Bolivia is a South American country and is officially referred as “Plurinational State of Bolivia“. The country is an eminent country of South America and is bordered to countries like Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Peru and Argentina. The capital of Bolivia is Sucre and the most used language in the country is Spanish. The country was named after Simon Bolivar who was a leader and an activist in the Spanish American war of independence. The name given to Bolivia Firstly was the Republic of Bolivar and this name was approved on October 3, 1825. The name remains the same till 2009 and in 2009 a constitution was presented and the name was changed to the Plurinational State of Bolivia. The name has changed because of the fact that it is a multi ethnic country and people belonging to different customs, religions and norms lived here. The land of Bolivia can be referred as a contrasting land because of having high bleak mountains and plateaus in the west and lush, tropical rain forests in the east.
The history of Bolivia is very much affluent and rich and it has a lot of subjects to discuss about. This region that is now called as Bolivia is known from 2500 years when the Aymara had arrived in Bolivia. However Aymara do not consider themselves from the pupil that had arrived many years before. Aymara associates them with the old civilization of Tiwanaku culture. Bolivia was a very feeble and small agriculturally based region but it grew up between 600 AD and 800 AD. At that time the country had a population of 15000 to 30000 natives and covered an area of 6.5 square kilometers. The country had gone through many hard and tough times. In 1538, the Bolivia’s inhabitants were defeated by Spanish. The area highly attracted the Spanish because of its rich shimmering silver mines that were discovered as early as 1545. The natives of the country were used on great land holdings. The country remains in slavery till 1809 and a great revolution against Spanish came in Bolivia. Then in 1824, Bolivians had the victory of independence. After the formal proclamations of independence in 1825, Bolivar (Bolivia) makes up its constitution for the New Republic in 1825. The capital of the country that was known as Chuquisaca was renamed as Sucre that was named after the revolutionary independence hero.
First comes the depiction of natural beauty of Bolivia; the Madidi National Park. The park is located in La Paz, Bolivia and is stretching over an area of about 18,975.5 kilo meters square. The park was inaugurated on September 21, 1995, and is considered as for be in one of the most sheltered and protected regions of the world. If we call this place a full package place then it would not be wrong because the area of this park ranges from glacier covered high peaks to the wet rainforests. Madidi and its neighboring regions are referred as one of the most biologically diverse regions on the planet. The park has a wide variety of flora and fauna and more than 2000 species are present in Madidi National Park. These 2000 species includes 272 species of mammals, 496 species of fish, 1,254 bird species, 204 species of reptiles and 213 species of amphibians. The park is very much eminent because of this huge range of insects including over 120,000 different species of insects. The climate of this region makes this place a more worth mentioning because the awesome whether over here will surely compel you to love this beauty.
Potosi is situated in Bolivia’s province Tomas Frias and is known for being one of the highest cities in the world by elevation at a nominal 4090 meters. It is famous all over the world for its silver production. It is the location of Spanish colonial mint for centuries. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and was designated in 1987. There is no authentic etymology for the word Potosi but some of its natives believed that the word has come from Quechua in which it means “Thunderous Noise” while some of its people believe that it is an Aymara word in which it means ” The sound produced by hammer against the ore”. The city was founded in 1545 as a mining town and because of being affluent in its metal production, it produced fabulous wealth. The population of the city at that time exceeded 200,000 people. The city widely used a Spanish expression that is still in use “vale un Potosi) meaning “to be worth a Potosi” that means “to be of great value”. The great mountain Cerro Rico gave an estimated 60% of all silver mined in the world during the second half of the 16th century. Due to the technological advancement, the cost of the silver production remains extremely low. In fact the Spanish American mines were the world’s cheapest sources of silver during this time period.
Uyuni is a city in the South western part of Bolivia. The city was founded in 1890 as a trading post and now has the population of about 10,460. The region has a little agriculture in the area because of the flat that water supplies are scarce and somewhat saline that is not really suitable for growing crops and plantation. The word Uyuni had originated from an Aymara word meaning “the one that has got a pen” or “the one with a pen”. The region hosted a lot of tourists that are here to visit the world’s largest salt flats, the near Uyuni salt flat. About 60,000tourist from all across the world came here to visit the town. The city serves as a kernel of commerce and traffic crossing into and out of Bolivia. The town has an extended and extensive street market that makes it pretty suitable for the tourists to have and buy anything at any time.
The town has some really interesting and attraction grabbing spots that will make your trip a memorable one like Train cemetery. It is one of the major alluring points in the town that is located 3 km outside Uyuni and is associated to the primaeval train tracks. The train lines were built by British engineers at the end of the 19th century. The city was founded by Bolivian president Aniceto Arce. Mining and visitation are the major ways of employment in the town. In fact, the mining is predominant over other jobs. The largest lithium reserve of about 100 million tonnes in the whole world lies under the neighboring salt flats.
