1) I remember this from school. Bolivia has two capitals—Sucre and La Paz. I could fill it in on the forms, but what the hell does that mean? Do they have two premiers? Well, it doesn’t mean much. Essentially, Sucre gets the consolation prize.

2) Sucre is the “constitutional” capital of Bolivia, with the Supreme Court. It is also capital of the Chuquisaca department. On November 30, 1538 Sucre was founded under the name Ciudad de la Plata de la Nueva Toledo. In 1559 King Philip II established the Audiencia de Charcas in La Plata with authority over an area which covers what is now Paraguay, southeastern Peru, Northern Chile and Argentina, and much of Bolivia. In 1609, an archbishopric was founded in the city. Sucre remains the seat of the Catholic church in Bolivia. Until the 18th century, La Plata was the judicial, religious and cultural center of the region. In 1839, after the city became the capital of Bolivia, it was renamed in honor of the revolutionary leader Antonio José de Sucre. Too remote, the Bolivian seat of government moved to La Paz in 1898.

3) La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia and departmental capital of La Paz Department. Founded in 1548 at town called Chuquiago, the full name of the city was originally Nuestra Señora de La Paz. The name commemorated the restoration of peace following the insurrection of Gonzalo Pizarro and fellow conquistadors against Blasco Núñez Vela, the first viceroy of Peru. In 1898, La Paz was made the de facto seat of the national government, with Sucre remaining the nominal capital only. This change reflected the shift of the Bolivian economy away from the largely exhausted silver mines of Potosí to the exploitation of tin near Oruro.