The valleys as high as 12,000 feet, as in the case of La Paz, are comparatively comfortable, being shielded from the bleak winds of the plateau. From 9500 feet to 11,000 the climate is sufficiently temperate for the raising of vegetables and cereals. In what is called the Valley Zone, 5,000 to 9,000 feet, there is slight variation throughout the year, perpetual summer and subtropical vegetation. Below are the _yungas_, deep valleys with semitropical climate, and further the tropical lowlands. Except for the last section the country as a whole may be called healthful, diseases arising from bad habits, poverty, ignorance, and unsanitary conditions, rather than as a necessary result of the climate. In the lowlands, however, tropical fevers and malaria are likely to exist, while many persons are more or less affected by _soroche_ on ascending to the plateau from the sea. In La Paz the weather in winter is cool, with a temperature occasionally below freezing and ranging from 40° to 50° in the house. Snow though not uncommon soon vanishes in the sun, and flowers like geraniums blossom all the year in the open. In summer, with much more precipitation, it usually rains in the valley, with snow often on the _puna_ and always on the mountains above. CHAPTER XXV BOLIVIA: CAPITAL, DEPARTMENTS, CHIEF CITIES THE CAPITAL =La Paz=, the de facto capital, population 107,000, is by far the largest and most important city commercially. It is the highest capital and large city in the world, also one of the most picturesque, both on account of its location at the bottom of a cañon, 1000 feet deep, and of its street scenes with the strangely garbed Indians and cholos, and the droves of llamas. The city has better sanitary arrangements than Quito, the narrow streets are remarkably clean, but some conveniences are lacking. There are electric lights and cars, but a meagre water supply, and too few opportunities for a bath. Good hotels are needed, the new “Paris” and some older houses being wholly inadequate for present necessities. The business of the city is largely in the hands of foreigners, i.e., the best shops, and some of the banks and importing houses. La Paz is the chief centre of trade of the country, the Custom House here transacting by far the most business, but supplemented by several others at the east and south. DEPARTMENTS