Santa Cruz (department)
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Santa Cruz Department Departamento Autónomo de Santa Cruz |
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| Autonomous Department | |||
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| Motto: Siempre libres cruceños seamos | |||
| Anthem: Bajo el cielo más puro de América | |||
 Location within Bolivia |
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| Country |
 Bolivia
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| Capital | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | ||
| Provinces | 15 | ||
| Established as department by law | 23 July 1826 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Governor | Ruben Costas(VERDES) | ||
| • Senators | Oscar Ortiz(PODEMOS) Jorge Agulera(PODEMOS) Guido Guardia(MAS) |
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| • Deputies | 25 out of 130 | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 370,621 km2 (143,098 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 1st in Bolivia | ||
| 33.74% of Bolivia | |||
| Population (2016) | |||
| • Total | 3,412,921 | ||
| • Density | 9.2/km2 (24/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | BOT (UTC-4) | ||
| Area code(s) | +(591) 3 | ||
| Official language | Spanish, Guaraní | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | BO-S | ||
| Abbreviations | SC | ||
| Website | http://www.santacruz.gob.bo | ||
Santa Cruz, with an area of 370,621 km², is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia. In the 2012 census, it reported a population of 2,655,084. The capital is the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The department is one of the wealthiest departments in Bolivia, with huge reserves of natural gas.
According to current Constitution, the highest authority in the department lies with the governor. The former figure of prefect was appointed by the President of the Republic till 2005, when the prefect for the first time was elected by popular vote to serve for a five-year term. In 2010 the first governor was elected according to the implementation of autonomy after a struggle for almost a decade by the people of Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz also has a Departmental Assembly (Asamblea Departamental), which derives but differs from the previous Departmental Council (Consejo Departamental). It is a state legislature with limited legislation powers, being able to make laws in certain subjects in exclusivity and in some others in concurrence with the state legislative branch. .
The department covers a vast expanse of territory in eastern Bolivia, much of it rainforests, extending from the Andes to the border with Brazil. The department's economy depends largely on agriculture, with sugar, cotton, soybeans and rice being grown. The amount of land cultivated by modern farming techniques is increasing rapidly in the Santa Cruz area, where weather allows for two crops a year.
In recent years, the discovery of natural gas in the department has led to plans for the development of a regional natural gas industry that is likely to boost the local economy. Bolivia’s energy minister said two proposed liquefied petroleum gas plants may allow the country to boost supplies to Brazil and Argentina by 2010, easing a shortage of the fuel after a lack of investment reduced output. The processing plants would be built in Santa Cruz and each would produce about 200 tons of liquefied petroleum gas a day. The plants would help turn a deficit of gas into a “surplus”.
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Wikipedia