independence (1809-1825) Potosi was frequently passed from the control of Royalist and Patriot forces. Major blunders by the First Argentine Auxilary Army (under the command of Castelli) led to an increased sense that independence was needed and fostered resentment towards Argentina. During that occupation there was anarchy and martial excess, and Potosi became unfriendly to the point where it could not be defended.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as simply Santa Cruz, is the second largest city in the Republic of Bolivia with a population of roughly one million residents. It is also the capital city of the Department of Santa Cruz. Located in the eastern part of the country at 416m above sea level, the city, though usually warm, experiences chill winds that blow from the Argentine pampas called surazos.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra was first founded on February 26, 1560 by Ñuflo de Chávez who gave the new settlement its name, which means “Holy Cross of the Mountains,” in honor of his beloved native city in Extremadura, Spain. The original settlement was actually 220km east of its current location, only a few kilometers south of today’s San José de Chiquitos. After conflicts with natives the town was moved to its present position on the banks of the Piraí River in 1592. Some remains of the original settlement can be visited in the Santa Cruz la Vieja (= Old Santa Cruz) archeological site south of San José de Chiquitos (which was founded as a Jesuit mission in 1792).

Sucre (population 190,000) is the constitutional capital of Bolivia, seat of the Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia), and capital of the Chuquisaca department. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an altitude of 2,800m (9,200ft). Historically the city has also been known as Charcas, La Plata and Chuquisaca.

On November 30, 1538 Sucre was founded under the name Ciudad de la Plata de la Nueva Toledo by Pedro de Anzures, Marqués de Campo Redondo. In 1559 the Spanish King Philip II established the Audiencia de Charcas in La Plata with authority over an area which covers what is now Paraguay, southeastern Peru, Northern Chile and Argentina, and much of Bolivia. In 1609, an archbishopric was founded in the city. In 1624 San Francisco de Xavier University was founded.

Until the 18th century, La Plata was the judicial, religious and cultural center of the region. In 1839, after the city became the capital of Bolivia, it was renamed in honor of the revolutionary leader Antonio José de Sucre. Too remote after the economic decline of Potosí, it saw the Bolivian seat of government move to La Paz in 1898. In 1991, Sucre became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The city attracts thousands of tourists every year thanks to its well-conserved downtown with buildings from the 18th and 19th century

Tarija: Bolivia

Tarija is a department in Bolivia. It is located in southern Bolivia bordering Argentina. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 391,226 inhabitants. It has an area of 37.623 km². The city of Tarija is the capital of the department.

The department is divided into six provinces:
Aniceto Arce
Burnet O’Connor
Cercado
Eustaquio Méndez
Gran Chaco
José María Avilés

Notable places in Tarija include:
Villamontes a Jungle town
Bermejo border town with Argentina

Tarija is also the home of over 20 different indian tribes (the Guarani tribe being the largest) ranging from 20 persons up to 1500.

Trinidad: Bolivia

Trinidad, officially La Santísima Trinidad (Spanish: The Most Holy Trinity), is a city in Bolivia, capital of the department of Beni. As of the 1996 census, it had a population of around 69,000.

The city was founded in 1686 by Padre Cipriano Barace about 14 kilometers from its present location. The original city was on the Mamoré river, but flooding and disease in 1769 forced a move.