Potosí

City and capital of Potosí department, southwest Bolivia; population (1992) 112,300. Situated at the foot of Cerro Rico mountain at an altitude of 4,020 m/13,189 ft, it is one of the highest cities in the world. Tin, copper, zinc, lead, and silver are mined in the region. There is a cathedral, a university (founded in 1892), and the Royal Mint, which houses a museum and an art gallery. The city was founded in 1545 following the discovery of ores in the silver-rich Cerro Rico, the hill overlooking the city.

Potosí was founded by the Spanish in 1545 having discovered the Indian mine workings at Cerro Rico. Vast amounts of silver were extracted and during the 17th and 18th centuries it was the chief silver-mining town and largest and wealthiest city in Latin America. The Casa Real de Moneda (Royal Mint) was founded here in 1572 to coin the silver. Following the depletion of silver deposits, the city suffered a decline until the 19th century, when tin became the most important export. Today this is only a small-scale activity.

Artificial lakes (the Lagunas del Kari-Kari) were constructed in the late 16th century by Indian slaves to provide water for the city and also hydroelectric power to run the city's 132 smelters.

Potosí

Cerro Potosí in 1779, a watercolour showing the extraordinary conical mountain in Bolivia, rising to 4,780 m/15,680 ft, with the vertical shafts of its silver mines superimposed upon it. The railway line that runs to the city of Potosí at its foot remains one of the highest in the world (greatest altitude 4,786 m/15,705 ft).

Upland department in southwest Bolivia, bounded by Chile on the west and Argentina on the south; area 107,370 sq km/41,456 sq mi; population (2000 est) 774,700. The department includes the Salar de Uyuni desert to the northwest. The departmental capital is the city of Potosí. The region has been famous since the beginnings of Spanish colonial rule for its mining activities, especially silver-mining. Although silver deposits were largely exhausted by the 19th century, tin, copper, bismuth, zinc, wurtzite, and lead continue to be extracted in quantity. The tin mine at Catari was once the largest tin producer in the world.

There is a hydroelectric dam on the River Yura to the southwest of Potosí.