Tarija Department

Department Flag Flag A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist... Department Coat of Arms Coat of arms A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth... Motto: ¡La Muy Leal y Muy Fiel! (The very loyal and very faithful!) Anthem: Lyrics: Tomás O’Connor D'Arlach Music: Juan Fiori - starts with "Tarijeños la fama pregona...."
Capital	Tarija Tarija, Bolivia Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is both the capital and largest city within the Tarija Department, with an airport offering regular service to primary Bolivian cities, as well as a regional bus terminal with domestic and...
Largest city	Tarija Tarija, Bolivia Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is both the capital and largest city within the Tarija Department, with an airport offering regular service to primary Bolivian cities, as well as a regional bus terminal with domestic and...
Official language Official language An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a... s	Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
Provinces	6
Area Area Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat...  - total  - % de Bolivia	Place nº 9 37,623 km² 3.42%
Population Population A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...  - Total (2005)  - % of Bolivia  - Density Density The mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight...	Place nº 6 391,226 4.3% 10.4 hab/km²
Foundation	July 4, 1576
Independence Day	April 15, 1817
Governor Governor A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...	Mario Cossío (CC)
Senators	Roberto Ruiz (PODEMOS Social and Democratic Power Podemos is the name of a right-of-center, pro-business Bolivian political party. It is a pseudo-acronym standing for 'Poder Democrático y Social' , but the word also means "We can."-Nationalist Democratic Action:... ) Carlos D'Alarch (PODEMOS Social and Democratic Power Podemos is the name of a right-of-center, pro-business Bolivian political party. It is a pseudo-acronym standing for 'Poder Democrático y Social' , but the word also means "We can."-Nationalist Democratic Action:... ) Jesús Carranza (MAS)
Deputies	9 out of 130
Calling Code:	+ (591) 4
ISO 3166-2 ISO 3166-2:BO ISO 3166-2:BO is the entry for Bolivia in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.Currently for Bolivia, ISO 3166-2 codes are...	BO-T
Abbreviations	TA
Website Website A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...	http://www.tarija.gov.bo

Tarija is a department in Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

. It is located in south-eastern Bolivia bordering Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 to the south and Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

 to the east. 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

Tarija, Bolivia

Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is both the capital and largest city within the Tarija Department, with an airport offering regular service to primary Bolivian cities, as well as a regional bus terminal with domestic and...

 is the capital of the department.

The department is divided into five province

Province

A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...

s and one autonomous region:

1. Aniceto Arce
   Aniceto Arce Province
   Aniceto Arce is a province in the southern parts of the Bolivian department Tarija. The province is named after Aniceto Arce Ruiz , President of Bolivia from 1888 until 1892.-Location:...
   
   
2. Burnet O'Connor
   Burnet O'Connor Province
   Burnet O'Connor is a province in the northern part of Tarija Department in Bolivia.The province is also known as Burdet O'Connor and is named after Francisco Burdett O'Connor, a chronicler of the South American War of Independence and the making of Tarija.-Location:Burnet O'Connor province is one...
   
   
3. Cercado
4. Eustaquio Méndez
5. Gran Chaco
   Gran Chaco Province
   Gran Chaco is a province in the eastern parts of the Bolivian department Tarija. The province voted to become an autonomous region on 6 December 2009.-Location:Gran Chaco province is one of six provinces in the Tarija Department...
   
    (autonomous region)
6. José María Avilés
   José María Avilés Province
   José María Avilés is a province in the western parts of the Bolivian department Tarija.-Location:Avilés province is one of six provinces in the Tarija Department...
   
   

Notable places in Tarija include:

• Villamontes
  Villamontes
  Villamontes is a town in the Tarija Department in south-eastern Bolivia.-Location:Villamontes is the administrative center of Villamontes Municipio and situated at , 390 m above sea level, on the left bank of Río Pilcomayo where the river crosses the Sierra del Aguarague mountain range and flows...
  
   in the department's oil-producing eastern scrubland
• Bermejo
  Bermejo
  - Geographic Locations :*Bermejo Department, Chaco, Argentina*Bermejo Pass, an alternate name for Uspallata Pass, Argentina*Bermejo River, a tributary of the Paraguay River, South America*Bermejo, Tarija Department, Bolivia**Bermejo Airport...
  
