La Paz Department, Bolivia Genealogy

Guide to La Paz Department family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.



History
Although the Spanish conquistadors entered the area in 1535, they did not found La Paz until 1548. Control over the former Inca lands had been entrusted to Pedro de la Gasca by the Spanish king and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Charles V. commemorating the end of the civil wars in Peru. The city of La Paz was founded on October 20, 1548. On July 16, 1809 Pedro Domingo Murillo said that the Bolivian revolution was igniting a lamp that nobody would be able to turn off. This uprising formally marked the beginning of the liberation of South America from Spain. Pedro Domingo Murillo was hanged at the Plaza de los Españoles that night. After Bolivia gained independence, La Paz named this plaza after him, to commemorate him always. He is remembered as the voice of revolution across South America. In 1898, La Paz was made the de facto seat of the national government, with Sucre remaining the nominal historical as well as judiciary capital. This change reflected the shift of the Bolivian economy away from the largely exhausted silver mines of Potosí to the exploitation of tin near Oruro, and resulting shifts in the distribution of economic and political power among various national elites. 

Provinces
La Paz Department is divided into the following provinces:

Online Records

 * 1929-1954 - at FamilySearch — index and images