Oruro Department

Oruro (Quechua: Uru Uru; Aymara: Ururu) is a department of Bolivia, with an area of 53,588 km2. Its capital is the city of Oruro. According to the 2012 census, the Oruro department had a population of 494,178.

Provinces of Oruro
The department is divided into 16 provinces which are further subdivided into municipalities and cantons.

Note: Eduardo Abaroa Province (#5) is both north of and south of Sebastián Pagador Province (#6).

Executive offices
The chief executive officer of Bolivian departments (since May 2010) is the governor; until then, the office was called the prefect, and until 2006 the prefect was appointed by the president of Bolivia. The current governor, Johnny Franklin Vedia Rodríguez of the Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples, was elected on 7 March 2021.

Legislature
The chief legislative body of the department is the Departmental Legislative Assembly, a body also first elected on 4 April 2010. It consists of 33 members: 16 elected by each of the department's provinces; 16 elected based on proportional representation; and minority indigenous representative selected by the Uru-Chipaya people.

After the regional election on 7 March 2021, the legislature met for its first session of 3 May 2021 and elected a new executive committee consisting of Edwin Fuentes Camacho as president and Delia Gongora Veliz as vice-president.

Languages
The languages spoken in the department are mainly Spanish, Quechua and Aymara. The following table shows the number of those belonging to the recognised group of speakers.

Notable people

 * Evo Morales, who was the Bolivian president from 2006 to 2019, was born in the village of Isallawi near Orinoca.
 * Juan Mendoza, hero and pioneer of the Bolivian aviation.
 * Zulma Yugar, who is a Bolivian politician and folk singer with international recognition and influence.

Places of interest

 * Sajama National Park
 * Parinacota Volcano
 * Sajama Lines
 * Poopó Lake
 * Lake Uru Uru
 * Paria, first Spanish settlement in Bolivia, former Inca city.