Santa Cruz tourist information
The city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra was founded by Ñuflo de Chávez on February 26, 1560. Chávez named the new city in honor of his beloved native city in Extremadura, Spain. The city originally lay 220 km east of its current location, on the shores of the Piraí river. But, by the end of the 16th century, the city was moved to its present position, 50 km east of the Cordillera Oriental foothills.
Santa Cruz supplied the rest of the colony with cotton, rice, sugar and fruit. It was a prosperous city until the late 1800's. Then, transport routes opened up between Peru's sea ports and La Paz, making imported products cheaper than those transported by mule from Santa Cruz.
In the 1950's Santa Cruz was connected through roads and highways with other major centers. Also the completion of the railway line to Brazil in the mid-1950s opened trade routes to the east. Tropical agriculture (sugar, rice, cotton, and soybean plantations) prospered and the city entered a period of expansion and economic growth that continues to the present day. The city is connected by railways with Brazil and Argentina, and by road with Cochabamba, the Chaco, and Trinidad.
By November 1996, according to data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra had a population of 904,376 inhabitants.
Located an altitude of 416 meters above sea level, Santa Cruz has a sunny and semi-tropical weather, with an average temperature of 21C (70F) on winter and 32C (90F) on summer. During winter, rainfall occurs in short downpours, but on summer a single deluge can last for days. Santa Cruz also experiences heavy and chilly winds called surazos that blow in from the Argentine pampas.
by Bolivia Web
Santa Cruz aerial map
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Santa Cruz weather forecast
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