Aymara Day

The Aymara, are an indigenous people native to South America who have inhabited the Andean plateau of Lake Titicaca and parts of Madre de Dios since pre-Columbian times, extending between northwestern Argentina, western Bolivia, northern Chile and southeastern Peru.

Alternatively, they are called Collas, which should not be confused with the ethnic group of the same name that inhabits northwestern Argentina and northern Chile, as there is no two-way correspondence between the two names.

At present, most of the Aymara now live in the Lake Titicaca region and are concentrated in the south of the lake. The urban center of the Aymara region is El Alto, a city of 750,000 inhabitants, and also La Paz, Bolivia's seat of government. In addition, many Aymara live and work as farmers on the outskirts of the Altiplano. The number of Aymara-speaking Bolivians is estimated at 1,600,000. Between 300,000 and 500,000 Peruvians use the language in the departments of Puno, Tacna, Moquegua and Arequipa, and in Chile there are 156,000 Aymara speakers, mostly in the areas of Arica, Iquique, Antofagasta and Santiago.