Cotoca

Summary

Cotoca is a canton and Municipality of Andrés Ibáñez Province in Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. The municipality consists of two cantons – Cotoca itself and Puerto Pailas. In 2010 it had an estimated population of 23,951 for the canton and 56,451 for the municipality.[1]

Cotoca
Town
Main church
Main church
Cotoca Municipality within Andrés Ibáñez
Cotoca Municipality within Andrés Ibáñez
Cotoca is located in Bolivia
Cotoca
Cotoca
Coordinates: 17°45′13″S 62°59′48″W / 17.75361°S 62.99667°W / -17.75361; -62.99667
Country Bolivia
Department Santa Cruz Department
ProvinceAndrés Ibáñez Province
MunicipalityCotoca
Area
 • Total8.35 km2 (3.22 sq mi)
Elevation
363 m (1,191 ft)
Population
 (2012)
 • Total26,305
 • Density3,200/km2 (8,200/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-4 (BOT)
ClimateAw

In 1799, the Catholic Church authorised the building of a shrine to the Virgen de Cotoca, an image of Mary (mother of Jesus) that was seen in the town. The Virgin is now the patron saint of the entire province of Santa Cruz and her feast from 8 to 15 December draws thousands of Bolivians.[2]

The population increased tenfold in the last forty years:

Year Canton Municipality
1976 2,107[3]
1992 9,229[4] 21,252 [5]
2001 15,181[6] 36,425[7]
2009 23 951[8] 56,451[9]

Politics edit

In the Bolivian regional election, 2010, Cotoca placed the Verdes (Bolivia) party of Governor Rubén Costas first, although by less than the overall result for the province:[10]

Party Votes % % across Department
Verdes (Bolivia) 5,623 34.0% 50.6%
MAS 3,533 21.4% 36.3%
Tiluchi 3149 19.1% n/a
SOL 3067 18.6% n/a
ASIP 703 4.3% n/a
Broad Front (MNR & Autonomia) 453 2.7% 4,3%

References edit

  1. ^ "World Gazetteer".[dead link]
  2. ^ See Virgen de Cotoca
  3. ^ Thomas Brinkhoff: City Population
  4. ^ Nacional de Estadística Bolivia (INE) 1992 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística Bolivia (INE) 1992 Archived April 23, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística Bolivia (INE) 2001 Archived 2014-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) 2001 Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "World Gazetteer".[dead link]
  9. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística – Proyecciones Archived 2012-05-22 at the Wayback Machine (PDF; 1,59 MB)
  10. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2011-04-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) [1]