Atocha, Bolivia

Atocha is a village in the department of Potosí in the highlands of South American Andes State of Bolivia.

Location in near space

Atocha is the central place of the district ( bolivian: Municipio) Atocha in the province Sur chichas and lies at an altitude of 3656 m at the rarely traveled by train between Oruro and Uyuni and Tupiza in the north to the south. The town lies at the mouth of the Río Allyta (also: Allita ) in the Río Atocha, which flows on the northern outskirts of the village to the northeast and flows downstream into the Río Cotagaita.

Geography

Atocha is located on the Bolivian Altiplano in the northern foothills of the Andean mountain range, the Cordillera de Lípez. The region's climate is arid and has a clear diurnal climate in which the daily temperature fluctuations are stronger than the temperature variations during the year.

The mean annual temperature of the region is 11 ° C (see climate chart Atocha ), with a monthly average value of 6-7 ° C in June / July and 13-14 ° C from November to March. The annual rainfall is low 200 mm, with the months of April through October, virtually rainless. Only from November to March fall precipitation, with a maximum of about 50 mm month precipitation in January.

Traffic network

Atocha is situated at a distance of 304 kilometers of road southwest of Potosí, the capital of the department.

From Potosí from the nationwide highway Ruta 5 runs in a southwesterly direction 208 km up to Uyuni salt lake Salar de Uyuni. The town of Uyuni is connected via the 197 km long Ruta 21 with the city of Tupiza, which leads about halfway through Atocha.

Population

The population of Atocha has declined over the past two decades by about a fifth:

Due to the historically evolved population distribution, the region has a high proportion of Quechua population in the municipality of Atocha 60.1 percent of the population speak the Quechua language.