Laja

Laja (named after the eponymous rock found there ) is a village in the department of La Paz in the highlands of South American Andes State of Bolivia.

Location in near space

Laja is the central place of the district ( bolivian: Municipio) Laja in the province of Los Andes and is at an altitude of 3861 m. North and south of Laja extends the wide plains of the Bolivian highlands to Lake Titicaca in the north and Calamarca addition, in the south.

Geography

Laja is located on the Bolivian plateau between the Andes mountain ranges of the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Central in the west to the east. The climate of the region is a typical diurnal climate where the average temperatures during the day fluctuate more than the year.

The mean annual temperature of Viacha is just under 9 ° C, the annual precipitation is about 600 mm (see climate chart Viacha ). The monthly average temperatures vary only slightly between 6 ° C in July and 10 ° C from November to February. The months of May to August are arid with rainfall month of less than 15 mm, in the austral summer - months of January and February monthly rainfall of over 100 mm can be measured.

History

On October 20, 1548 Alonso de Mendoza founded at the site of present-day village of Laja, the city of Nuestra Señora de La Paz as a station on the trade route from Potosí to Callao in Peru. Three days later, a location is about 25 km further east elected and part of the village inhabitants moved there because it offers better protection from adverse weather conditions for the new settlement. Tourist is known primarily for the Church, also founded in 1548 and expanded many times, which was largely constructed with stones of the nearby Tiahuanaco. The church since 2002 (as of 2011) supervised by Divine Word Missionaries and Holy Spirit Sisters, two each independent, international Roman Catholic religious communities. On entering the town by Laja today commemorated by a stone stele with the inscription " Laja - cuna de La Paz " ( in German: Laja, the cradle of La Paz ) to the historical importance of the site for the history of the city of La Paz

Traffic network

Laja is home to a local government, police, hospital and the offices of several NGOs. The village is situated at a distance of 38 kilometers of road west of La Paz, the capital of the department.

From La Paz from the paved highway Ruta 2 leads west to El Alto and another five kilometers to the northwest. Then the Ruta 1 branches off to the west and reached after a further twenty kilometers Laja. The Ruta 1 leads then to Tiahuanaco and Lake Titicaca. Except in the center of all the side streets in Laja are unpaved. Via telephone and Internet access have few public facilities in place.

Population

The population of the town has risen in the past two decades by about two-thirds:

Because of the historical population growth, the region has a high proportion of Aymara population in the municipality of Puerto Pérez 97.2 % of the population speak the Aymara language.

Economy

In one place pita bread ( pan de Laja ) is established, the demand is far beyond the village boundaries, and thus secures the livelihood of many families. The biggest festival of the village will be held in honor of the " Virgin of the Immaculate Conception " ( Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepción ) on December 9. The cityscape is dominated by small grocery stores and a few bars. Several times a day offer private minibus companies from the center of boat trips to El Alto and La Paz.