Mizque Province
Encyclopedia
| Location of Mizque Province within Bolivia | |
|---|---|
| General Data | |
| Country |  BoliviaBolivia Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America... |
| Departament Departments of Bolivia Bolivia is divided into nine departments . Each of the departments is subdivided into provinces , which are further subdivided into municipalities .... |
Cochabamba Department Cochabamba Department Cochabamba is one of the nine component departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the "granary" of the country because of its variety of agricultural products due to Cochabamba's geographical position. It has an area of 55,631 km². Its population, in the 2007 census, was 1,750,000... |
| Capital | Mizque Mizque Mizque is a town in the Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. It is the capital of the Mizque Province. Mizque is located in the valley of the Mizque River, one of the main tributaries of the Río Grande.... |
| Municipalities Municipalities of Bolivia Municipalities in Bolivia are administrative divisions of the entire national territory governed by local elections. Municipalities are the third level of administrative divisions, below departments and provinces. Some of the provinces consist of only one municipality... |
3 |
| Cantons Cantons of Bolivia ||On the level below municipalities, Bolivia is divided into cantons .... |
10 |
| Area Area Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat... |
2,730 km² |
| Elevation Elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface .... |
m |
| Population Population A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals... |
36,181 (2001) |
| Density Density The mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight... |
13.3 inhabitants/km² (2001) |
| Sub-prefect | |
| Language Language Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication... s |
Quechua Quechua languages Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably... , Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
| ISO 3166-2 ISO 3166-2 ISO 3166-2 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , and defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1... |
BO.CB.MZ |
| Cochabamba Department | |
 |
|
Mizque (from Quechua
Quechua languages
Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
: misk'i, meaning "sweet") is a province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
in the Cochabamba Department
Cochabamba Department
Cochabamba is one of the nine component departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the "granary" of the country because of its variety of agricultural products due to Cochabamba's geographical position. It has an area of 55,631 km². Its population, in the 2007 census, was 1,750,000...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
. Its capital is Mizque
Mizque
Mizque is a town in the Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. It is the capital of the Mizque Province. Mizque is located in the valley of the Mizque River, one of the main tributaries of the Río Grande....
.
The province, in 1992, had a population of 27,959 inhabitants, mostly indigenous
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
citizens of Quechuan
Quechuas
Quechuas is the collective term for several indigenous ethnic groups in South America who speak a Quechua language , belonging to several ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Argentina.The Quechuas of Ecuador call themselves as well as their...
descent. In 2001, the population increased to 36,181 inhabitants and it was estimated at 41,062 in 2005. .
Subdivision
The province is divided into three municipalitiesMunicipalities of Bolivia
Municipalities in Bolivia are administrative divisions of the entire national territory governed by local elections. Municipalities are the third level of administrative divisions, below departments and provinces. Some of the provinces consist of only one municipality...
which are further subdivided into ten cantons
Cantons of Bolivia
||On the level below municipalities, Bolivia is divided into cantons ....
.
| Section | Municipality | Inhabitants | Seat | Inhabitants | Cantons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Mizque Mizque Municipality Mizque Municipality is the first municipal section of the Mizque Province in the Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. Its seat is Mizque.- Subdivision :Mizque Municipality is divided into six cantons.- External links :*... |
26,659 | Mizque Mizque Mizque is a town in the Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. It is the capital of the Mizque Province. Mizque is located in the valley of the Mizque River, one of the main tributaries of the Río Grande.... |
2.677 | Cauta, Mizque, Molinero, Taboada, Tin Tin, Vicho Vicho |
| 2nd | Vila Vila Vila Vila Municipality Vila Vila Municipality is the second municipal section of the Mizque Province in the Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. Its seat is Vila Vila.- Subdivision :Vila Vila Municipality is divided into two cantons.- References : - External links :*... |
4,591 | Vila Vila Vila Vila Vila Vila is a location in the Cochabamba Department in central Bolivia. It is the seat of the Vila Vila Municipality, the second municipal section of the Mizque Province.- References : ... |
426 | Siquimira, Vila Vila |
| 3rd | Alalay Alalay Municipality Alalay Municipality is the third municipal section of the Mizque Province in the Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. Its seat is Alalay.- Languages :The languages spoken in the Alalay Municipality are mainly Quechua and Spanish.- References :*... |
4.931 | Alalay Alalay Alalay is a location in the Cochabamba Department in central Bolivia. It is the seat of the Alalay Municipality, the third municipal section of the Mizque Province.- References :*... |
638 | Alalay, Ayapampa |
Geography
Mizque Province is home to a great diversity of ecoregions because it contains a wide variety of topographic features with heights ranging between 2,000 and 3,600 m. The province belongs to the Julpe-Mizque basinDrainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
with an area of 3,845 km².
The main rivers are:
- Mizque River, 75 km
- Julpe River, 60 km
- Uyuchama River, 50 km
- Tujma River, 45 km
- Kari Kari River, 42 km
- Vicho Vicho River, 32 km
Although there is a large amount of superficial and sub-superficial water within the province, the zone is suffering from drought due to the lack of irrigation systems.
Climate
The climate is dry. There are a few irregular rainfalls and long periods of drought. The medium annual temperature varies between 16 to 18 °C. During the rainy season ("summer"), corresponding to the months from December to March, the province receives 87 % of the annual precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
, in December and January alone 57 %, often occurring as hailstorm
Hailstorm
Hailstorm may refer to:* Hail, a type of precipitation* Hailstorm , a fictional character* Hailstorm , 2010* Hailstorm , a 1994 album by Barathrum-See also:* Halestorm, an American rock band...
s. During the dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...
