LA PAZ, a western department of Bolivia. op. ( 193 2 esti mate) 776,358, the majority of whom are Indians. Area 40,686 sq.m. The department belongs to the great Bolivian plateau, and its greater part to the cold, bleak, MOW climatic region. The Cor dillera Real crosses it N.W. to S.E. and culminates in the snow crowned summits of Sorata and Illimani. The west of the de partment includes a part of the Titicaca basin with about half the lake. This elevated plateau region is partially barren and inhospitable, its cold summers permitting the production of little besides potatoes, quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and barley, with a little Indian corn and wheat in favoured localities. Much atten tion is given to the rearing of llamas and alpacas, while cattle, sheep and mules are in common use. The bulk of the population in this region is Indian, living chiefly in small hamlets on the products of their own industry. In the deep valleys of the eastern slopes, where climatic conditions range from temperate to tropical, wheat, Indian corn and oats, as well as many fruits and vegetables, are cultivated. Farther down, coffee, cacao, coca, rice, sugar cane, tobacco, oranges, bananas and other tropical fruits are grown, and the forests yield cinchona bark and rubber. The mineral
wealth of La Paz includes gold, silver, tin, tungsten, copper and bismuth. Tin and copper are the most important of these, the principal tin mines being in the vicinity of the capital and known under the names of Huayna-Potosi, Milluni and Quimza Cruz. The chief copper mines are the famous Corocoro group, about 75 m. S.S.E. of Lake Titicaca near the Desaguadero river. The output of the Corocoro mines, which also includes gold and silver, finds its way to the coast via the Arica—La Paz railway. There are no modern roads in the department except a few short ones leading into the capital, though stage-coach communication with some other points has been maintained by the national govern ment. The railway opened in 1905 between Guaqui and La Paz (54 m.), and that to Oruro inaugurated in 1908 have largely superLeded these stage lines. A short railway also leads over the Cordillera Real and down into the Yungas valleys. The capital of the department is the national seat of Government La Paz. Corocoro, near the Desaguadero river, about 5o m. S.S.E. of Lake Titicaca and 13,353 ft. above sea-level, has a variable population of from 5,000 to 15,000 chiefly made up of Aymara Indians.