Editing Bolivia (section)

=== Pre-colonial ===

[[File:Map_of_Wari_and_Tiawaku.svg|thumb|[[Tiwanaku Empire|Tiwanaku Polity]] at its largest territorial extent, AD 950 (present-day boundaries shown)|left]]
The region now known as Bolivia had been occupied for over 2,500 years when the [[Aymara people|Aymara]] arrived; however, present-day Aymara associate themselves with the ancient civilization of the [[Tiwanaku Empire|Tiwanaku Polity]], which had its capital at [[Tiwanaku]], in Western Bolivia. The capital city of Tiwanaku dates-back as early as 1500 BC, when it was a small, agriculturally-based village.{{sfn|Fagan|2001|p=203}}

The [[Aymara people|Aymara]] community grew to urban proportions between AD 600 and AD 800, becoming an important regional power in the southern [[Andes]] from [[La Paz]]. According to early estimates,{{When|date=February 2014}} the city covered approximately {{convert|6.5|sqkm|abbr=off|sp=us}} at its peak, and had between 15,000 and 30,000 inhabitants.{{sfn|Kolata|1993|p=145}} However, in 1996, [[Satellite imagery|satellite imaging]] was used to map the extent of preserved ''suka kollus'' ([[Raised field|flooded raised fields]]) across the three primary valleys of [[Tiwanaku]], with the results suggesting a population-carrying capacity of anywhere between 285,000 and 1,482,000 people.{{sfn|Kolata|1996|p={{page needed|date=July 2013}}}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tiwanaku, Bolivia - Crystalinks |url=https://www.crystalinks.com/tiwanaku.html |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=www.crystalinks.com}}</ref>

Around AD 400, Tiwanaku went from being a locally-dominant force to a 'predatory' state, aggressively expanding its reach into the [[Yungas]] and bringing its culture and ways to new peoples in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. Nonetheless, Tiwanaku was not a violent or domineering culture; to expand its reach, the state exercised great political astuteness, created colonies, fostered local trade agreements (which made other cultures rather dependent), and instituted state cults.<ref name="McAndrews, Timothy L. 1997">{{cite journal|last1=McAndrews|first1=Timothy L.|last2=Albarracin-Jordan |first2= Juan |last3=Bermann |first3= Marc |title=Regional Settlement Patterns in the Tiwanaku Valley of Bolivia|journal=Journal of Field Archaeology|year=1997|volume=24|issue=1|pages=67–83|doi=10.2307/530562|jstor=530562 |issn = 0093-4690}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rise and Fall |url=https://tiwanakuofbolivia.weebly.com/rise-and-fall.html |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=Tiwanaku |language=en}}</ref>

As rainfall gradually decreased, the stores of food supplies decreased, and thus the elites lost power. Tiwanaku disappeared around AD 1000. The area remained uninhabited for centuries thereafter.{{sfn|Kolata|1993|p={{page needed|date=July 2013}}}}

Between 1438 and 1527, [[Incan Empire]] expanded from its capital at [[Cusco]], gaining control over much of what is now the Bolivian Andes, and extending its control into the fringes of the Amazon basin.