Bolivia--part: Santa Cruz,¹ Beni, Pando

How is the land laid out?

The mountainous part of Bolivia included is only the eastern fringes of the Real² Range of the Andes, the continuation of the Eastern Range from further north. The rest is mostly the Amazon basin, dominated by the Madeira³ system. The very southeast is scrublands (chaco).

Who lives there?

This is one part of a large area of the Americas where Spanish and Roman Catholic Christianity represent the majority.

Santa Cruz is the only city with over a million residents.

Who was there before?

A sampling of pre-Columbian languages follows: I. Panoan languages were spoken in Pando Department. II. The Incan Empire spread Quechua into Bolivia, wholly or partly displacing earlier languages. III. Tocanan languages were spoken in Beni Department. IV. Tupi languages and the closely related Guarani were spoken in some areas near Brazil and Paraguay (e.g., Santa Cruz Department).

Around the area

north of western Pando
north and northeast of northeast Pando, northeast of Beni, and northeast and east of Santa Cruz
south of Santa Cruz
south of southwestern Beni Department, and west and southwest of Santa Cruz Department
south of Pando, and west of southern Beni

Other broad topics

Footnotes

1. Translates as Holy Cross.
2. Translates as Royal.
3. South America's third or fourth longest.