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    >> La Paz Bolivia The highest capital city in the world  
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    At 3660m above sea level, La Paz is the highest capital city in the world with its buildings clinging to the sides of the canyon and downwards. There are many alleys and markets in the centre of the city, with many of the indigenous women walking around with their long black plaits hanging from under their bowler hats selling all types of wares from food to magical goods. The women wear the hat on the side of their head if they are single and on top if they are married. The streets are full with traffic, mostly public transport collectivos or mini vans that have a person hanging out of the window or sliding door yelling out the destination and price. It was easier to follow a local to cross the road, otherwise it seemedlike the traffic would never let us pass. Transit police organise the streets and sometimes control the lights manually. Scary looking boys and men walk around with ski masks on, but they are just the shoe shine workers. It seems to be what they wear, so when you know that it marks their occupation, it isn so scary after all.

    Founded in 1548 by the Spanish conquistadors at the site of the Native American settlement, Laja, 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 four years earlier against Blasco Núñez Vela, the first viceroy of Peru. The city was later moved to its present location in the valley of Chuquiago Marka.[8]

    Control over the former Inca lands had been entrusted to Pedro de la Gasca by the Spanish king (and Holy Roman Emperor) Emperor Charles V. Gasca commanded Alonso de Mendoza to found a new city commemorating the end of the civil wars in Peru; the city of La Paz was founded on October 20, 1548.


    Pedro Domingo MurilloIn 1549, "Juan Gutierrez Paniagua" was commanded to design an urban plan that would designate sites for public areas, plazas, official buildings, and a cathedral. La Plaza de los Españoles, which is known today as the Plaza Murillo, was chosen as the location for government buildings as well as the Metropolitan Cathedral.

    Spain controlled La Paz with a firm grip and the Spanish king had the last word in all matters political. In 1781, for a total of six months, a group of Aymara people laid siege to La Paz. Under the leadership of Tupac Katari, they destroyed churches and government property. Thirty years later Indians laid a two-month siege on La Paz - where and when the legend of the Ekeko is set. In 1809 the struggle for independence from the Spanish rule brought uprisings against the royalist forces. It was on July 16, 1809 that ""Pedro Domingo Murillo"" famously said that the Bolivian revolution was igniting a lamp that nobody would be able to turn-off. This formally marked the beginning of the Liberation of South America from Spain. Pedro Domingo Murillo was hanged at the Plaza de los Españoles that night, but his name would be eternally remembered in the name of the plaza, and he would be remembered as the voice of revolution across South America.

    In 1825, after the decisive victory of the republicans at Ayacucho over the Spanish army in the course of the Spanish 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 historical as well as judiciary capital. 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.[9]

    La Paz is the highest (administrative) capital city in the world.(Although it is not the formal capital like Sucre. Calling La Paz the capital of Bolivia is like saying New York City is the capital of the USA.) , La Paz is home to the world's highest Golf Course, Football Stadium, Velodrome (where the world record currently stands), and landing strip (debatable, since the airport is higher than La Paz in El Alto, a slum but distinct city area (own mayor) higher than La Paz.) El Alto has the highest International Airport in the world. There are 'landing strips' higher than El Alto in other countries like China. The current political infighting in Bolivia suggests that the majority of the population do not recognize La Paz as the administrative capital. Santa Cruz is the industrial and money center of Bolivia and many there wish to develop more and more power from La Paz. They are succeeding - leading to conspiracy theories and accusations of assassination squads seeking to take out the government (2008.) It is therefore with caution that anyone can refer to La Paz as a capital city. Sucre is the only recognized, official capital.
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    Tags  highest-capital-city la-paz bolivia canyon hotel accommodation  record 


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Capital: La Paz
Currency: Boliviano (BOB)
Government: Republic
Population: 8,989,046 (July 2006 est.)
Religion: Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist)
Time zone: UTC-4

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