Oruro or Uru Uru is a city in Bolivia situated at an equal distance between La Paz and Sucre. The city has a total population of 264,683 making it the 5th largest city of Bolivia by population. Like the previous two attractions, Oruro’s economy also depends upon its mining industry having elements like Tin, Tungsten (wolfram), Copper and Silver. The city was founded by Don Manuel Castro de Padilla in November 1, 1606. At the time of its discovery, it was named as Real Villa de San Felipe de Austria after the name of the Spanish monarch Philip III. The name of the city was changed and it was named as Oruro after the name of a native tribe “Uru Uru”. For a time being, La Salvadora Tin mine was considered as the most notable source of Tin in the world but eventually the resources of Tin became lesser and lesser that leads Oruro to its decline. The whole economy of the region is basically based upon mining although the economy is also supported by a large amount of tourism. Its economy further flourishes in the early 21st century by transportation and connections to Chile. Different sites and flavors of Oruro can be seen through its various carnivals that is the main reason to attract its tourist. Carnaval de Oruro is referred as one of the most beautiful folkoric events in South America. The Oruro Symphony Orchestra, Museo Patino, Church Catedral Nuestra Senora de La Asuncion, Church Iglesia de Cunchupata and the Universidad Tecnica de Oruro are the other important places.
Talking about the point of interest in Bolivia and not taking a look upon Coca museum would not be appropriate because the place is surely valuable for chocolate lovers. The museum is referred as the Coca museum because of having an affluent history about the coca plant from the Andean region and from the related drug Cocaine. The museum is connected with International Coca Research Institute (ICORI) which is situated in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. Coca museum was established by Dr. Jorge Hurtado and Dr. Roxana Miranda. The museum is a perfect and a complete place to know about the science, the history, the updates and every single thing that is related to Coca and Cocaine. New Coca Museum Extension is a must see visitation in the same place where the Coca plant was planted five thousand years ago. This extension is called “COCA WASI” that means “the house of the coca plant”. It is a hub of legal and traditional coca plantation in Bolivia where you can find ancient coca cultivations, take information about its agriculture and of course taste legal derivatives of this plant.
Tiwanaku is a pre- Columbian archaeological site in the western part of Bolivia. This place was founded by Spanish Conquistador Pedro Cieza de Leon in 1549 when he came across this region while searching for the Inca capital Qullasuyu. The etymology of its name is not clear and known because of the fact that at that time there was no written language. This temple was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000. The archaeology of Tiwanaku is not really in its good condition as the site has suffered a lot from looting and excavation since shortly after the fall of Tiwanaku. A lot of material had been destroyed at that time. This chaos continued during the Spanish conquest and colonial period and also during 19th century and the very early 20th century. Besides of this destruction by others, a lot of damage was committed by its own people by quarrying stone for building and Rail road construction. A proper detailed study of Tiwanaku was conducted by Ephraim George Squier at the time when he visited this ruined area in the mid 19th century. After his visitation, he published sketches and maps that he had completed during his trip. Similarly another geologist Alphons Stubel who was a German spent nine days in Tiwanaku in 1876 for constructing a map depending on careful measurements. In the 1960s, the government took initiatives to restore and reconstruct the site and a lot of renovations and changes take place at Tiwanaku. For example, the walls of Kalasasaya are more or less reconstructed. Also the gateway of the sun has moved from its original position.
Laguna Verde can be said as a true example of natural beauty. This mesmerizing and breath- taking place is a perfect place for the tourist that endeavors high peak mountains, lush green valleys, turquoise green lake and heavenly beautiful surroundings. The words Laguna Verde are Spanish words meaning “green lake”. It is a salt lake that is situated in the south western of Bolivia in Altiplano. The lake has an area of 1700 ha and its thin causeway is divided into two equidistant parts. The turquoise color of the lake changes to dark emerald color because of the presence and suspensions of arsenic and other minerals those are responsible for the changing of color of the water. The corrigible color is due to the disturbance caused by sediments in the lake by winds. The Laguna Verde is substantial for its spectacular sceneries and marvelous landscape.
Illimani is referred as the highest mountain in the Cordillera Real situated in the western part of Bolivia. The mountain is present near the cities of La Paz and El Alto. Illimani has an honor to be the second highest mountain in Bolivia after Nevado Sajama having a height of 6,438 meters. The mountain is considered as one of the great and major landmarks of the country and has been the part of many songs, dramas and movies. The mountain has four main peaks. Many of the tourists came to Illimani for the sake of climbing. It was first climbed by a French Explorator Charles Wiener, J. C. Ocampo and J. de Grumkow in 1877 but these guys were failed to reach the main top of the peak. Several attempts were made by different people but they were not succeeded to meet their desires. At last in 1898, a British climber William Martin Conway and two of his guides made the first record to climb the peak of the mountain.
Cristo de la Concordia is a famous statue of Jesus Christ located in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The statue was planned to construct on 12 July, 1987 and was completed on 20 November 1994. The name, Cristo de la Concordia has been originated from Spanish words meaning “The Christ of Peace”. The place can be accessible by using a cable car or by climbing almost 2000 steps. The statue is 34.20 meters tall that is standing on a pedestal of 6.24 meters so the total height of this gigantic statue can be said as 40.44 meters. The statue was designed by Cesar and Walter Pardo. Cristo de la Concordia was a model after the statue of Christ of Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. The statue is the second largest statue of Jesus Christ in the world after the statue of Christ Redeemer. A lot of visitors visit this place not only for fun but also for their religion as they consider it a holy and a sacred spot.