Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish: la ˈpas; English: Our Lady of Peace; Aymara: Chuquiago Marka or Chuqiyapu), is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of La Paz Department, and the second largest city (in population) only after Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It is located in the western part of the country on the department of the same name. It is located at an elevation of 3,660 meters above sea level, making it the world's highest "de facto" capital city, or administrative capital. The official capital of Bolivia is Sucre and it is the seat of Justice, La Paz has more government departments, hence the "de facto" qualifier. The city sits in a "bowl" surrounded by the high mountains of the altiplano. As it grows, La Paz climbs the hills, resulting in varying elevations from 3,000 meters to 4,100 meters (9,840 ft to 13,450 ft). Overlooking the city is towering triple-peaked Illimani, which is always snow-covered and can be seen from several spots of the city, including from the neighbor city, El Alto. As of the 2001 census, the city had a population of 877,363. La Paz Metropolitan area, formed by the cities of La Paz, El Alto and Viacha, make the most populous urban area of Bolivia, with a population of 2.3 million inhabitants and surpassing the metropolitan area of Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
La Paz is the home of some of the biggest football teams in Bolivia.
* Club Bolivar. Founded in 1925, it was named in honor of the Libertador Simón Bolívar, the team has won most of the tournaments national and international championships in the last 20 years
* The Strongest. Founded in 1908 and hosts some of its games and trains on its home stadium. Is the oldest team, and the one that has won more tournaments during the 20th century. It has its own stadium named Rafael Mendoza. Don Rafael Mendoza was one of the most important presidents. In 1968 an airplane accident took the life of almost all the players, but Rafael Mendoza made many efforts so that the team rises again as one of the most important of the country.
* La Paz F.C.
However, both teams play the majority of their games in the city stadium, Estadio Hernando Siles. It is host to several other teams that play in the first and second divisions such as: Mariscal Braun (2nd), Always Ready (3rd), Municipal (3rd) and Chaco Petrolero (3rd).
La Paz hosts the national football team and international games.