Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as
Santa Cruz, is the capital city of the
Santa Cruz departmentSanta Cruz, with an area of 370,621 km², is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia. In the 2001 census, it reported a population of 2,029,471. The capital is the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The state is one of the wealthiest states in Bolivia with huge reserves of natural gas...
in eastern
BoliviaBolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....
. The
municipality's||On the third level, below departments and provinces, Bolivia is divided into municipalities.As an effect of decentralization the number of municipalities in Bolivia has risen from an initial twelve to circa 320 today, 130 of these being inhabited by mainly indigenous population.The...
population was 1,528,683 inhabitants in 2006 (official estimate) and the urban population is 1,545,161 in 2008 (official estimate) which makes it the largest city in
BoliviaBolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....
.
Santa Cruz de la Sierra was founded on february 26, 1561 by Ñuflo de Chávez who gave the new settlement its name, which means "Holy Cross of the Hills," in honor of his beloved native city in
ExtremaduraExtremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. It includes the provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
.
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as
Santa Cruz, is the capital city of the
Santa Cruz departmentSanta Cruz, with an area of 370,621 km², is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia. In the 2001 census, it reported a population of 2,029,471. The capital is the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The state is one of the wealthiest states in Bolivia with huge reserves of natural gas...
in eastern
BoliviaBolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....
. The
municipality's||On the third level, below departments and provinces, Bolivia is divided into municipalities.As an effect of decentralization the number of municipalities in Bolivia has risen from an initial twelve to circa 320 today, 130 of these being inhabited by mainly indigenous population.The...
population was 1,528,683 inhabitants in 2006 (official estimate) and the urban population is 1,545,161 in 2008 (official estimate) which makes it the largest city in
BoliviaBolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....
.
History
Santa Cruz de la Sierra was founded on february 26, 1561 by Ñuflo de Chávez who gave the new settlement its name, which means "Holy Cross of the Hills," in honor of his beloved native city in
ExtremaduraExtremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. It includes the provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
. Ñuflo de Chávez was a Spanish captain whose biggest legacy was the expansion of colonization through virgin rainforest and savanna areas in southeastern South America. His campaign started in Buenos Aires - then Argentina's capital city - to the second biggest settlement, Asunción - then Paraguay's capital city - and finishing with the last of the larger settlements, Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Each of the three cities helped to consolidate the colonization of several indigenous populations through what was named as Audiencia de La Plata, or a type of administrative province during the colonial stage of Latin America history. The Audiencia de La Plata consolidated what today is Argentina, Uruguay, the three Southern states of Brazil, Paraguay, and the south, southeast, and north of Bolivia, inclusively the state of Acre which is currently part of the Brazilian Federation. Santa Cruz is the largest city in Bolivia.
Within the specific area of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, several tribes were incorporated under Spaniard control and converted to the Catholic faith, as a result of the Jesuits' influence over this region; the Guaranies, Moxeños, Chiquitanos, Guarayos, and Chiriguanos were just a few of several ethnic groups who were the ancestors of the racially mixed population of the modern Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, and Tarija departamentos (states) of Bolivia.
The original settlement of Santa Cruz de la Sierra was actually 220 km east of its modern location, only a few kilometers south of today's
San José de ChiquitosSan José de Chiquitos or simply San José is the capital of Chiquitos Province in the Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos in 1990.- References :* - External links :*...
. After conflicts with the indigenous population, the town was moved to another location closer to the banks of Río Grande; as a result of unfriendly environmental conditions, however the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra was then moved to its present location on the banks of
Piraí RiverThe Pirai River may refer to* the Piray River in Bolivia* the Piraí River, a river of Paraná state in southern Brazil* the Piraí River, a river of Rio de Janeiro state in southeastern Brazil...
in 1592. Remnants of the original settlement can be visited in Santa Cruz la Vieja ("Old Santa Cruz"), an archeological site south of San José de Chiquitos. It is commonly believed there were more than two relocations of the city between February 26, 1561 and the year when the last settlement was finally founded, but this is still not known for certain.
The first settlers of Santa Cruz were mainly Spaniards that accompanied Ñuflo de Chávez, as well as
GuaraniGuaraní are a group of culturally related indigenous peoples of South America. They distinguished from the related Tupi by their use of the Guaraní language. The traditional range of the Guaraní people is in what is now Paraguay between the Uruguay River and lower Paraguay River, the Corrientes and...
natives from
ParaguayParaguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay , is one of the two landlocked countries which lie entirely within the Western Hemisphere, the other being Bolivia, both in South America....
