Nuflo de Chávez, a Spanish captain whose legacy is the expansion of colonization through virgin rainforest and savanna areas in southeastern South America, had begun his campaign in Buenos Aires,Argentina's capital city, to the second biggest settlement, Asunción, Paraguay's capital city, and finishing with the last of the larger settlements, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, located about three hundred and forty miles (fibe hundred and fifty kilometers) east of La Paz, in 1561.

Named by Chávez in honor of his beloved native city in Extremadura, Spain, the "Holy Cross of the Hills" is today the capital city of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia.

The municipality's population was 1,528,683 inhabitants in 2006 (official estimate) and the urban population is 1,545,161 in 2008 (official estimate), making Santa Cruz, as it is commonly known, the largest city in Bolivia.