The city contains La Paz's El Alto International Airport. El Alto is one
of the highest major cities in the world, up to 4150 meters (13,615
feet) above sea level. It has a cold climate, reaching the maximum
temperature of 17 degrees Celsius (62 �F) in summer. It is one of the
fastest-growing city in Bolivia, due to a trend in migration 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. Some migrants say the
difficulty of growing crops in the countryside drove them to move to
the city. El Alto is the largest city in Latin America which has a
mostly Amerindian population. About 76% of its inhabitants are Aymara,
9% are Quechua, 15% are Mestizo (descendants of Amerindian and White
Europeans) and less than .1% are Criollos (of European descent).. El
Alto was once known as La Paz's bedroom community, though recent growth
of commerce and industry has led some local authorities to claim the
title of "Bolivia's Economic Capital." Along with that industrial growth
concern about water pollution by businesses including tanneries and
slaughterhouse has become an issue for the city and communities
downstream. Rapid population growth means the city struggles to bring
potable water and sewer service to parts of the population, especially
on the fringes of the expanding urban area.
The dry and inclement
plain above La Paz was uninhabited until 1903, when the newly built
railways from Lake Titicaca and Arica reached the rim of the canyon,
where the La Paz terminus, railyards and depots were built along with a
settlement of railway workers (a spur line down into the canyon opened
in 1905). In 1925 the airfield was built as 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
