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52-470: 10°29′10″S 65°26′00″W  /  10.4861°S 65.4333°W  / -10.4861; -65.4333 This Beni Department location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a river in Bolivia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Beni Department Beni ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbeni] ), sometimes El Beni ,

104-687: A clearer understanding of these prehistoric cultures. Evidence of people living in the Llanos dates back to 8000 BCE. Archaeologists have found artifacts in the monumental mounds dating to as early as 800 BCE. The Llanos were heavily populated by indigenous people until the arrival of the Spanish in the late 17th century. Differing definitions of the area comprising the Llanos de Moxos in northern Bolivia result in estimates of their size ranging from 110,000 square kilometres (42,000 sq mi) to 200,000 square kilometres (77,000 sq mi). This area

156-595: A power plant in San Borja, Beni , in compliance with a Bolivian legal mandate that indicted officials may not continue to serve. As a replacement for the governor Carmelo Lens was elected in the special election on 20 January 2013. The current governor, Alejandro Unzueta of the MTS was elected on 7 March 2021. Under the 2009 Constitution, each Bolivian department has an elected Departmental Legislative Assembly. The first elections were held 4 April 2010. The leading party in

208-412: A village would have a population of about 2000 people. Denevan estimated the pre-Columbian population of the Llanos de Moxos at 350,000 and a population of 100,000 in 1690 when Jesuit priests first established missions in the Llanos. David Block, to the contrary, estimated only about 30,000 inhabitants of the Llanos in 1679. Whichever is more correct, the pre-Columbian population had declined due to

260-414: Is a northeastern department of Bolivia , in the lowlands region of the country. It is the second-largest department in the country (after Santa Cruz), covering 213,564 square kilometers (82,458 sq mi), and it was created by supreme decree on November 18, 1842, during the administration of General José Ballivián . Its capital is Trinidad . With a population of 425,780, according to the 2012 censeus, Beni

312-558: Is being identified as the Casarabe culture has a highly integrated, continuous, and dense settlement system covering more than 4,000 km (1,500 sq mi) with multiple sites and relatively close interconnections. The settlement characteristic of the Casarabe culture is being described as low-density urbanism that developed between 500 CE and 1400 CE. Historically, archaeologists and geographers held that large, complex pre-Columbian societies were unable to develop and flourish in

364-592: Is characterized by flat terrain, many rivers and shallow lakes, and a tropical climate with pronounced wet and dry seasons. Fifty to sixty percent of the land is flooded from four to ten months per year. The Llanos are located mostly in the drainage basin of the Mamoré River . The main contemporary urban center in the Llanos is the present-day city of Trinidad . East of that city is Casarabe . Recent lidar remote-sensing data and data collected during previous archaeological-reconnaissance demonstrate that what now

416-509: Is considered a delicacy and is a common part of meals in Beni. Beni now also exports huge amounts of lumber, although over the past 20 years the government of Bolivia has worked with numerous international entities and NGOs to certify its lumber concessions and all lumber exported must be accompanied by certificates of origin. Beni is hot and humid during most of the year with an annual rainfall average between 1,000–4,000 mm (39–157 in). It

468-405: Is divided into 8 provinces which are further subdivided into municipalities and 48 cantons . The dominant language in the department is Spanish . The following table shows the number of those belonging to the recognized group of speakers. 14°S 65°W  /  14°S 65°W  / -14; -65 Llanos de Moxos (archaeology) The Llanos de Moxos , also known as

520-439: Is made), Brazil nuts (one of the regions main crops and exports), soybeans, bananas, maracuya, guayaba, papaya, and many other citrus fruits. Coffee is also grown extensively. Beni is also the second Bolivia's largest cattle-ranching region. Official estimates calculate there are anywhere between 2 and 2.5 million heads of cattle throughout the year. Most of these are turned out to pasture and thus are naturally fed. The department

