Uyuni

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title: "Uyuni" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-potosí-department", "populated-places-established-in-1889"] topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-potosi-department" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyuni" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameUyuni
native_name
settlement_typeCity
image_skylineUyuni Potosi Ave Aerial.jpg
image_captionPlaza Arce adjoins Potosí Avenue to mark the center of town.
image_flagBandera_de_Uyuni.jpg
dot_x
pushpin_mapBolivia
pushpin_label_positionbottom
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Bolivia
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameBolivia
subdivision_type1Department
subdivision_name1Potosí Department
subdivision_type2Province
subdivision_name2Antonio Quijarro Province
subdivision_type3Municipality
subdivision_name3Uyuni Municipality
subdivision_type4Canton
subdivision_name4Uyuni Canton
leader_title1
established_title
established_title2
established_title3
unit_pref
area_total_km2
area_land_km2
population_as_of2012
population_total29,672
population_blank1_titleEthnicities
population_blank1Quechua, Aymara
timezoneBOT
utc_offset-4
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
postal_code_type
::

|official_name = Uyuni |other_name = |native_name =
|nickname = |settlement_type = City |motto = |image_skyline = Uyuni Potosi Ave Aerial.jpg |imagesize = |image_caption = Plaza Arce adjoins Potosí Avenue to mark the center of town. |image_flag = Bandera_de_Uyuni.jpg |flag_size = |image_seal = |seal_size = |image_shield = |shield_size = |image_blank_emblem = |blank_emblem_type = |blank_emblem_size = |image_map = |mapsize = |map_caption = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |image_dot_map = |dot_mapsize = |dot_map_caption = |dot_x = |dot_y = |pushpin_map = Bolivia |pushpin_label_position =bottom |pushpin_map_caption =Location in Bolivia |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Bolivia |subdivision_type1 = Department |subdivision_name1 = Potosí Department |subdivision_type2 = Province |subdivision_name2 = Antonio Quijarro Province |subdivision_type3 = Municipality |subdivision_name3 = Uyuni Municipality |subdivision_type4 = Canton |subdivision_name4 = Uyuni Canton |government_footnotes = |government_type = |leader_title = |leader_name = |leader_title1 =
|leader_name1 = |leader_title2 = |leader_name2 = |leader_title3 = |leader_name3 = |leader_title4 = |leader_name4 = |established_title =
|established_date = |established_title2 =
|established_date2 = |established_title3 =
|established_date3 = |area_magnitude = |unit_pref = |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |area_total_sq_mi = |area_land_sq_mi = |area_water_sq_mi = |area_water_percent = |area_urban_km2 = |area_urban_sq_mi = |area_metro_km2 = |area_metro_sq_mi = |area_blank1_title = |area_blank1_km2 = |area_blank1_sq_mi = |population_as_of = 2012 |population_footnotes = |population_note = |population_total = 29,672 |population_density_km2 = |population_density_sq_mi = |population_metro = |population_density_metro_km2 = |population_density_metro_sq_mi = |population_urban = |population_density_urban_km2 = |population_density_urban_sq_mi = |population_blank1_title =Ethnicities |population_blank1 =Quechua, Aymara |population_blank2_title = |population_blank2 = |population_density_blank1_km2 = |population_density_blank1_sq_mi = |timezone = BOT |utc_offset = -4 |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |coordinates = |elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_m = |elevation_ft = |postal_code_type =
|postal_code = |area_code = |blank_name = |blank_info = |blank1_name = |blank1_info = |website = |footnotes = Uyuni (Aymara, uyu pen, yard, cemetery, -ni a suffix to indicate ownership, "the one that has got a pen", "the one with a pen") is a city in the southwest of Bolivia.

Uyuni primarily serves as a gateway for tourists visiting the world's largest salt flats, the nearby Salar de Uyuni. Each year the city receives approximately 60,000 visitors from around the globe. The city also acts as a gateway for commerce and traffic crossing into and out of Bolivia from and to Chile, and there is a customs and immigration post downtown. Agriculture in the area is generally limited to quinoa, llamas, and sheep.

Founded in 1890 as a trading post, the city has a population of 29,672 (2012 official census). The town has an extensive street-market. It lies at the edge of an extensive plain at an elevation of 3700 m above sea level, with more mountainous country to the east.

Transport

It is an important transport hub, being the location of a major railway junction. Four lines join here, respectively from La Paz (via Oruro), Calama (in Chile), Potosí, and Villazón (on the Argentine border, where the line now ends).

Uyuni is connected by road to Oruro - La Paz, Sucre, Villazón (border with Argentina) and Ollagüe, Chile.

The city is also served by the Joya Andina Airport. Currently, two local airlines are flying regularly to the city from La Paz, Sucre and Rurrenabaque: Amazonas and Transporte Aéreo Militar.

Tourist attractions

Train cemetery

One of the major tourist attractions of the area is an antique train cemetery. It is located 3 km outside Uyuni and is connected to it by the old train tracks. The town served in the past as a distribution hub for the trains carrying minerals on their way to the Pacific Ocean ports. The train lines were built by British engineers who arrived near the end of the 19th century and formed a sizable community in Uyuni. The engineers were invited by British-sponsored Antofagasta and Bolivia Railway Companies, which is now Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia. The rail construction started in 1888 and ended in 1892. It was encouraged by the then Bolivian President Aniceto Arce, who believed Bolivia would flourish with a good transport system, but it was also constantly sabotaged by the local indigenous people who saw it as an intrusion into their lives. The trains were mostly used by the mining companies. In the 1940s, the mining industry collapsed, partly due to the mineral depletion. Many trains were abandoned thereby producing the train cemetery. There are talks to build a museum out of the cemetery.