, and some
FlemingsThe Flemish people , the Flemings or the Flemish are the over six million people of Flanders, the northern region of the country Belgium — and the majority of all Belgians....
,
PortugueseThe Portuguese people are the ethnic group or nation native to the country of Portugal, in the far west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe...
, Germans and
ItaliansThe Italian people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common Italian culture, descent, and speaking the Italian language as a mother tongue...
working for the Spanish crown. Among the first settlers there were also Sephardic Jews recently converted to
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
who were persecuted in by the
inquisitionThe term Inquisition can apply to any one of several institutions charged with trying and convicting heretics within the Catholic Church...
in Spain.
After the city was moved, it became an important staging point for Jesuit and other Christian missions to Chiquitos and Moxos for the next two centuries. Still, Santa Cruz saw little growth during that period of time. It was not until nearly a century after Bolivia gained its independence that the city started to take an important role in the nation's history. The Acre war with
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
in the early 20th century, as well the
Chaco warThe Chaco War was fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over control of the northern part of the Gran Chaco region of South America, which was incorrectly thought to be rich in oil...
with
ParaguayParaguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay , is one of the two landlocked countries which lie entirely within the Western Hemisphere, the other being Bolivia, both in South America....
in the 1930s, forced the central government to turn its attention to the east, allocating more resources for regional governments and improving communication. The isolated town was connected by a road to
CochabambaCochabamba is a city in central Bolivia, located in a valley bearing the same name in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the third largest city in Bolivia with an urban population of 608,276 and a metropolitan population of more than 1,000,000 people...
in the 1950s, and subsequently to Brazil by railway, thus stimulating economic and demographic growth. Improvement in routes and pathways of communication, such as
Viru Viru International AirportViru Viru International Airport is an aviation facility located in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.The idea to build a new, modern airport in Santa Cruz was conceived in 1976, in view of the obsolence of the old airport known as El Trompillo. Soon after, construction of the airport began...
, as well as a continuous influx of immigrants, turned the city into one of the most industrialized and important trading centers of the country during the second half of the twentieth century.
Today Santa Cruz is not only the most populated city in
BoliviaBolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....
, but the department is also the richest, with over 30% of the national GDP.
Geography
The department of
Santa Cruz de la Sierra is located in the eastern part of Bolivia (17°45', South, 63°14', West) at 416 m above
sea levelMean sea level is the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation.- Measurement :...
. It is part of the province of Andrés Ibáñez and the capital of the department of Santa Cruz.
Climate
The weather is tropical savana, with an average annual temperature around 21 °C (or 70 °F). Although the weather is generally warm all year round, cold wind patterns, called "surazos", can blow in occasionally (especially in the winter) from the
ArgentineArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
pampas making the temperature drop considerably. The months of greatest rainfall are January and February.
Seasonal temperatures
SpringSpring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Its days are close to twelve hours long with increasing day length, as it occurs near the time of an equinox. In the Northern Hemisphere, spring runs from March into May, and in the Southern Hemisphere it...
| Summer Summer is one of the four temperate seasons, marked by the time of year with the longest days, and lies between spring and autumn. The seasons are popularly considered to start on different dates in different cultures based on astronomy and regional meteorology. When it is summer in the southern...
| AutumnAutumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter, usually in March or September when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier.The equinoxes might be expected to be in the middle of their seasons, but temperature lag Autumn (also known as...
| WinterWinter is the coldest season of the year, between autumn and spring.-Meteorology:Meteorological winter is the season having the shortest days and the lowest average temperatures. This corresponds to the months of December, January and February, which have the coldest weather and, especially in the...
|
|---|
18 °CCelsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
– 33 °CCelsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
64°FFahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Today, the scale has been replaced by the Celsius scale in most countries; it is still in use for non-scientific purposes in the United States and a few other nations, such as...
–91 °F |
22 °C–38 °C
72 °F–100 °F |
20 °C–30 °C
68 °F–86 °F |
8 °C–29 °C
46 °F–84 °F |
| 21 Sep - 20 Dec |
21 Dec - 20 Mar |
21 Mar - 20 Jun |
21 Jun - 20 Sep |
Culture and Food
The city of Santa Cruz has benefited from a fast paced growing economy for the last 15 years. This has allowed for a multicultural and ethnically diverse city to develop. Despite its fast growth, the city preserves much of its traditions and culture. This is particularly reflected in its typical foods.
The Spaniards introduced cows,
poultryPoultry is the category of domesticated birds that people keep for the purpose of collecting their eggs, or killing for their meat and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as...
,
riceRice is the seed of a monocot plant Oryza sativa, of the grass family . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East, South, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West Indies...
