'Antofagasta' (officially 'II Región de Antofagasta') is
Chile's second
administrative region from north to south. Comprised of three provinces,
Antofagasta,
El Loa and
Tocopilla, its capital is the
port city of
Antofagasta. It is bordered on the north by
Tarapacá and by
Atacama to the south.
History
Antofagasta's history is divided, as the territory, in two sections, the coastal region and the highlands plateau or
altiplano around the
Andes. In pre-Columbian times, the coastline was populated by nomadic fishing clans of
Changos Indians, of which very little is known, due to very limited contact with the Spanish
conquerers.
The inland section was populated by the
Atacaman culture around the great dry salt lake called
Salar de Atacama, the
Loa River basin and valleys and oasis across the altiplano, with the most important settlement being the village of
San Pedro de Atacama.
The Atacaman culture was deeply influenced by
Tiwanaku culture and later fell under
Inca rule. Atacamans' harvested mainly corn and beans and developed trade as far as the
Amazon basin and Pacific shores. The arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century did not destroy the culture but transformed it deeply through the process of
mestizaje, in which both cultures mixed. Under the Spanish rule, Atacaman territory (only the inlands), was placed under the administration of
Charcas Audience and at the time of independence general
Simón Bolívar integrated (both inland and coast regions) into the new Republic of
Bolivia, under the name of "
Litoral". This decision was disputed by the Chilean Government and has been a source of conflict until present times. Chile claimed that according to the
Uti possidetis of the Spanish crown, the coastal region belong to them and their territory bordered directly with
Peru.
Chileans explorers such as
Juan López and
José Santos Ossa discovered rich
nitrate and
guano deposits which produced a massive Chilean colonization of the coastline. Friction between the new settlers from both countries grew until 1879 when the
War of the Pacific erupted. Antofagasta was permanently annexed by the Chilean government at the end of the war.
Colonization by Chileans followed mainly from the "Little North" (the contemporary regions of
Atacama and
Coquimbo, also known as the III and IV regions), into the new territories of Antofagasta and
Tarapacá, nicknamed the ''Great North''. Settlers also arrived from Europe (mainly Croatians, Spaniards, English and Greeks), from Arab countries, plus
China,
Peru and
Bolivia. Various immigration flows joined with the culture of the altiplano region creating the modern culture of the north of Chile, which arguably presents more Andean- and multi-European-features than the Central Valley (and mainstream Chilean culture).
In the early 20th century the region became a significant base of Chile's union-organizing movements. It continued to depend economically on the nitrate-extraction industry until its replacement by copper mining. Two of the largest and richest open pit mines in the world are located in Antofagasta:
La Escondida and
Chuquicamata.
Climate
Mostly a desert climate, part of the
Atacama Desert, with variations in the amount of annual rainfall from the coast to the highland desert.
Economic Activities
This is primarily a mining region, with mining-related activities accounting for 59% of the regional economy. Fishing and manufacturing also contribute to the income of the area.
The main river is the
Loa.
See also
★
Atacama border dispute
★
Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia
External links
★
Gobierno Regional de Antofagasta Official website (in Spanish)
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español![Cafe Havana, Guam\](images/articles/thumbs/cafehavanathumb.jpg "Cafe Havana, Guam\")
