El Alto

The city of El Alto (Spanish for The High) is a suburb of La Paz, Bolivia, located on the highlands - while La Paz is constructed in a canyon. As of the 2001 census, the population was 649,958. The city contains La Paz's international airport. El Alto is one of the highest cities in the world, up to 4150 meters above the sea level. It has a cold climate, reaching the maximum temperature of 17 degrees celsius in summer. It is the fastest growing city in Bolivia, due to a trend of movement from Bolivia's rural areas to the La Paz region that started with the rural reform of 1952 and increased in the last 10 years. 79% of its inhabitants are Aymara, 6% are Quechua and 19% are European descent. El Alto is known as La Paz's dormrooms, though recent growth of commerce and industry has made local authorities to claim the title of "Bolivia's Economic Capital."

From 2003 to 2005, access from La Paz to the international airport, as well to oil and gas supplies, was frequently blocked by protesting El Alto social leaders, who have become some of the most powerful players in the politics of Bolivia. El Alto was - and remains - one of the major character of the Bolivian Gas War, during which 70 inhabitants were killed under police repression ordered by US supported President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada.