SANTA CRUZ, an eastern department of Bolivia, bounded north by El Beni, east by Brazil, south by Chuquisaca and west by Chuquisaca and Cochabamba. Area 146,045 sq.m. Pop. (1932 est.) 365,154. It is only partly explored. It consists of a great plain extending eastward from the base of the Andes to the frontiers of Brazil, broken by occasional isolated hills, and in the north-east by a detached group of low sierras known collectively under the name Chiquitos, which belong to the Brazilian highlands rather than to the Andes. On the western side of the department is an upland zone belonging to the eastern slope of the Andes, and here the Bolivian settlements are chiefly concentrated. The great plains, whose general elevation is about 90o ft. above the sea, are so level that the drainage does not carry off the water in the rainy season, and immense areas are flooded for months at a time. Ex tensive areas are permanently swampy. There are forests in the north and west, but the larger part of the department consists of open grassy plains, suitable for grazing. There are two river sys tems, one belonging to the Amazon and the other to the La Plata basins. The first includes the Guapay or Rio Grande, Piray or Sara, Yapacani and Maraco, upper tributaries of the Mamore, and the San Miguel, Blanco, Baures and Paraguay tributaries of the Guapore—both draining the western and northern parts of the department. In the extreme east a few streams flow eastward into the Paraguay, the largest of which is the Otuquis ; their channels are partly hidden in swamps and lagoons. The climate of the
plains is hot, nevertheless, on the Andean slopes the tempera ture is more agreeable. Products of the western districts are sugar, rum, cacao, rice, cotton, coffee and maize. Rubber and medicinal products are also exported. The Guapay is navigable for small boats in high water, and also the lower courses of the other rivers named. The principal markets for Santa Cruz prod ucts are in the Bolivian cities of the Andes. There is a poor road across the plains from Santa Cruz de la Sierra to Puerto Suarez, on the Paraguay, and one to Cochabamba, but no railway leads to Santa Cruz as yet, and it requires io to 12 days to reach it by mule from Cochobamba or twice that time from Puerto Suarez. An air-mail line, however, has been established between Cocha bamba and Santa Cruz, which carries passengers also, and makes the trip in 2 to 3 hours.
The capital and only large town of the department is Santa Cruz de la Sierra (pop., 1932, est., 31,300), on the Piray, a tribu tary of the Mamore, 1,450 ft. above sea-level. It is situated on a lower terrace of the Andean slope in a highly fertile district, devoted to sugar-cane and stock-raising. It is a dusty, straggling, frontier town with a population consisting chiefly of whites. There are flour mills, sugar mills, distilleries, tanneries and leather manu factories. The original site of Santa Cruz de la Sierra was in the uplands, but it was removed to its present site about 159o, the phrase "de la Sierra" being kept.