Which capital is the highest administrative capital in the world? The answer is La Paz, Bolivia.
La Paz stands at roughly 3,650 metres above sea level in a dramatic canyon carved by the Choqueyapu River. Its high-altitude setting makes it the world’s highest administrative capital, meaning it is where Bolivia’s government operates. Bolivia’s constitutional capital is Sucre, however, so La Paz is not the country’s formal constitutional capital.
The city was founded by the Spanish in 1548 as Nuestra Señora de La Paz, meaning “Our Lady of Peace.” It developed as a strategic link between mining centres such as Potosí and Oruro and the colonial trading routes leading toward Lima. Today, government ministries, the presidential palace and the national legislature are based in La Paz.
Altitude shapes everyday life: visitors may experience shortness of breath, headaches or fatigue while acclimatising. Nearby El Alto, on the Altiplano plateau, is even higher, while the snow-capped mountain Illimani dominates views across the city. Quito is also exceptionally high, but La Paz is the standard answer to this wording.