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Capitals of the world
La Paz, capital of Bolivia: facts and figures
La Paz is the capital of Bolivia. It has about 1,900,000 residents, which makes it the 75th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 3,767 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Lima, 1,078 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Bolivia |
| Continent | South America |
| City population | 1,900,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 75th of 172 |
| Elevation | 3,767 m |
| Founded | 1538 |
| Time zone | America/La_Paz |
| Coordinates | 16.50° S, 68.15° W |
| Country population | 12,581,843 residents |
| Country GDP | 64.8 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $5,148 |
| Life expectancy | 68.7 years |
| Internet users | 79.7 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
La Paz averages 7.5 °C from June to August and 9.8 °C from December to February. June is the coldest month of the year and November the warmest, and the city receives 730 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 9.7 °C |
| February | 9.5 °C |
| March | 9.3 °C |
| April | 9.0 °C |
| May | 8.3 °C |
| June | 7.4 °C |
| July | 7.4 °C |
| August | 7.8 °C |
| September | 8.9 °C |
| October | 9.8 °C |
| November | 10.6 °C |
| December | 10.1 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Elevation: highest capital in the world (3,767 m).
- Winter: coldest capital in South America (7.5 °C).
- Rainfall: 3rd driest capital in South America (730 mm).
- Isolation: 3rd most isolated capital in South America (1,078 km).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Lima is the closest capital to La Paz.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Lima | Peru | 1,078 km |
| Asunción | Paraguay | 1,467 km |
| Santiago | Chile | 1,902 km |
| Quito | Ecuador | 2,138 km |
| Brasília | Brazil | 2,166 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach La Paz to a place and a number you already know: it is 1,078 km from Lima, and it is the 75th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Bolivia compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
La Paz is the capital of Bolivia, in South America, with about 1,900,000 residents, averaging 7.5 °C from June to August and 9.8 °C from December to February.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Bolivia?
La Paz is the capital of Bolivia. It has about 1,900,000 residents and lies in South America.
How many people live in La Paz?
About 1,900,000, which ranks La Paz 75th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in La Paz?
La Paz averages 7.5 °C from June to August and 9.8 °C from December to February, with 730 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is La Paz?
GDP per capita in the country is $5,148, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Lima, capital of Peru: facts and figures
Lima is the capital of Peru: 10,700,000 residents, 148 m above sea level, 16.6 °C from June to August and 21.7 °C from December to February. Key figures and sources.
- Asunción, capital of Paraguay: facts and figures
Asunción is the capital of Paraguay: 3,300,000 residents, 89 m above sea level, 18.7 °C in winter and 27.5 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Santiago, capital of Chile: facts and figures
Santiago is the capital of Chile: 6,800,000 residents, 540 m above sea level, 10.8 °C in winter and 21.5 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.