Charcas is a
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
in the northern parts of the
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 ...
n
Potosí Department
Potosí (; Southern Quechua, Quechua: ''P'utuqsi''; Aymara language, Aymara: ''Putusi'') is a Departments of Bolivia, department in southwestern Bolivia. Its area is 118,218 km2 and its population is 856,419 (2024 census). The capital is the ...
. Its capital is
San Pedro de Buena Vista (955 inhabitants in 2001).
National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia
Location
Charcas province is one of sixteen provinces in the Potosí Department. It is located between 17° 57' und 18° 36' South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and between 65° 21' und 66° 19' West
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
. It borders Bernardino Bilbao Province in the north, Alonso de Ibáñez Province in the northwest, Rafael Bustillo Province in the southwest, Chayanta Province in the south, and Cochabamba Department
Cochabamba (, , ), from Quechua ''qucha'' or ''qhucha'', meaning "lake", ''pampa'' meaning "plain", is one of the nine departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the " granary" of the country because of its variety of agricultural products from ...
in the east.
The province extends over 125 km from East to West and 100 km from north to south.
Division
The province comprises two municipalities
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' ...
which are further subdivided into cantons.
Population
The main language of the province is Quechua, spoken by 98%, while 34% of the population speak Spanish. The population increased from 31,233 inhabitants (1992 census) to 38,174 (2001 census), an increase of 22.3%. Capital of the province is San Pedro (955 inhabitants).
10% of the population have no access to electricity, 10% have no sanitary facilities. 72.0% of the population are employed in agriculture, 0.5% in mining, 12.2% in industry, 15.3% in general services. 99% of the population are Catholics.
The people are predominantly indigenous citizens of Quechua descent and descendants of the Spanish.[obd.descentralizacion.gov.bo/municipal/fichas/ (inactive)]
See also
* Paka Chuku
* Puka Urqu
* Quri Kancha
* Toro Toro National Park
References
{{Authority control
Provinces of Potosí Department