Bolivia Departments

Bolivia has no coast and three landscapes: the high plateau of the Altiplano, the valleys that step down its eastern side, and the lowland plains that make up most of the country. The department is the unit that settles a round there, because it tells you which of the three you are in before it tells you anything else.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: Natural zone: the Altiplano, the valleys and the lowlands
In the game: 9 departments

Start

What you are looking at

The departments (departamentos) of Bolivia, the first tier of the country. Each is named for its capital or its river, and most share a name with the city that governs them. La Paz is the seat of government and Sucre, in Chuquisaca, is the constitutional capital, which is why a question about the capital has two answers.

The map is lopsided. Santa Cruz and Beni between them cover the whole of the east and north, and the six departments of the west are packed into the Andes along the border with Chile and Peru. Pando is the small northern department in the Amazon, on the Brazilian border.

The groups are the three natural zones Bolivians teach their own geography in. The Altiplano is the high plateau and the cordillera around it, the valleys are the temperate country where the Andes fall away towards the east, and the lowlands are the plains and forest beyond. The departments are the Bolivia Provinces grouped, so the borders of the two maps match exactly.

How to place one

Start with the lowlands. Santa Cruz is the largest department and takes up the whole east. Beni is the flat northern one above it, and Pando is the northern tip.
Find La Paz and Lake Titicaca. La Paz sits on the Peruvian border with Oruro to its south, and Potosí below that, which together make the high west.
Read the valleys as the middle. Cochabamba is the centre of the country, Chuquisaca is the one with Sucre below it, and Tarija is the south on the border with Argentina.

Every department, by zone

Altiplano3 departments: La Paz, Oruro, Potosí
Lowlands3 departments: Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz
Valleys3 departments: Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Tarija

Worked examples

Santa Cruz

The biggest of them

Santa Cruz is the largest department by a wide margin and the most populous. It runs from the Andean foothills to the border with Paraguay and Brazil.

Pando

The one at the top

Pando is the department at the top of the map, in the Amazon basin, wedged between Brazil and Beni. It is the least populated, and the capital is Cobija.

Frequently asked questions

How many departments does Bolivia have?

Nine.

Which is the capital of Bolivia?

Sucre, in Chuquisaca, is the constitutional capital, and La Paz is the seat of government.

What is below the department?

The provinces, which number 112, and below those the municipalities. The provinces are their own quiz.

The tier below this one is Bolivia Provinces. For another country at this level, see Peru Regions.

Sources

geoBoundaries, Bolivia ADM1 and ADM2, the boundaries; the departments are the provinces dissolved, so the two maps share every border
Departments of Bolivia, the nine departments

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