Images

Image:Locomotora, Av. Feeroviaria Uyuni.jpg|Av. Ferroviaria, Uyuni. Image:Uyuni, Avenia Ferroviaria.jpg|Av. Ferroviaria, Uyuni. Image:Estación de Ferrocarril Uyuni, Potosí - Bolivia.jpg|Estación de ferrocarriles, Uyuni. Image:Uyuni, Estación de Ferrocarril Uyuni, Potosí - Bolivia.jpg|Estación de ferrocarriles, Uyuni. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, 2016-02-04, DD 16-18 HDR.JPG|Uyuni salt flat. Isla del Pescado, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, 2016-02-04, DD 38.JPG|Isla del Pescado. Image:Town Centre Uyuni Bolivia.jpg| The clock tower. Image:Traditional Bolivian street dance in Uyuni.jpg|Dance parade in the streets of Uyuni.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification, Uyuni has an alpine cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWk) with mild summers and cool winters. Night time temperatures stay chilly year round.

| location = Uyuni, elevation: 3,680 m, 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1945–present | metric first = yes | single line = yes | collapsed = yes |Jan record high C = 30.0 |Feb record high C = 30.0 |Mar record high C = 31.5 |Apr record high C = 26.4 |May record high C = 24.0 |Jun record high C = 19.5 |Jul record high C = 20.5 |Aug record high C = 29.0 |Sep record high C = 26.1 |Oct record high C = 26.8 |Nov record high C = 28.2 |Dec record high C = 29.1 |year record high C = 31.5 |Jan high C = 20.6 |Feb high C = 20.3 |Mar high C = 20.2 |Apr high C = 18.6 |May high C = 15.2 |Jun high C = 12.8 |Jul high C = 13.1 |Aug high C = 14.9 |Sep high C = 16.5 |Oct high C = 19.0 |Nov high C = 20.6 |Dec high C = 20.6 |year high C = 17.6 |Jan mean C = 13.0 |Feb mean C = 12.4 |Mar mean C = 11.7 |Apr mean C = 8.7 |May mean C = 4.4 |Jun mean C = 1.6 |Jul mean C = 1.7 |Aug mean C = 3.6 |Sep mean C = 5.6 |Oct mean C = 8.2 |Nov mean C = 10.3 |Dec mean C = 11.6 |year mean C = 7.7 |Jan low C = 5.5 |Feb low C = 4.6 |Mar low C = 3.3 |Apr low C = -1.3 |May low C = -6.3 |Jun low C = -9.6 |Jul low C = -9.7 |Aug low C = -7.6 |Sep low C = -5.4 |Oct low C = -2.6 |Nov low C = 0.1 |Dec low C = 2.7 |year low C = -2.1 |Jan record low C = -7.4 |Feb record low C = -6.0 |Mar record low C = -10.0 |Apr record low C = -14.0 |May record low C = -22.0 |Jun record low C = -22.0 |Jul record low C = -24.0 |Aug record low C = -25.7 |Sep record low C = -21.5 |Oct record low C = -19.2 |Nov record low C = -15.2 |Dec record low C = -8.8 |year record low C = -25.7 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 79.3 |Feb precipitation mm = 37.7 |Mar precipitation mm = 28.5 |Apr precipitation mm = 2.3 |May precipitation mm = 0.8 |Jun precipitation mm = 1.8 |Jul precipitation mm = 0.0 |Aug precipitation mm = 1.7 |Sep precipitation mm = 1.8 |Oct precipitation mm = 2.8 |Nov precipitation mm = 3.8 |Dec precipitation mm = 26.4 |year precipitation mm = 190.9 |Jan precipitation days = 11.1 |Feb precipitation days = 7.3 |Mar precipitation days = 5.8 |Apr precipitation days = 1.0 |May precipitation days = 0.3 |Jun precipitation days = 0.9 |Jul precipitation days = 0.0 |Aug precipitation days = 0.3 |Sep precipitation days = 0.4 |Oct precipitation days = 0.3 |Nov precipitation days = 0.9 |Dec precipitation days = 3.8 |year precipitation days = 32.8 |Jan snow days = 0.0 |Feb snow days = 0.24 |Mar snow days = 0.0 |Apr snow days = 0.0 |May snow days = 0.04 |Jun snow days = 0.03 |Jul snow days = 0.0 |Aug snow days = 0.10 |Sep snow days = 0.0 |Oct snow days = 0.0 |Nov snow days = 0.0 |Dec snow days = 0.0 |year snow days = 0.48 |source 1 = Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología de Bolivia | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190921144951/http://senamhi.gob.bo/index.php/sismet | archive-date = 21 September 2019 | url = http://senamhi.gob.bo/index.php/sismet | title = Base de datos Sistema Meteorológico–SISMET | publisher = Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología de Bolivia | language = es | access-date = 21 September 2019}}

References

References

  1. "Ficha Resúmen Censo de Poblacion y Vivienda 2012". Instituto Nacional de Estadística.
  3. Ludovico Bertonio, Aymara-Spanish dictionary (Transcription): '''''Uyu''''' - ''Cerca o corral o cementerio''
  4. (27 Apr 2015). "Food sovereignty and the quinoa boom: challenges to sustainable re-peasantisation in the southern Altiplano of Bolivia". Third World Quarterly.
  5. (11 July 2017). "La quinua principal cultivo del municipio de Uyuni".
  6. David Atkinson. (2007). "Bolivia: The Bradt Travel Guide". Bradt Travel Guides.

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