Uyuni

Uyuni is a town in the Potosí Department in the highlands of South American Andes State of Bolivia. It was founded in 1889 as a military base.

Location in near space

Uyuni is the central place of the district ( bolivian: Municipio) Uyuni and the administrative seat of the province Antonio Quijarro. The city lies at an altitude of 3675 m on the eastern shore of the salt lake Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt lake in the world.

Geography

Uyuni is located on the Bolivian Altiplano between the Andes mountain ranges, the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Central in the west to the east.

The climate in this region at the Salar de Uyuni is arid, only from December to March fall precipitation between 20 and 45 mm in the month (see climate chart Uyuni ), in the remaining eight months of falls sporadic precipitation. The mean annual temperature of the region is just under 9 ° C, the monthly average temperatures vary only slightly between 5 ° C in June / July and 11 ° C from November to March.

Economy

Agriculture is in this barren landscape on 3670 meters above sea level virtually impossible Water is a very rare commodity, to make the wind and cold to create the inhabitants. "Place of beasts of burden " is the translation of the Aymarawortes Uyuni. Pack animals to transport the livelihood of this region and the reason for its reputation: salt.

Therefore, there are numerous tourists, but the Salar de Uyuni about 160 km in length and 135 km wide, the largest salt flat on earth, with a salt crust 2-7 meters. Accordingly, many tourism agencies are there, all have round trips in the Salar de Uyuni in the program. Uyuni is also the starting point of tours with off-road vehicles through desert landscapes in the Altiplano of Bolivia's southwest, with visits to the Geysirfelds Sol de Mañana, lakes Laguna Colorada and Laguna Verde passing by volcanoes such as Licancabur.

A testimony of the railroad history of Bolivia is the cemetery Cementerio de los Trenes two miles south of the city. On this " graveyard of trains " rust against numerous old steam locomotives and wagons to their full resolution.

Traffic

Uyuni is located at a distance of 198 kilometers of road southwest of Potosí, the capital of the department of the same name.

From Potosí from the highway Ruta 5 via Porco, Chaquilla, Ticatica and Pulacayo to Uyuni and on about Julaca and San Pedro de Quemes to the Chilean border.

Population

The population of the town has still increased in the 1980s, but since then it has stagnated:

796594
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