Villamontes

Villamontes (or: Villa Montes) is a town in the Tarija Department in south-eastern Bolivia. Also it is called the benemerita town (well-deserving of the mother country) due to its importance during the Chaco War in the 1930s.

Villamontes
Town
Villamontes
Location within Bolivia
Coordinates: 21°15′39″S 63°28′34″W
Country Bolivia
DepartmentTarija
ProvinceGran Chaco
Elevation
388 m (1,273 ft)
Population
 (2012)[1]
 • Total39,800
Time zoneUTC-4 (BST)

Location

Villamontes is the administrative center of Villamontes Municipio and situated at 388 m above sea level, on the left bank of Río Pilcomayo where the river crosses the Sierra del Aguarague mountain range and flows southeast into the Chaco-Foreland.

Geography
Climate Data (1993–2006)   Year   Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Temperature (°C)   25.0°   29.0° 27.8° 26.8° 23.6° 20.9° 19.6° 19.4° 22.4° 24.9° 28.2° 28.3° 28.9°
Precipitation (mm)   814   129 113 101 72 13 9 4 6 14 54 116 183

Villamontes is located in the subhumid tropical zone, with a distinct dry season from June to September.

West of the town in a north-southerly direction ranges the sub Andean Sierra del Aguarague, with a summit of 1,390 m 7 km west of Villamontes.

The town is crossed by Río Caiguami which discharges into Río Pilcomayo on the southern outskirts of Villamontes.

History

During the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay (1932–1935) Villamontes accommodated the headquarters of the Bolivian Army. During the final stage of the war, the main lines of defense commanded by General Bernardino Bilbao Rioja were situated here.

Villamontes became famous by the so-called "Corralito de Villamontes" (1934), when the head of state, Dr. Daniel Salamanca Urey, was arrested by army units during his stay at Villamontes, and on 28 November 1934 was substituted in a coup d'état by vice president José Luis Tejada Sorzano.

Population

Villamontes had a population of 11,086 inhabitants in 1992 (census), 16,214 inhabitants in 2001 (census), and has more than 20,000 inhabitants by 2007. In the official data of the census 2012, the municipality of Villa Montes has 39,800 inhabitants which is an increase more than 100% compared to the 2001 census. Reason for the explosive increase has been the deployment of oil and gas fields in this region since the early 1990s.

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References
  1. "World Gazetteer". Archived from the original on 2013-01-11.
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