, citric fruits (
orangeOrange may refer to:* Orange * Orange -History and politics:The Netherlands* House of Orange-Nassau, the royal family of the Netherlands and a branch of the House of Nassau...
s,
tangerineThe tangerine is an orange-coloured citrus fruit. It is a variety of the Mandarin orange . Tangerines are smaller than most oranges, and the skin of some varieties will peel off more easily...
s and
lemonThe lemon is a small evergreen tree originally native to Asia, and is also the name of the tree's oval yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and nonculinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
s, from southern Asia they brought sugar cane and from Africa
plantainMusa paradisiaca, the plantain is a crop in the genus Musa and is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana ....
s,
bananaBanana is the common name for a herbaceous plants of the genus Musa, and the commonly eaten fruit it produces. They are native to the tropical region of Southeast Asia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics.Banana...
s and
coffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. They are seeds of "coffee cherries" that grow on trees in over 70 countries. It has been said that green coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world behind crude oil. Due to its...
(which is cultivated in the yungas near Buena Vista. Moreover, local dishes include native vegetables such as
cornCorn is the term for the most common cereal crop of a region. By region, it is* Maize * Wheat * Barley* Oat * Rye- People :...
,
peanutThe peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume family native to South America, Mexico and Central America. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing 30 to 50 cm tall...
s,
yucaYuca can refer to:*Yuca, Cassava *Yuca , a disparaging Venezuelan term used to refer to rock music...
and squash, and also local fish such as surubi and
pacuPacu or pacú may refer to any of several South American fishes, including:*Piaractus mesopotamicus *Tambaqui Pacu may also refer to:...
.
There is evidence of the influence of Jewish kosher cuisine in many traditional Santa Cruz dishes, where it is noticeable, the general absence of pork meat, and the combination of rice, yuca, corn and peanuts with either meat or milk products, but never both (at least while being cooked).
Native spices such as urucum, and native fruits (unique to the region) such as achachairu, guapuru and
guabiraClub Deportivo Guabirá is a Bolivian football club from Montero that currently plays in the Santa Cruz Primera A, one of the second division regional leagues...
, add to the uniqueness of Santa Cruz rich traditional cuisine.The agricultural richness of the region allows Santa Cruz to enjoy a vast variety of flavours and ingredients. The following is a list which describes the most typical foods:
Typical Foods
- Majao or Majadito (a risotto style plate which includes charque, duck or chicken meat.)
- Locro
Locro is a hearty thick stew popular along the Andes mountain range. The dish is a common plate for the Peruvian cuisine, which at one point held the center of the Inca empire. It is also one of the most typical Argentine dish prepared by the different native Indian tribes at a time of the Spanish...
(a very dense, rice and hen based soup containing potatoes and spiced with onion, garlic and oregano. It's common to use chicken instead of hen and it is eaten with a piece of boiled yuca) Not to be confused with an Argentinean typical food
- Masaco (smashed plantain with charque(sun dried meat)Also made with yuca and charque)
Typical Drinks
- Mocochinchi (drink consist of sun dried peaches which are boiled with honey and clove, served cold)
- Somó
State Oil Marketing Organization is an Iraqi National Company responsible for marketing Iraq's oil. It is headquartered in Baghdad, Iraq....
(white corn based drink, served cold, very refreshing)
- Chicha
Chicha a peruvian drink used in some regions of Latin America for several varieties of fermented beverages, particularly those derived from maize, but which also describes similar non-alcoholic beverages...
(non-alcoholic drink made by mixing white corn and cinnamon, very sweet).
Typical Pastries
- Cuñapé (yuca
Yuca can refer to:*Yuca, Cassava *Yuca , a disparaging Venezuelan term used to refer to rock music...
and cheese baked as small bread bunds)
- Zonzo (yuca
Yuca can refer to:*Yuca, Cassava *Yuca , a disparaging Venezuelan term used to refer to rock music...
and cheese, boiled and mixed in a type of mashed potato consistency, oven baked or grilled)
- Empanada
An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry. The name comes from the Spanish and Portuguese verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...
de arroz
- Empanada
An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry. The name comes from the Spanish and Portuguese verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...
de queso
- Empanada
An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry. The name comes from the Spanish and Portuguese verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...
de jigote
- Empanada
An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry. The name comes from the Spanish and Portuguese verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...
de carne
- Bizcocho
Bizcocho is the name given in several Latin American countries to many variants of buttery flaky pastry and some cookies. Bizcochos have European origin, but have been developed and diversified in the Río de la Plata region –they are known as facturas in Argentina.- Assorted bizcochos :Bizcochos...
de trigo
- Masaco de plátano
- Masaco de yuca
Yuca can refer to:*Yuca, Cassava *Yuca , a disparaging Venezuelan term used to refer to rock music...
