Skip to content
Cochabamba

File:Cochabamba_City.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ183124· pop 80· linked from 1,880 articles

Cochabamba

Sign in to save

Cochabamba (Aymara and ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 661,484 according to the 2024 Bolivian census. Its name is from a compound of the Quechua words qucha "lake" and pampa, "open plain." Residents of the city and the surrounding areas are commonly referred to as cochalas or, more formally, cochabambinos.

OverviewAI-generated

Cochabamba is a city in Bolivia and serves as the capital of Cochabamba Department. Located in Cercado Province, the city was established on August 15, 1571. It covers an area of 157 square kilometers and sits at an elevation of 2,558 meters above sea level. The population is 632,013. Its native labels are Cochabamba and Quchapampa.

The city operates in the UTC−04:00 time zone and uses the local dialing code 591 4. Cochabamba is a member of the Creative Cities Network. It maintains twinned administrative relationships with Miami, Bergamo, Nantes, and Almería. The official name of the city is Cochabamba.

Synthesized by Vinony from 46 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Openweathermap, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Open Meteo, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Weather now

cached 23h ago
22°few clouds
35% 2.6 m/s OpenWeatherMap

7-day forecast

via Open-Meteo

Place details

Locality
Cochabamba
Region
Cochabamba
Country
Bolivia
Population
0

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Air quality

46US AQIGood
PM2.5
12.4 µg/m³
PM10
12.5 µg/m³
As of 2026-08-10 20:00 · Open-Meteo

Key facts

Settlement.settlement_type
City & Municipality
Settlement.official_name
Cochabamba
Settlement.native_name
Quchapampa
Settlement.nicknames
"City of Eternal Spring""The Garden City""La Llajta"
Settlement.anthem
Himno a Cochabamba
Settlement.image_flag
Flag of Cochabamba City new design.png
Settlement.image_shield
File:Escudo de Cochabamba.svg
Settlement.pushpin_map
Bolivia#South America
Settlement.pushpin_relief
1
Settlement.pushpin_label_position
bottom
Settlement.pushpin_map_caption
Location in Bolivia
Settlement.pushpin_mapsize
280
Settlement.map_caption
Location of Cochabamba in Bolivia
Settlement.subdivision_type
Country
Settlement.subdivision_type1
Department
Settlement.subdivision_type2
Province
Settlement.subdivision_name2
Cercado Province
Settlement.subdivision_type3
Municipality

via Wikipedia infobox

Travel guide

Understand

thumb|200px|14 de Septiembre Square and the Catedral Metropolitana de San Sebastián

Buy

thumb|A market in Cochabamba

If you don't want to get knee-deep into the sprawling Cancha for your souvenirs, there is also a small pasaje behind the Post Office. You can enter from Av. Heroínas Avenue or Esteban Arze. Prices are comparable to La Cancha and you can pick up typical Cochabamba goods.

Eat

Lunchtime usually consists of a fixed menu at a number of restaurants or pensiones around time. The "almuerzo completo" consists of soup + main dish and often an appetizer and dessert. There are many options to find the menu displayed outside the door, usually consisting of your choice of two soups or 2-3 main dishes. This fixed menu varies in price depending on the part of town, and could run between Bs. 15-25.

Silpancho is traditional Bolivian dish that supposedly originates from Cochabamba.

Thanks to the city's origin as an agricultural center for mining communities, Cochabamba claims to have the best food in Bolivia.

Drink

The best chicha, fermented corn (or peach) based beverage, is said to come from the Cochabamba region. The small town of Punata, some distance to the southwest, is especially well-known. Please note that not all chicherías have the same hygienic standards.

Stay safe

thumb|The southern side of la colina de San Sebastian in the more dangerous southwestern district of the city Cars rarely give preference to pedestrians, even at crosswalks. Don't assume they will stop.

When getting into a cab late at night, it is best to call a radio taxi which you can get from friends, a local family, or the hostal you are staying at. If you cannot call a mobile radio to pick you up, make sure to take a taxi with a company name on the side and remember that company in case anything happens so that you can report it to them. It is best to ask a hotel, restaurant, bar, or discoteca to call a taxi for you.

Go next

Punata – A market on Tuesday with a lot of indigenous people selling animals. Tarata – Nice picturesque town that can make an easy day trip. Quillacollo – Known for its Fiesta de la Virgen de Urkupiña (August 15). Chapare Region – National Park Isiboro Sécure and local indigenous communities, you can stay with for several days. Torotoro National Park – Popular with travellers that head to Cochabamba for its dinosaur foot prints, large cave and hiking opportunities. The (mini)buses leave hourly or when full (06:00-18:00, ) from the . Iquique, Chile – There are direct buses, some with a transfer in Oruro. Keep in mind that the border to Chile opens at 08:00. So, it makes little sense to leave at 16:00 from Cochabamba. Waiting time at the border can extend this trip up to 23 hr(!). From Iquique you will have several connections to Santiago.

shn:ၵူဝ်ႇၶျႃႇပၢမ်ႇပႃႇ

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~35 min read

Encyclopedic overview

36 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Pre-Inca and Inca
  • Spanish and Bolivian
  • Water War
  • Climate and geography
  • Demography
  • Culture
  • Government
  • Capital status
  • Municipal government
  • Economy
  • Commerce
  • Agriculture
  • Services
  • Transport
  • Light rail
  • Airport
  • Municipal waste
  • Media
  • Print media
  • Radio stations
  • Television channels
  • Education
  • Neighborhoods
  • Metropolitan area
  • Additional notes of interest
  • Notable residents
  • Business people
  • Musicians
  • Literature
  • Other
  • Twin towns – sister cities
  • See also
  • Notes
  • References
  • External links

Cochabamba (Aymara and ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 661,484 according to the 2024 Bolivian census. Its name is from a compound of the Quechua words qucha "lake" and pampa, "open plain." Residents of the city and the surrounding areas are commonly referred to as cochalas or, more formally, cochabambinos.

It is known as the "City of Eternal Spring" or "The Garden City" because of its spring-like temperatures all year round. It is also known as "La Llajta," which means "town" in Quechua. It is the largest urban center between the higher capital of La Paz and Santa Cruz de la Sierra in the tropical plains of the east. It sits south-west of the Tunari mountains, and north of the foothills of the Valle Alto. In antiquity, the area featured numerous lakes, which gave the city its name. Many of these lakes have since disappeared to urban development, but Coña Coña and Alalay lakes are extant examples. It has been a populated settlement since the Pre-Inca period, and is today an important cultural, educational, political, and commercial centre.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Cochabamba” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (52)

On the map

3 mapped locations