Magnetotelluric (MT) measurements were performed at 9 sites on the northern Bolivian Altiplano in a attempt to determine thicknesses of the Cainozoic sedimentary infill and to characterize the underlying crust. At some of the sites the MT soundings show complications due to static shift effects caused by local, surficial heterogeneities. Preliminary one‐dimensional (ID) modeling of the data based on the impedance tensor determinant parameters was undertaken for sites considered to be free of static effects, and was followed by 2D modeling. The model obtained indicates, from the surface downward, three important geoelectrical units, namely (1) a very low‐resistivity layer (1–6 ohm‐ m) consisting of Late Cainozoic volcanic rocks and/or Tertiary‐Cretaceous sedimentary rocks 1–4 km in thickness, (2) a crustal resistive zone (about 200 ohm‐m), and (3) a lower crustal or uppermost mantle conductor (less than 10 ohm‐m) at depths of 40–45 km which might be related to partial melting. This model is consistent with the geological model according to which the Altiplano formed as a synorogenic basin showing abrupt changes in depositional thicknesses across thrust faults. Copyright 1991 by the American Geophysical Union.