Cercado Province (Tarija)


Cercado is a province in the central parts of the Bolivian department Tarija.

Location

Cercado province is one of six provinces in the Tarija Department. It is located between 21° 15' and 21° 51' south and between 64° 20' and 65° 00' west.
The province borders Eustaquio Méndez Province in the northwest, José María Avilés Province in the south-west, Aniceto Arce Province in the south, and Burnet O'Connor Province in the east.
The province extends over 80 km from north to south, and 80 km from east to west.

Population

Main idiom of the province is Spanish, spoken by 99.4%, while 11.5% of the population speak Quechua, 2.4 speak Aymara, and 0.2% Guaraní.
The population increased from 108,241 inhabitants to 153,457, an increase of 41.8%. - 39.4% of the population are younger than 15 years old. In the census 2012 the population increased to 205,346 inhabitants, migration mainly driven by gas extraction boom of the region.
26.0% of the population have no access to electricity, 39.4% have no sanitary facilities.
12.2% of the population are employed in agriculture, 0.1% in mining, 11.5% in industry, 76.2% in general services.
89.6% of the population are Catholics, 6.3% are Protestants.

Division

In contrast to the neighbouring provinces, the province comprises only one municipality Tarija Municipality. It is identical to the Cercado Province.

Places of interest