572-608: Is one of the wettest regions in Bolivia, with more wetlands than the better-known Pantanal . During the winter (June and July) the weather can be cool and winds blowing northward from the South Pole and Argentina's Patagonia region can cause temperatures to drop quite drastically very quickly. Because of its climate and rich soils, the department is Bolivia's second largest agricultural center after Santa Cruz. There are extensive fields of corn, yucca (manioc), sunflowers, rice, and many tropical fruits such as cacao (from which chocolate

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624-462: Is prominent in the regional culture. Cowboys, or " vaqueros ", still play an important role in Beni society, comprising a large portion of the working class. Other industries significant to the region include logging, small-scale fishing and hunting, farming, and in recent years, eco-tourism. Though the Beni lies in the southern reaches of the Amazon Basin, an area renowned for tropical disease,

676-532: Is the governor, who is elected to office; until then, the office was called the prefect. Until 2006 the prefect was appointed by the president of Bolivia . As of 2011 Beni had an interim governor, Haysen Ribera Leigue, who was selected by the Departmental Legislative Assembly on 16 December 2011. Governor Ernesto Suárez Sattori, who was elected on 4 April 2010, was suspended following his indictment for irregular expenditures related to

728-433: Is the second least-populated of the nine departments of Bolivia , after Pando . Although Beni is rich in natural resources, the poverty level of its inhabitants is high, mainly as a result of centuries of exploitation of native populations by European-descended elites . The main economic activities are agriculture, timber, and cattle. In addition, an underground economy linked to illegal narcotics activities flourished in

780-633: The Moxos plains , are extensive remains of pre-Columbian agricultural societies scattered over the Moxos plains in most of Beni Department , Bolivia. The remains testify to a well-organized and numerous indigenous people . This contradicts the traditional view of archaeologists , notably Betty Meggers , who asserted that the Amazon River Basin was not environmentally able to sustain a large population and that its indigenous inhabitants were hunter-gatherer bands or slash-and-burn farmers. In

832-429: The 13th century AD this region was settled by sophisticated and organized groups of human societies. Their civil structures were based, both environmentally and economically, on the use of specific environmental characteristics (such as the use of aquatic plants as fertilizer, and enormous fishing systems they constructed). Miles of these channels and man-made earthworks are visible from the air when flying over Beni. When

884-537: The 18th century, sent to convert the native inhabitants, chiefly in the southern half of the department. The religious origins of many of the Beni's towns can be attested to by the centrality of the local church in most of the communities, and in the very names of the towns: Trinidad, Santa Ana, San Borja, Reyes, etc. Today, the Beni region is the seat of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of El Beni . The importance of cattle ranching

936-602: The 1960s, petroleum company geologists and geographer William Denevan were among the first to publicize the existence of extensive prehistoric earthworks constructed in the Amazon, especially in the Llanos de Moxos. A large part of the Llanos de Moxos is covered with water during the rainy season. Many types of earthworks have been documented in the Llanos, including monumental mounds, raised fields for agriculture, natural and constructed forest islands, canals, causeways, ring ditches, and fish weirs . Archaeological investigations in

988-463: The Amazon prevail. Associated with pre-historic settlements is Amazonian dark earth, called "terra mulata" or terra preta . These highly-productive soils are the product of human occupation and endeavors to improve soil fertility. The people of the Moxos plains domesticated their landscape by practicing raised bed agriculture and improving soils by the addition of organic matter. Disagreements about

1040-471: The Beni into the economy and political life of Bolivia. These attitudes persisted although Beni residents benefited greatly by the Agrarian Reform instituted following the 1952 Revolution, with many citizens gaining ownership of significant tracts of land. Most of these turned to cattle ranching. The absence of a reliable road linking the department to the main centers of power in the country (owing to

1092-517: The Llanos de Moxos dating to 8000 BCE in shell middens on several forest islands. Some of the artifacts in the monumental mounds have been radiocarbon dated to as long ago as 800 BCE. The early Spaniards found six principal ethnic groups in the Llanos: the Moxo (or Mojo), Movima , Canichana , Cayuvava , Itonama , and Bauré . The names of 26 other groups are known. The Baure were considered by

