| Official Name: | Rafael Bustillo |
| Settlement Type: | Province |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Image Map1: | Bolivia department of potosi.png |
| Mapsize1: | 250px |
| Map Caption1: | Provinces of the Potosí Department |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Rafael Bustillo within Bolivia |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Bolivia |
| Subdivision Type1: | Department |
| Subdivision Name1: | Potosí Department |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Uncía |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Total Km2: | 2249 |
| Population As Of: | 2001 |
| Population Total: | 76254 |
| Population Density Km2: | 33.9 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Population Blank1: | Quechua, Aymara |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Religions |
| Timezone: | BOT |
| Utc Offset: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | -18.4667°N -66.4667°W |
| Area Code: | BO.PO.RB |
Rafael Bustillo is a province in the Bolivian Potosí Department. Its name honors the Bolivian diplomat and foreign secretary Rafael Bustillo († 1886). The capital of the province is Uncía with a population of 5,709 in the year 2001, the largest town is Llallagua with 20,065 inhabitants.[1]
Rafael Bustillo province is one of sixteen provinces in the Potosí Department. It is located between 18° 11' and 18° 45' South and between 66° 11' and 66° 45' West. It borders Oruro Department in the northwest, west and south, Chayanta Province in the southeast, Charcas Province in the east, and Alonso de Ibáñez Province in the northeast. The province extends over 70 km from north to south as well as from east to west.
The province comprises four municipalities[2] [3] which are further subdivided into cantons.
| Section | Municipality | Seat | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Uncía | |||||
| 2nd | Chayanta | |||||
| 3rd | - | 4th | ||||
Chuquihuta Municipality was created by law on June 17, 2009. Until then it was one of the cantons of the Uncía Municipality.
The main language of the province is Quechua, spoken by 86%, while 74% of the population speak Spanish. The population increased from 76,254 inhabitants (1992 census) to 77,566 (2001 census), an increase of 1.7%.
46% of the population have no access to electricity, 78% have no sanitary facilities. 41% of the population are employed in agriculture, 11% in mining, 11% in industry, 37% in general services. 90.5% of the population are Catholics, 6.7% Protestants.
The people are predominantly indigenous citizens of Quechua and Aymara descent.[4]
| Ethnic group | Uncía and Chuquihuta Municipality (%) | Chayanta Municipality (%) | Llallagua Municipality (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quechua | 69,1 | 87,8 | 71,6 |
| Aymara | 20,0 | 9,8 | 12,8 |
| Guaraní, Chiquitos, Moxos | 0,0 | 0,0 | 0,3 |
| 10,9 | 2,2 | 15,1 | |
| Other indigenous groups | 0,0 | 0,1 | 0,2 |