Cobija is a city 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 ...

, capital of the department of Pando, and is located about 600 km (373 mi.) 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. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

in the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

on the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

with

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Cobija lies on the banks of the Rio Acre across from the Brazilian city of Brasiléia. Cobija lies at an elevation of ca. 280 m (920 ft.) above sea level and has a tropical and rainy climate. Cobija has approximately 80,000 inhabitants, is the seat of a university and capital of the Bolivian

Pando Department Pando is a Department (country subdivision), department in Northern Bolivia, with an area of , in the Amazon Rainforest, adjoining the border with Brazil and Peru, Perú. Pando has a population of 130,761 (2024 census). Its capital is the city o ...

. Cobija has two airports and is connected by one road to El Choro in the

Beni Department Beni (), sometimes El Beni, is a northeastern Departments of Bolivia, department of Bolivia, in the lowlands region of the country. It is the second-largest department in the country (after Santa Cruz), covering 213,564 square kilometers (82,458 ...

, which is not always passable during the rainy season. When the rain allows it, Cobija is connected to the rest of Bolivia also via road. Cobija is connected to Brazil by two bridges.

History

Cobija was founded in 1906 by Colonel Enrique Cornejo, originally under the name of ''Bahía'' and received its current name in 1908 in commemoration of the former Bolivian seaport Cobija on the Pacific, which has been a part of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

since the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

. In the early 1900s, Cobija experienced a boom as an India rubber industry center. When the industry collapsed, a major source of income being lost, Cobija became impoverished and its population fell. Nowadays, Cobija is developing again and its population is increasing. Currently, the region's primary industry is Bolivia nuts, although tourism and commerce are growing. There is a

Free economic zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re- exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subjec ...

in the city, the largest in Bolivia.

Population

The inhabitants of Cobija has risen very strongly during the past two decades to more than five-fold. Currently the estimated population is as much as 80,000 inhabitants with a population growth of 6 to 8% per year.

Sports

The Estadio Roberto Jordán Cuellar is located in Cobija. The football stadium has a capacity of 24,000.

Climate

The city of Cobija sits on a sharp curve of the Acre river, at an altitude of above sea level and in the north-western Amazon region of Bolivia. Cobija is classified as a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

, ''Am'' in the Köppen classification system. Cobija has two distinct seasons, with a noticeable dry season and a wet rainy season fed by powerful thunderstorms, with hot temperatures year-round.

Gallery

File:COBIJA 149 Busto José Manuel Pando.JPG, Cobija, Bolivia File:Cobija Parque Central por Richard Weiss.JPG, Central Park in Cobija File:Riberalta to Cobija por Richard Weiss.JPG, View along the road towards Riberalta File:Cobija Airport1.JPG, Old facade of Cobija airport, before the reformation. File:COBIJA 135 Simón Bolívar.JPG,

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

bust in Cobija File:COBIJA 140 Pileta Plaza Potosí.JPG, Cobija, Pando, Bolivia File:CBJA - 15Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Pilar.JPG, Nuestra Señora del Pilar Cathedral in Cobija and the city main square File:Cobija (Bolívia).jpg, Cobija, 1930.

Transportation

Cobija is served by major Bolivian airlines at Captain Aníbal Arab Airport and by buses to Riberalta. The Interoceanic Highway passes through the city of Cobija.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Pando Department Populated places established in 1906 Bolivia–Brazil border crossings 1906 establishments in Bolivia