Charazani or Charasani is a small town in the South American
Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
in
Bolivia
Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
.
Location
''Charazani'' is the capital of
Bautista Saavedra Province and central town of the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
. It is situated on a spur at an
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...
of 3,200 m
amsl
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...
between
Cordillera Muñecas in the south and
Cordillera Apolabamba in the north, on a
Mapiri River tributary which itself flows towards
Beni River
The Beni River () is a river in the north of Bolivia.
It rises north of La Paz
La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. Wit ...
.
Infrastructure
Charazani is located 254 km north-west of
La Paz
La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...
, the capital of
La Paz Department. From La Paz, the asphaltic highway ''Ruta 2'' goes 70 km north-west to
Huarina, where the asphaltic ''Ruta 16'' branches south-west for another 97 km along
Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...
till
Escoma. From Escoma a dirt road goes north and reaches ''Charazani'' after 87 km.
The weekly village market attracts vendors and visitors from a wide area. The market makes Charazani economically the most significant locality in the Charazani valley.
Population
The population of Charazani has risen by 20% in the recent decade, from 501 inhabitants (2001
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
)
Observatorio Bolivia Democrática
/ref> to 604 inhabitants (2008 est.). Currently, La Paz's Gobernación shows that Charazani has 11 761 inhabitants in the whole municipality. Most inhabitants of the Charazani municipality live in poverty: 91,5% of the municipality are unable to suffice their basic needs.
It boasts of a population that speaks Quechua, which is also learned at school. About 76.5% of the municipality speak Quechua as a primary language followed by Aymara speakers, 13%.
Charazani is a major locality for the Kallawaya, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, science ...
culture of ritualistic healers.
Climate
References
External links
Detailed map of Bautista Saavedra Province
{{Authority control
Populated places in La Paz Department (Bolivia)
it:Charazani