Arque Province
- 17.833333333333 - 66.916666666667Koordinaten: 17 ° 50 ' S, 66 ° 55 ' W
Arque is one of the 16 provinces in the Cochabamba Department in the Eastern Cordillera of the South American country of Bolivia.
Location in near space
The Arque province lies on 3000-4500 meters above sea level in the Bolivian Andes, about 250 kilometers west of Cochabamba, the capital of the department of the same name. The landscape is very rugged. On the north bank of the River Arque, a tributary of the Rio Grande, is the provincial capital Arque.
The Arque province is surrounded by the province Tapacari in the northwest, the province Quillacollo in the northeast, the province Capinota in the east, the province of Bolívar in the south, the Oruro Department on the west, and the Potosí Department in the south east.
The province extends approximately between 17 ° 40 'and 17 ° 58' south latitude and 66 ° 40 ' and 67 ° 12' west longitude, their extent from west to east is up to 50 kilometers from north to south, 30 km.
Geography
The Arque province is located in one of the northern foothills of the Bolivian Cordillera Central. The climate is semi-arid and a typical diurnal climate where the average temperature differences between day and night be more pronounced than between seasons.
Arque has an average annual rainfall of 600 mm and a mean annual temperature of 11 ° C (see climate chart Arque ) in the valleys. The dry season lasts from May to September and has lower temperatures, especially in the higher elevations are frosts common. The rainy season lasts from December to April and is warmer than the annual average; precipitation often falls as devastating hailstorm can destroy the crops and harvests.
Population
The population of the province Arque has risen slightly over the past two decades, but since the turn of the millennium development tends to decline:
Language
The mostly indigenous population speaks Quechua, 99.2 %, and nearly 75 % of people understood only Quechua. A quarter of the population is growing up bilingual and communicates in Spanish. Aymara is dominated by less than 1 % of people. At the schools has been taught predominantly in Spanish.
Housing and living situation
Arque is one of the poorest or even poorest province in Cochabamba. The predominantly rural population lives mostly in simple shelters made of mud brick with roofs made of mud and straw and a floor of hard-packed earth. Often the houses consist of only one room, is also cooked in an open fire.
Economy
Most families do farming for their own use. On the barren, sloping fields of corn, wheat, barley and potatoes are grown. The latter are also using traditional methods gefriergetrocket in the soil preserved and eaten as Chuños.
Traffic network
In June 2006, the longest bridge in the country Want was completed. The 162 m long bridge crosses the Río Tacopaya. It is located at kilometer 101 on the road to Oruro. The purpose of this bridge is one of the year consistent drivability, while the path was previously usually cut off when the river in the rainy season led plenty of water.
Structure
The Arque province is divided into two administrative districts ( bolivian: municipios ), and sections (Spanish: sección ) or secciones municipales called structured:
- Municipio Arque ( 1st section ) with 11,496 inhabitants ( 2001) in the west of the province;
- Municipio Tacopaya ( 2nd section ) with 11,968 inhabitants in the eastern part of the province.
The two municipios, each with a mayor and council are divided into seven cantons, each of which are under the care of a corregidor ( magistrate ). The province is headed by a Subpräfekten.