El Alto is the second-largest city in Bolivia, located adjacent to La Paz in Pedro Domingo Murillo Province on the Altiplano highlands. El Alto is today one of Bolivia's fastest-growing urban centers, with an estimated population of 943,558 in 2020. El Alto is the highest major metropolis in the world, with an average elevation of. The El Alto-La Paz metropolitan area, formed by La Paz, El Alto, Achocalla, Viacha, and Mecapaca constitutes the second most populous urban area of Bolivia, with a population of 1.8 million, only surpassed by the metropolitan area of the country's largest city ofSanta Cruz de la Sierra with a population of 2.3 million.
History
The dry and inclement plain above La Paz was uninhabited until 1903 when the newly built railways from Lake Titicaca and Arica reached the rim of the canyon, where the La Paz terminus, railyards and depots were built along with a settlement of railway workers. In 1925, the airfield was built as base for the new air force, which attracted additional settlement. In 1939, El Alto's first elementary school opened. El Alto started to grow tremendously in the 1950s when the settlement was connected to La Paz's water supply and building land in the canyon became more and more scarce and expensive. In an administrative reform in March 1985, the district of El Alto and surroundings was politically separated from the City of La Paz. In 1987, El Alto was formally incorporated as a city. In 1994, the city became the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of El Alto. El Alto, known for its teeming streets and traffic, broke gender barriers by hiring "cholitas" in December 2013. These Aymara women dress in traditional, multi-layered Andean skirts and brightly embroidered vests, and work as traffic cops to bring order to its road chaos. In recent years, Bolivia’s cholitas have been breaking social barriers, conducting television programs, working in offices, holding public posts, and participating in native fashion shows and beauty contests. El Alto can also mean "The Halt" in Spanish,
El Alto's districts
El Alto's autonomous government identifies 14 districts composing the Andean city.
Demographics
El Alto is the largest city in Latin America with a mostly Amerindian population. About 76% of its inhabitants are Aymara, 9% are Quechua, 15% are Mestizo, and less than 0.1% are Criollos. El Alto was once known as La Paz's bedroom community, though recent growth of commerce and industry has led some local authorities to claim the title of "Bolivia's Economic Capital." With this industrial growth, there is concern about water pollution by businesses, including tanneries and slaughterhouse, for the city and communities downstream. Rapid population growth means the city struggles to bring potable water and sewer service to parts of the population, especially on the fringes of the expanding urban area. Much of the city's roads are unpaved and most citizens do not have access to running water, sewerage, electricity, or garbage collection for their homes.
Geography
The city contains La Paz’s El Alto International Airport. El Alto is one of the highest major cities in the world, up to 4,150 meters above mean sea level. It has a cold climate, with the highest average monthly maximum temperature being in November. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Bolivia, due to a trend in migration from Bolivia’s rural areas to the La Paz region that started with the rural reform of 1952 and increased in the last 10 years. Some migrants say the difficulty of growing crops in the countryside drove them to move to the city.
Climate
The Köppen climate classification system classifies El Alto's climate as a rare cold-summer variety of a subtropical highland climate. The water supply in El Alto has been impacted by drought caused by shrinking glaciers. In 2016 the three main dams supplying water to the city were almost dry due to lack of glacial melt water.
Attractions
opened in 2002. From 2003, access from La Paz to the international airport, as well to oil and gas supplies, has been frequently blocked by protesting social leaders and some of the most powerful players in the politics of Bolivia. El Alto remains one of the major centers of the Bolivian gas conflict. There is a large open-air market.
Gallery
Government
El Alto is a municipality within the province of Murillo. The government of the city is divided into the executive and legislative branches. The mayor of El Alto is the head of the city government, elected for a term of five years by general election. The legislative branch consists of the municipal council, which elects a president, vice president, and secretary from a group of 11 members. The current mayor is Soledad Chapetón, who became the city's first female mayor in May 2015. The previous election was held April 4, 2010 and results of that regional election are given below: The Government of El Alto faces competition in providing public services, security and participation with the grassroots and highly successful Fejuve movement.
Transportation
El Alto is connected to La Paz by three lines of the Mi Teleférico system. The city is connected to domestic and international destinations by El Alto International Airport.
