Chiquitania

Chiquitania (also called " Chiquitos " or " Gran Chiquitania ") is a savanna region in the department of Santa Cruz in eastern Bolivia. The name Los Chiquitos " ( German: " the little ones " ) dates from the time of the Spanish conquistadors, with which she alluded to the small size of the entrance doors of the huts of the region.

Chiquitos is the colonial name for temporal essentially five of the six current provinces that make up the Chiquitania region. The name " Chiquitos " refers to a region, not peoples tribe. One of the many tribes that inhabited the Chiquitos region, were the Chiquitano.

The region's climate is semi- humid warm tropical. The average monthly temperatures vary during the year, only slightly between about 20 ° C in June / July and 27 ° C in November / December; the temperature is 24-25 ° C. Annual mean The annual rainfall is in the long -term average at about 1200 mm. Three -quarters of this amount fall in humidity from September to March, while in the arid months of June, July and August, a month falls less than 40 mm of precipitation.

An outstanding feature of the region are now the Jesuit reductions and Franciscan settlements from the 18th century that are scattered in the region. Six of these churches have survived the centuries. They have been recently redecorated and recognized in 1990 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site under the name " Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos ".

Today about twenty different indigenous groups live in this region.