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1144-477: The Llanos have not been extensive and many questions remain about the cultures of the prehistoric inhabitants. To date, there is no evidence that the inhabitants were politically united in pre-Columbian times, but rather they seem to have been organized into a large number of small, independent polities speaking a variety of different, unrelated languages. Lidar data reported in 2022 may reveal much about sites that have not been investigated. This may help to establish

1196-457: The Spanish arrived, the region had already been in decline for about three hundred years. However, this is where many products that are now used worldwide originated in native cultivation: among them tobacco , peanuts , cotton , cassava (manioc), vanilla and sweet potatoes . The Spanish initially were intensely interested in this area. During the first century of colonization, they believed

1248-526: The Spanish to be the most "civilized", followed by the Moxo. The other groups lived in smaller communities and on less favored lands. The Canichana or Canisiana were warlike hunters who occupied prime riverfront property on the Mamoré River . The Llanos were a patchwork of unrelated languages. The Baure and Moxo spoke Arawak languages. Linguists believe that the Arawakan peoples originated further north in

1300-420: The anthropogenic origin of many of the earthworks in the Llanos de Moxos continue. Likewise, authorities disagree on the number and social complexity of the people who constructed the earthworks, some postulating a large population, others a small population that built the earthworks over a long period of time. Stonework, characteristic of the highland civilization west of the Llanos, was not a feature because there

1352-440: The area during the last decades of the 20th century, with many cocaine laboratories hidden behind the façade of remote cattle ranches. The Beni region is wide and flat, featuring many large mounds connected by straight earthen causeways , which are believed by researchers to have been built by ancient inhabitants. The earthwork mounds provide raised living areas and enable the growth of trees that could not survive otherwise in

1404-624: The central Amazon basin and migrated to the Llanos, bringing their cassava-based agriculture with them. Most of the other ethnic groups were probably earlier inhabitants of the Llanos than the Arawak-speakers, although the distinct hunting and warrior culture of the Canichana suggests they may have only recently migrated into the Llanos at the time of first contact with the Spanish Empire . Archaeologist Clark Erickson summarized

1456-399: The city of Trinidad and centered on the town of Casarabe is the most fertile and the least-waterlogged region of the Llanos. It contains large numbers of monumental mounds and associated agricultural fields and integrated earthworks. This region probably hosted the most complex societies of the pre-historic Llanos de Moxos. Archaeologists have found indirect evidence of a human presence in

1508-760: The department is flat, along the border with La Paz there are two sierra chains called Eva Eva and Pelado. Beni is criss-crossed by numerous rivers, all of which are Amazon tributaries. The largest of these are the Iténez (also known as Guaporé), Mamoré, Madre de Dios, Madera, Yata, Ivón, Machupo, Itonama, Baures, San Martín, San Miguel, San Simón, Negro, Sécure, Yacuma, Maniquí, Ibare and Apere, all of which are navigable. Beni also has numerous lakes and lagoons. The most important of these are: Laguna Suárez , Rogagua , Rogaguado, San Luis, San Pablo, Huachi , Huatunas, Yusala, Huachuna, Agua Clara, Ginebra, La Dichosa, Bolivia , Navidad, Las Abras, Larga, Maracaibo and Aquiles Lake . In

1560-581: The difficult terrain) continued to contribute to the Benianos' perception of isolation, as did a downturn in the cattle industry. As a result, both the white/mestizo population and departmental authorities supported the Santa Cruz-led effort to federalize the country and devolve powers to the departments at the expense of the central government. Considerable social unrest took place in 2007 and 2008, leading some to consider separatism as plausible. Beni

1612-676: The distinctive remains of its prehistoric inhabitants, the raised fields being necessary for drainage and improvement of the soils. Although there was probably a large pre-historic population in this region, there is little evidence of a complex society. Region two: East of the Mamoré River and centered on the town of Baures and the Baures River is an area of many forested islands, mostly natural, which were inhabited and circled by ditched agricultural fields, ring ditches, fish weirs, and many canals and zigzag causeways. It appears that

