Patacamaya Patak Amaya | |
|---|---|
City | |
  Patacamaya Location in Bolivia | |
| Coordinates:17°14′S67°55′W / 17.233°S 67.917°W /-17.233; -67.917 | |
| Country |  Bolivia |
| Department | La Paz Department |
| Province | Aroma Province |
| Municipality | Patacamaya Municipality |
| Canton | Patacamaya Canton |
| Population (2012) | |
• Total | 8,414 |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (BOT) |
| Climate | BSk |
Patacamaya orPatak Amaya (Aymara) is a city inBolivia, situated in theLa Paz Department. It is the seat of thePatacamaya Municipality, the fifthmunicipal section of theAroma Province. Patacamaya lies in theAltiplano, approximately 100 km southeast ofLa Paz. It contains the intersection between 'Carretera 1' which goes from La Paz toOruro, as well asCochabamba, and the 'CarreteraArica-La Paz'. The 'Tambo Quemado' highway is one of the most important international roads that travels through Bolivia.[1][2]
The name of the city originated from awar that occurred in the 1920s betweenAymaras andQuechuas. The wordPatakamaya is a conglomeration of two words;pataka meaning "100" andamaya meaning "dead", referring to the casualties of the war.[3]
Situated 3789 meters above sea level, Patacamaya is a prime location for astronomical observation. Its lightly populated area keeps light pollution at a minimum, making it an ideal place for anobservatory. The 'Observatorio de Patacamaya' was built in 1973 with help of the Soviets. However, since 1983, the UMSA (Universidad Mayor de San Andres) has been maintaining the observatory.
Thetelescope in the observatory is a Celestron telescope of 40 cm diameter. The observatory also contains two astro-cameras an AFU-75, and CCD SBIG ST-5 among other astronomical equipment. This equipment has been extremely useful for students researching such events as the passing ofHalley's Comet and theShoemaker Levy 9 Comet.[4]
Apart from the Observatory, Patacamaya has some other smaller sources of income including a weekly Sunday fair.Agriculture in the area consists mainly ofpotatoes.
Patacamaya is also home to the military unit 'Batallon de Tanques I Calama.'
| Climate data for Patacamaya, elevation 3,793 m (12,444 ft) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 19.2 (66.6) | 19.1 (66.4) | 19.2 (66.6) | 19.2 (66.6) | 17.8 (64.0) | 16.5 (61.7) | 16.3 (61.3) | 17.4 (63.3) | 18.5 (65.3) | 20.4 (68.7) | 21.1 (70.0) | 20.4 (68.7) | 18.8 (65.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.2 (54.0) | 12.0 (53.6) | 11.8 (53.2) | 10.5 (50.9) | 7.5 (45.5) | 5.5 (41.9) | 5.6 (42.1) | 7.2 (45.0) | 9.2 (48.6) | 11.1 (52.0) | 12.1 (53.8) | 12.6 (54.7) | 9.8 (49.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 5.3 (41.5) | 4.9 (40.8) | 4.3 (39.7) | 1.7 (35.1) | −2.7 (27.1) | −5.4 (22.3) | −5.1 (22.8) | −3.1 (26.4) | −0.1 (31.8) | 1.9 (35.4) | 3.2 (37.8) | 4.7 (40.5) | 0.8 (33.4) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 97.0 (3.82) | 73.0 (2.87) | 51.6 (2.03) | 17.3 (0.68) | 6.5 (0.26) | 4.4 (0.17) | 3.9 (0.15) | 7.7 (0.30) | 24.2 (0.95) | 19.8 (0.78) | 32.5 (1.28) | 66.3 (2.61) | 404.2 (15.9) |
| Average precipitation days | 16.0 | 13.3 | 11.2 | 4.8 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 6.6 | 11.8 | 79.7 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 67.8 | 67.3 | 65.7 | 59.2 | 50.0 | 50.3 | 50.8 | 50.8 | 53.3 | 52.8 | 53.5 | 59.5 | 56.8 |
| Source: Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología de Bolivia[5][6] | |||||||||||||