- Arepa
An arepa is a bread made of corn originating from the northern Andes in South America, and which has now spread to other areas in Latin America...
- Queque
Additional Notes of Interest
- The city's street layout currently consists of a concentric ring model.
- There are several Japanese-manufactured taxi cabs throughout the city. The steering wheels have been modified to the left side of these vehicles, thus earning them the name of "transformers" (transformed).
- The Spanish language of Bolivia's eastern lowlands (the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando) is referred to as "Cambañol". Aside from local idioms and vernacular, the distinctive, phonological traits of the Cambañol include using the "j
Ĵ or ĵ is a consonant in Esperanto orthography, representing a voiced postalveolar fricative , and is equivalent to the voiced postalveolar fricative, , or the voiced retroflex fricative, ....
" instead of the "sS is the nineteenth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled ess, or usually es- when part of a compound word; the plural is esses.- Usage :...
" (similar to Caribbean Spanish mixed with Argentine Spanish) and the use of the voseoIn Spanish, voseo is the use of the second person singular pronoun vos instead of tú. It can also be used in the context of using verb conjugation of vos with tú as the subject pronoun, as in the case of Chilean Spanish....
pronoun instead of tú in informal address. The use of vos is spoken also with frequency within the departments of Tarija, BeniBeni may refer to:Places:*Beni Department, Beni River and the Beni savanna, Bolivia*Beni Suef and Beni Hasan, Egypt*Beni Mellal and Beni Amir, Morocco*Beni, Nord-Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo*Beni, NepalCulture:...
,Pando-People:*Pando of Capua , "Pando the Rapacious", Count of Capua*Gabriela Pando , Argentine field hockey player*José Manuel Pando , 29th President of Bolivia*Juan Pando , Spanish historian...
.
- Santa Cruz de la Sierra is a major fashion and modeling hub in Bolivia. Cruceños pride themselves in winning the most Bolivian beauty pageant titles, including the Miss Bolivia
Miss Bolivia is a Bolivian beauty contest responsible for selecting women to represent Bolivia in the Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth international pageants. It was founded in 1959 and Gloria Suárez de Limpias has been the event's director since 1979...
pageant whose delegate continues her representation at the Miss UniverseMiss Universe is an annual international beauty contest run by the Miss Universe Organization.The contest was founded in 1952 by California clothing company Pacific Mills...
pageant. For this reason, Cruceños colloquially honor their city as "La Capital de la Belleza Amazónica" ("The Capital of the AmazonThe Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Classical and Greek mythology. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
Beauty"), even though it is not located in the Amazon forest. Nationally, Cruceños spend the highest amount of money per capita on personal care and beauty products.
- Las Magníficas de Pablo Manzoni is a modeling troupe and agency that conducts showcases of Bolivia's top fashion models; several of them being from Santa Cruz. The showcase is heralded as one of Bolivia's most prestigious fashion and modeling events, having recently acquired international appeal and interest.
- The city is home to Palmasola
Palmasola is a "prison town" in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. It holds about 3000 prisoners. While the perimeter is guarded to keep prisoners from exiting, the guards exercise minimal control over the activities prisoners conduct within the walls. Prisoners of Palmasola have created an organization called...
prison
Sister cities
- BRA Campinas
Campinas is a city and county located in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil.The county area is 797,6 km². Population is approximately 1,059,420 , with over 98% in the urban region. Its metropolitan area, defined in 2000, has some 19 cities and a population of 3,2 million people...
, Brazil
- ARG Córdoba
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province....
, Argentina
- USA Miami Dade County, Florida, USA
- ARG Paraná
Paraná is the capital city of the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite the city of Santa Fe, capital of the neighbouring Santa Fe Province...
, Argentina
- ARG Rosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located 300 km northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
, Argentina
- Taiwan Taichung
Taichung is a city located in west-central Republic of China with a population of just over one million people, making it the third largest city on the island after Taipei and Kaohsiung. The city presently constitutes a provincial city apart from the adjacent Taichung County...
, Taiwan
- Taiwan Tainan City
Tainan City is the fourth largest city in Taiwan after Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Taichung. By the end of 2010 the city and the adjacent Tainan County will merge to form a single municipality....
, Taiwan
- Spain Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital , second-most populous city of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the 21st largest city in Spain, with a population of 221,956 in 2008...
, Spain
External links