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.