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1664-674: The early Spanish description of Baure villages: the villages were large by Amazonian standards and were laid out in formal plans which included streets, spacious public plazas, rings of houses, and large central bebederos (communal men's houses). According to the Jesuits, many of these villages were defended through the construction of deep circular moats and wooden palisades enclosing the settlements. Settlements were connected by causeways and canals that enabled year round travel. Early Spanish explorers in 1617 reported Llanos villages with up to 400 houses. Modern scholars have calculated that such

1716-493: The earthworks in this area were constructed not long before the Spanish arrived. Region three: West of the city of Trinidad centered on the town of San Ignacio de Moxos is an area in which soils are relatively fertile and hosting a large number of earthworks, including mounds, man-made forested islands, raised fields and causeways. The proliferation of earthworks and their variety suggest a more complex pre-historic society than those of regions one and two. Region four: East of

1768-510: The end of the 19th century. But these enormous rubber plantations all but disappeared by the end of the Second World War, as developers had been cultivating rubber introduced to plantations of Southeast Asia and Africa. Today many of the properties have been converted to cattle ranches. Only some small rubber producers still use the river to transport their production. The chief executive office of Bolivia departments (since May 2010)

1820-411: The frequently flooded lowland area. In the 21st century, archeologists and anthropologists such as Americans Clark Erickson and William Balée, respectively, believe these earthwork structures are evidence of a large and sophisticated indigenous civilization that flourished for thousands of years before European colonization. The first European settlers in this area were Spanish Jesuit missionaries during

1872-470: The huge rubber plantations that arose. The worldwide demand for rubber rose with industrialization and the use of automotive vehicles. For decades this was one of the most active, dynamic regions of Bolivia. Cachuela Esperanza was an important center for rubber exports as it is located along the shores of the Beni River . As a measure of its success, it had one of the best-equipped hospitals in Bolivia at

1924-425: The large mounds. They served multiple functions: transportation, drainage, boundary markers, and enhancing fishery resources. Zigzag causeways in some areas are interpreted as being fish weirs. Fish were probably the main source of protein for the pre-historic inhabitants. Ring ditches are found in many areas. Ditches were constructed to encircle areas of human settlement and functioned both for drainage of water in

1976-411: The lowland forests of the Amazon basin because of poor soils for agriculture, protein deficiency of inhabitants, lack of domesticated animals, and limited technology. In 2008, that view was challenged following investigation of ruins in the Llanos de Moxos. More recent lidar data has enabled assessments to develop rapidly that could have taken decades using archaeological methods to prove the inaccuracy of

2028-406: The misjudgment. The lidar data reveals construction by the inhabitants that overcame natural deficiencies. In general, soil fertility in the Llanos decreases from south to north. The soils of the southernmost Llanos benefit from the deposits of sediments by rivers flowing down from the nearby Andes . The quantities of those sediments decrease northward and the typical infertile lateritic soils of

2080-478: The mythical city of El Dorado (also known as Paititi ) could be found in this region. However, they never found this legendary city of gold and they soon lost interest in the area, which would remain marginalized for several centuries after. Between the 19th and 20th centuries northern Beni became Bolivia's rubber capital. The abundance of rubber trees attracted many people to the region, many of them adventurers and workers (many of whom were indigenous) to work in

2132-491: The national party in 2010 when they backed MAS-IPSP policies and leadership. The December 2011 suspension of Governor Ernesto Suarez was backed by 15 votes, including the MAS and MNR delegations, and two indigenous or campesino representatives. Two members of the assembly were also indicted simultaneously and replaced by their alternates: Sonia Suárez Araúz (MNR) was replaced by Juan Carlos Herrera; and Carlos Navia Ribera (MAS-IPSP)

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2184-481: The northeast, and the departments of Santa Cruz to the southeast, La Paz to the west, Pando to the northwest, and Cochabamba to the south. Beni's territory is mainly covered by rainforest (particularly the northern and eastern portions of the department) and pampa (notably the grassland Moxos Plain to the south, closer to the Andean reaches). Much of Beni is at about 155 meters above sea level. Although most of

