High School Study Abroad in Bolivia

Santa Cruz de la Sierra is Bolivia’s largest city and and main node of economic activity. Straddled along the banks of the Pirai River in the Eastern reaches of the country, Santa Cruz is one of the world’s fastest growing cities and a magnet for ambitious business-minded people from all over the continent. With many impressive museums, theaters, and art galleries, it is a thriving cultural hotspot as well.

While Santa Cruz may officially be the country’s largest city, La Paz has an even larger metropolitan area of over 2 million inhabitants. It is also the seat of the Bolivian government, despite the fact that Sucre is the official capital. La Paz is settled at an altitude of nearly 12,000 feet in the Altiplano of the Andes, providing an unparalleled amount of scenic beauty. It also happens to be the highest administrative capital in the world!

Many high school programs in Bolivia will include travel throughout several regions of the country, so you will not necessarily have to settle on just one location. Other destinations that may be on your high school program itinerary may include cities such as Cochabamba and Sucre. It is also quite common for high school programs in Bolivia to include travel to more rural areas of the country, to give students a taste of the quieter side of Bolivian life away from the big cities.