Cerro Rico

Cerro Rico
Cerro Rico
Cerro Potosí / Sumaq Urqu
	View of Cerro Rico from Potosí
Highest point
Elevation	4,782 m (15,689 ft)
Coordinates	19°37′8″S 65°44′59″W / 19.61889°S 65.74972°W
Geography
	Cerro Rico Location in Bolivia
Location	Bolivia, Potosí
Parent range	Andes

Cerro Rico (Spanish for "Rich Mountain"), Cerro Potosí^[1] ("Potosí Mountain") or Sumaq Urqu^[2] (Quechua sumaq "beautiful, good, pleasant", urqu "mountain",^[3] "beautiful (good or pleasant) mountain"), is a mountain in the Andes near the Bolivian city of Potosí. Cerro Rico, which is popularly conceived of as being "made of" silver ore, is famous for providing vast quantities of silver for the Spanish Empire, most of which was shipped to metropolitan Spain. It is estimated that eighty-five percent of the silver produced in the central Andes during this time came from Cerro Rico.^[4]

As a result of mining operations in the mountain, the city of Potosí became one of the largest cities in the New World.^[5] It is said that revolutionary hero Simon Bolívar once waved a flag from the top of this monumental mountain in a historic moment that symbolized the founding of a new nation.^{[citation needed]} Just a year later, congress decided to change the colors to yellow-red-green and include a coat of arms featuring the iconic condor, alpaca and Cerro Rico mine.^{[citation needed]}

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^ Weatherford, Jack (2010) [1st pub 1988]. Indian givers: how Native Americans transformed the world (2nd ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780307717153. OCLC 656265477.
^ Dore, Elizabeth (2000). "Environment and Society: Long-Term Trends in Latin American Mining". Environment and History. 6 (1): 1–29. doi:10.3197/096734000129342208. JSTOR 20723118.

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[4] Weatherford, Jack (2010) [1st pub 1988]. Indian givers: how Native Americans transformed the world (2nd ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780307717153. OCLC 656265477.

[:0-5] Dore, Elizabeth (2000). "Environment and Society: Long-Term Trends in Latin American Mining". Environment and History. 6 (1): 1–29. doi:10.3197/096734000129342208. JSTOR 20723118.

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