2236-520: The population has fewer health problems than in the Andes Region, especially those related to malnutrition. The inhabitants (Benianos) are mostly descendants of Cruceños (people from Santa Cruz ) who streamed north following the course of navigable rivers, and native peoples. The Beniano diet consists largely of rice, bananas, beef, and fish. Some popular dishes include Majao, Masaco, and others, many featuring cured/salted meats. The majority of

2288-464: The population in Beni is mestizo. The white/mestizo Benianos have traditionally been mistrustful, and often somewhat contemptuous, of Andean culture. They identify as being lighter skinned and of more Spanish ancestry than the Quechua and Aymara-speaking populations of the highlands. Considerable resentment existed against the central government, which allegedly did very little to build roads or integrate

2340-432: The rainy season and for storage of water during the dry season. They were usually less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) in depth and 3 metres (9.8 ft) to 5 metres (16 ft) in width. Four eco-archaeological regions are identified in the Llanos de Moxos. Region one: North of the city of Santa Ana del Yacuma and west of the Mamoré River is an area of water-logged and poor soils. Many large raised agricultural fields are

2392-599: The rainy season. Raised fields may have covered as much as 1,000,000 hectares (2,500,000 acres) of land in the Moxos Plains. Maize and cassava (Yuka) were probably the principal crops. Forest islands rise above the surrounding swamps. Many are constructed artificially, the products of abandoned monumental mounds and human settlements. Forest islands were used for home sites, agriculture, hunting, and harvesting of wild plant products. Canals and causeways often connected areas of human settlement, radiating outward from

2444-547: The region's many rivers over 400 species of fish have been found. Trinidad has an entire museum, the Museo Ictícola , dedicated to Beni's fish fauna which is the third largest of its type in South America. The most commonly fished and consumed species are pacú , tambaquí , surubí , palometa (a type of piranha ), sábalo, bagre (catfish), and blanquillo. Alligators are also hunted for their leather and meat, which

2496-446: The small mounds, less than 3 metres (9.8 ft) high, was residential and agricultural. Agricultural fields demonstrate that farming on the Llanos de Moxos was mostly on long narrow strips of land raised by humans up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) above floodwater levels. The remains of strips, called "camellónes" in Spanish, are as long as 600 metres (2,000 ft) and 20 metres (66 ft) wide. The raised fields permitted drainage during

2548-677: The twenty-eight member assembly is Beni First , with 11 seats. The Movement towards Socialism (MAS-IPSP) holds 10 seats, and the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) holds 3 seats. Two seats each were selected by indigenous people and by peasants through usos y costumbres . In alliance with the indigenous and peasant representatives, the MAS-IPSP controls the presidency of the Assembly. The three MNR representatives and their alternates were derecognized by

2600-438: Was a very important center of a pre-Columbian civilization known as the hydraulic culture of Las Lomas (the hills), a culture that constructed over 20,000 man-made artificial hills, all interconnected by thousands of square kilometers of aqueducts, channels, embankments, artificial lakes and lagoons, as well as terraces. Between about 4000 BC (and probably earlier as this date is taken from ceramics that have been carbon dated) and

2652-575: Was no surface stone in the area. Mounds ( lomas in Spanish) are scattered throughout the Llanos de Moxos. The total number of mounds is estimated at 20,000. Two to three hundred of these are large mounds rising from 3 metres (9.8 ft) to 5.5 metres (18 ft) above their bases and with a land area of 2 hectares (4.9 acres) to 11 hectares (27 acres). Mounds are concentrated in several areas, suggesting that several regional polities existed, each with its residential and ceremonial centers. The purpose of

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2704-532: Was replaced by Tatiana Paniagua Zabala. The interim governor was also a member of the Assembly. In the National Congress of Bolivia Beni elects nine out of 130 members of the Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies), and four members of the Cámara de Senadores (Chamber of Senators). Beni's weather is tropical and humid, with a prevalence of warm to hot temperatures. Beni borders upon Brazil to

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