Ñuflo de Chávez Province

Ñuflo de Chávez[1] is one of the fifteen provinces of the Bolivian Santa Cruz Department and is situated in the northern central parts of the department. The name of the province honors the conquistador Ñuflo de Chaves (1518–1556) who founded the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Its capital is Concepción. The province was created by law of September 16, 1915, during the presidency of Ismael Montes. Originally it was part of the Chiquitos Province.[2]

Ñuflo de Chávez Province
Province
Mission church in Concepción known as part of the Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos and declared a World Heritage Site in 1990
Location of Ñuflo de Chávez Province within Bolivia
Provinces of the Santa Cruz Department
Coordinates: 16°00′0″S 62°00′0″W
Country Bolivia
DepartmentSanta Cruz Department
CapitalConcepción
Government
 • Sub governorWiden Barbery (Concepción)
Area
 • Total20,910 sq mi (54,150 km2)
Elevation
1,627 ft (496 m)
Population
 (2001)
 • Total93,997
 • Density4/sq mi (1.7/km2)
 • Ethnicities
Chiquitos
Time zoneUTC-4 (BOT)
Area code(s)BO.SC.NC

Location

Ñuflo de Chávez Province is located between 13° 45' and 17° 30' South and between 61° 30' and 63° 25' West. It extends over a length of 520 km from north to south, and up to 250 km from west to east.

The province is situated in the Bolivian lowlands and borders Beni Department in the north, Guarayos Province in the north-west, Obispo Santistevan Province and Ignacio Warnes Province in the south-west, Andrés Ibáñez Province and Chiquitos Province in the south, and José Miguel de Velasco Province in the east.

Division

The province comprises six municipalities which are further subdivided into cantons:[2]

Section Municipality Inhabitants (2001) [3] Seat Inhabitants (2001)
1stConcepción Municipality14,522Concepción5,586
2ndSan Javier Municipality (also San Xavier Municipality)11,316San Javier5,538
3rdSan Ramón Municipality5,660San Ramón4,746
4thSan Julián Municipality56,206San Julián6,585
5thSan Antonio de Lomerío Municipality6,293San Antonio de Lomerío1,313
6thCuatro Cañadas Municipality17, 574Cuatro Cañadas4,571

Population

The inhabitants of the Ñuflo de Chávez Province are mainly Chiquitos whose culture roots in the fusion of their ancient customs and the influence of the Jesuit missionaries.[2] During the 2001 census the ethnic composition of the population was as follows:[4]

Ethnic group Concepción Municipality (%) San Javier Municipality (%) San Ramón Municipality (%) San Julián Municipality (%) San Antonio de Lomerío Municipality (%) Cuatro Cañadas Municipality (%)
Quechua 4.2 3.6 13.5 49.6 1.5 36.4
Aymara 1.2 1.4 2.3 2.2 0.2 2.2
Guaraní, Chiquitos or Moxos 67.8 68.4 31.1 8.6 87.0 7.8
Not indigenous 25.1 24.7 52.5 38.1 10.7 51.3
Other indigenous groups 1.8 1.9 0.7 1.5 0.7 2.4

The population of the province has increased by more than 100% over the recent two decades:

  • 1992: 61,008 inhabitants (census)
  • 2001: 93,997 inhabitants (census)
  • 2005: 111,813 inhabitants (est.)[5]
  • 2010: 131,856 inhabitants (est.)[6]
48.3% of the population are younger than 15 years old. (1992)

The literacy rate of the province is 72.6%.

87.3% of the population have no access to electricity, 50.4% have no sanitary facilities. (1992)
79.5% of the population are Catholics, 17.2% are Protestants. (1992)

In 1992 91.6% of the population spoke Spanish, 30.1% Quechua, 2.0% Aymara and 1.2 spoke Guaraní. During the 2001 census Spanish was spoken by 79,377 people, Quechua by 20,763, Aymara by 1,362, Guarani by 1,002, other native languages by 3,619 and foreign languages by 5,617 people. The following table shows the number of speakers per municipality:[4]

Language Concepción Municipality (%) San Javier Municipality (%) San Ramón Municipality (%) San Julián Municipality (%) San Antonio de Lomerío Municipality (%) Cuatro Cañadas Municipality (%)
Quechua 363 247 468 14,855 46 4,782
Aymara simi 120 104 75 804 7 252
Guaraní 53 142 25 682 14 86
Another native 901 128 29 138 2.221 202
Spanish 13,370 10,414 5,278 32,182 5.480 12.637
Foreign 134 102 84 1,209 199 3,864
Only native 138 31 46 2,430 162 628
Native and Spanish 1,264 559 522 13,469 2,118 4,558
Only Spanish 12,119 9,865 4,769 19,405 3,474 11,018

Economy

The principal economic activities are devoted to animal husbandry, dairy farming, forestry and tourism. Another important occupation is handicraft like the fabrication of hammocks, textiles, hats, bags and baskets.[2]

Environment
1984
2000
Satellite images of western Chiquitos and southern Ñuflo de Chávez provinces illustrate deforestation from agrarian expansion.

Increased agricultural use of the land has led to deforestation in the area.

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See also

References
  1. Ñuflo de Chaves (1518-1568) was a Spanish conquistador. He is best known for founding the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
  2. Official site of Ñuflo de Chávez Province (Spanish)
  3. Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Bolivia (Spanish)
  4. obd.descentralizacion.gov.bo / Observatorio Bolivia Democrático (inactive site)
  5. Instituto Nacional de Estadística
  6. Instituto Nacional de Estadística - Proyecciones

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