A brief overview of the city's history and its current population is included in this article. The city's center is located around a central plaza, with buildings grouped around it. Some of the oldest buildings in the city include the Church of San Lorenzo (16th century) and Convent of Santa Teresa (1691). A museum dedicated to local history, ethnography, and art is also located in the city's Casa de la Moneda, which was originally constructed in the 1570s but rebuilt in the 18th century.
In 2010, Potosi's population was 61,261 residents. Twenty-five percent of the population was under 18 years old. Twenty-four percent were between 25 and 44 years old. Twenty-four percent were between the ages of 45 and 64. And eighteen percent were 65 and older. The city's population is composed of both males and females, with roughly equal numbers of each in the city.
The original inhabitants of the region were the indigenous Charcas and Chullpas, who lived in relative harmony. They were also skilled in making clay and silver wares. As a result, they were dubbed the Mountain That Eats Men. The Incans eventually conquered the area, making them slaves and using them as slave labor. The city's population, however, declined rapidly, owing in part to the decline of the silver industry.
After a silver discovery in 1545, Potosi became a famous city in the Americas, and at one time, had the largest population in the New World. Its population reached a peak of over one hundred thousand in 1650, and was as high as twenty thousand by 1719, but declined again in the seventeenth century as the town suffered a typhus epidemic. Despite its growth, however, the city was never able to defend itself, and sentiment against Spanish colonial rule became widespread.