El Alto

The city of El Alto is one of Bolivia's largest and fastest growing urban centres. With a population of over 1.1 million at an altitude of 13,615 ft or 4,150 m, it is one of the highest cities in the world. At one time, El Alto was merely a suburb of the adjacent La Paz on the Altiplano highlands, but due to migration from Bolivia's rural areas to La Paz region during the 1950s, the region grew and in less than 40 years laid claim to ‘city’ status of its own.

The region where El Alto stands is dry and inclement, and was therefore uninhabited until 1903, when the newly built railways from Lake Titicaca and Arica reached the rim of the canyon, where the La Paz terminus, rail yards and depots were built along with a settlement of railway workers. In 1925, the airfield was built as the base for the new air force, which attracted additional settlement. In 1939, El Alto's first elementary school opened. El Alto started to grow tremendously in the 1950s, when the settlement was connected to La Paz' water supply. Before that water had to be transported from La Paz in tanker vehicles. In 1985, the district of El Alto and surroundings were politically separated from the city of La Paz and in 1987, El Alto was formally incorporated as a city.