("winter") the temperature goes down radically and snowfalls occur. The annual precipitation is between 300 and 700 mm, reaching 507 mm annually on an average.
Flora
The semiarid and aridArid
A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...
regions are covered with plants which are tolerant towards dry conditions. 75 % of the total area of Mizque Province is cultivated.
Fauna
Red-fronted Macaw
The Red-fronted Macaw, Ara rubrogenys, is a parrot endemic to a small semi-desert mountainous area of Bolivia. It is highly endangered, and there may only be 150 or so birds left in the wild; it has been successfully bred in captivity, and is available, if not common, as a pet.-Description:The...
s (Ara rubrogenys), endemic to a small mountainous area of Bolivia, can be observed in Mizque. This species is considered to be endangered due to intense agriculture activity which has reduced its habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
. The problem is that the peasants of some zones look upon them as a plague because they raid the maize in the fields. There is a chance that they might be regarded as one of the tourist attractions of the region .
The People
The majority of the population of the Mizque Province lives in the rural area in communities far apart from each other. The lack of good roads makes trade and providing services difficult. The land in some areas is quite dry and not appropriate for farming. That may be some of the reasons why the Human Development IndexHuman Development Index
The Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...
in the municipalities of Mizque is among the lowest in Bolivia (0.365, 0.400 and 0.460), placing them in the positions 284 (Mizque), 305 (Vila Vila) and 298 (Alalay) out of 314 municipalities .
The conditions of life are especially critical in the puna
Puna
Puna may refer to:* Puna grassland, a type of grassland in the central part of the high Andes* Puna , the king of Hiti-marama or of Vavau in the Tuamotu legend of Rata* Puna , a type of wind in the Andes...
and remote communities. The level of income of a peasant family in the high zones or in the dryland
Dryland farming
Dryland farming is an agricultural technique for non-irrigated cultivation of drylands.-Locations:Dryland farming is used in the Great Plains, the Palouse plateau of Eastern Washington, and other arid regions of North America, the Middle East and in other grain growing regions such as the steppes...
is estimated at 200 - 250 US-$ per year.
Some data :
| Mizque Province | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Municipality | Mizque | Vila Vila | Alalay |
| Nacional ranking (out of 314) | 284 | 305 | 298 |
| Human Development Index Human Development Index The Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries... (2001) |
0.430 | 0.365 | 0.400 |
| Life Expectancy Index | 0.453 | 0.394 | 0.540 |
| Education Index Education Index This article contains information based on the pre-2010 Human Development Reports. The HDI and its education component have changed in 2010.The United Nations publishes a Human Development Index every year, which consists of the Education index, GDP Index and Life Expectancy Index... |
0.509 | 0.454 | 0.440 |
| Life expectancy Life expectancy Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience... (years) |
52.2 | 48.7 | 57.4 |
| Literacy Literacy Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print... of adults (% of 15 years old and more) |
61.4 | 55.9 | 66.2 |
| Average years of schooling Education in Bolivia Education in Bolivia, as in many other areas of Bolivian life, has a divide between Bolivia's rural and urban areas. Rural illiteracy levels remain high, even as the rest ofthe country becomes increasingly literate... |
3.1 | 2.1 | 2.8 |
| Population census Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common... 2001 |
26,659 | 4,591 | 4,931 |
| Percentage of rural population | 90.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
There are 182 rural communities within the territory of the province situated in heights between 2,000 m in the template valleys and 3,600 m in the puna.
Language
The predominant language is QuechuaQuechua languages
Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
, spoken by 32,212 inhabitants and about 11,482 inhabitants are bilingual. They can speak Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
as well. The following table shows the number of those belonging to the recognized group of speakers.
| Language | Mizque Municipality | Vila Vila Municipality | Alalay Municipality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quechua Quechua languages Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably... |
24.212 | 4.229 | 4.529 |
| Aymara Aymara language Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia... |
172 | 11 | 12 |
| Guaraní Guaraní language Guaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of... |
8 | 5 | 9 |
| Another native | 10 | 2 | 1 |
| Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
8.378 | 789 | 1.002 |
| Foreign | 41 | 6 | 4 |
| Only native | 16.499 | 3.493 | 3.549 |
| Native and Spanish | 7.753 | 742 | 987 |
| Only Spanish | 626 | 47 | 15 |
Economy
The economic activity is concentrated on agricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and animal husbandry
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
and to a minor extent on mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and crafts. The most important sectors in agriculture are the cultivation of potatoes, maize, wheat, peanuts, barley and onions.
Festivals and Fairs
- 2nd week in May: Fruit fair in Mizque, 1 day
- July 16: Our Lady of Mount CarmelOur Lady of Mount CarmelOur Lady of Mount Carmel is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid 13th centuries...
in AlalayAlalayAlalay is a location in the Cochabamba Department in central Bolivia. It is the seat of the Alalay Municipality, the third municipal section of the Mizque Province.- References :*...
, 3 days - September 8 - 14: Our Lord of Burgos (Señor de Burgos) in Mizque, 7 days
- September 23 - 25: Virgen Mestiza de Shikimira in Vila VilaVila VilaVila Vila is a location in the Cochabamba Department in central Bolivia. It is the seat of the Vila Vila Municipality, the second municipal section of the Mizque Province.- References : ...
, 3 days