  , a border town adjoining Aguas Blancas, Argentina
• Yacuiba
  Yacuíba
  Yacuiba is a city in southern Bolivia and the capital city of Gran Chaco Province in the Tarija Department. It lies three kilometers from the Argentine border. It has a population of approximately 80,000 and lies above sea level. ıt was part of Salta Province of Argentina until its cession to...
  
  , a border town with Argentina.

The Department of Tarija is renowned for its mild, pleasant climate, and comprises one of the country's foremost agricultural regions. Its citizens have traditionally felt close to, and conducted a lively international trade with, neighboring towns of northern Argentina. Between 1816-1898, the region was part of Argentina, and was ceded to Bolivia in exchange for Puna de Atacama

Puna de Atacama

The Puna de Atacama or Atacama Plateau is an arid high plateau averaging about above sea level and spanning an area of , in the Andes of northern Chile and Argentina and southwest Bolivia. Before the War of the Pacific , the region belonged to Bolivia. In 1898 it was ceded to Argentina in...

.

Tarija boasts South America's second-largest natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 reserves. Increased gas revenues and foreign direct investment in gas exploration and distribution are fueling growth and turning Tarija into Bolivia's next industrial hub. Political instability at the national level has hindered development of the reserves, as the region has chosen to align with pro-autonomy forces whose goal is the devolution of considerable powers away from the central government in favor of the departments.

More than 20 different Indigenous tribes, ranging in population from 20 persons up to 1500, live in the region. The Guarani is the largest tribe.

Important battles and events related to the 1932-35 Chaco War with Paraguay took place in the department's eastern dry lands. Tarija was the home of Victor Paz Estenssoro

Víctor Paz Estenssoro

Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro was a politician and president of Bolivia. He ran for president 8 times , winning in 1951, 1960, 1964, and 1985....

, leader of the 1952 Bolivian Revolution and four-time Constitutional President.

Economy

The main economic activity is the wine industry. The land and climate are ideal for grape and wine production. The city of Tarija

Tarija, Bolivia

Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is both the capital and largest city within the Tarija Department, with an airport offering regular service to primary Bolivian cities, as well as a regional bus terminal with domestic and...

 holds an annual Festival of Wine and Cheese.

Languages

The languages spoken in the department are mainly Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, Quechua

Quechua languages

Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...

, Aymara

Aymara language

Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...

 and Guaraní

Guaraní language

Guaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...

. The following table shows the numbers belonging to the recognized groups of speakers.

Language	Department	Bolivia
Quechua Quechua languages Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...	37,337	2,281,198
Aymara Aymara language Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...	7,219	1,525,321
Guaraní Guaraní language Guaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...	4,578	62,575
Another native	2,468	49,432
Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...	365,710	6,821,626
Foreign	5,662	250,754
Only native	4,562	960,491
Native and Spanish	44,461	2,739,407
Spanish and foreign	322,098	4,115,751

Places of interest

• Aguaragüe National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area
  Aguaragüe National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area
  Aguaragüe National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area is a protected area in Bolivia situated in the Tarija Department, Gran Chaco Province. The national park covers the whole of Serranía del Aguaragüe, the easternmost mayor Sub-Andean range.- External links :*...
  
  
• Cordillera de Sama Biological Reserve
  Cordillera de Sama Biological Reserve
  Cordillera de Sama Biological Reserve is a protected area in Bolivia located in the Tarija Department, in the Cercado Province, Eustaquio Méndez Province and José María Avilés Province. It protects part of the Central Andean puna and Bolivian montane dry forests ecoregions.- External links :*...
  
  
• Tariquía Flora and Fauna National Reserve
  Tariquía Flora and Fauna National Reserve
  Tariquía Flora and Fauna National Reserve is a protected area in the Tarija Department, Bolivia, situated in the Aniceto Arce Province, Burnet O'Connor Province, Gran Chaco Province and José María Avilés Province...
  
  

External links

• "Tarija", Travel Guide
• Weather in Tarija
• Bolivian Music and Web Varieties