Antofagasta Region

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Antofagasta Region Región de Antofagasta
Region
Morro Moreno National Park
El Loa, Antofagasta
Government
• Intendant	Marco Antonio Díaz (RN)
Area [1]
• Total	126,049.1 km2 (48,667.8 sq mi)
• Rank	2
Highest elevation	6,723 m (22,057 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2017 census)[1]
• Total	599,335
• Rank	9
• Density	4.8/km2 (12/sq mi)
GDP (PPP) [2]
• Total	$38.886 billion (2014)
• Per capita	$63,402 (2014)
ISO 3166 code	CL-AN
HDI (2019)	0.875[3] very high
Website	Official website (in Spanish)

The Antofagasta Region (

Antofagasta's

Antofagasta's history is divided, as the territory itself, into two sections: the coastal region, and the highlands plateau or

The inland section was populated by the

Chilean 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 Norte Chico (the contemporary regions of Atacama and Coquimbo, also known as the III and IV regions), into the new territories of Antofagasta and Tarapacá, known as Norte Grande.

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 inland from Antofagasta:

Each province in the region is further subdivided into communes.

Geography

The main river is the Loa.

Along the Coastal Cordillera lies Atacama Fault. The area of the Coastal Cordillera around the fault is rich in iron ore constituting the northern part of the so-called Chilean Iron Belt.^[4] These ore deposits are often of the manto-type deposits and are chiefly emplaced on rocks of La Negra Formation.^[5]

Climate

The average rainfall in the

Most of the population lives on the coast in Antofagasta and Mejillones, or in Calama in the interior, the hub of the mining industry and the home of a large part of its work force.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigrant settlers also arrived from Europe (mainly

The Antofagasta Region is the heart of the mining industry, Chile's main source of export revenue. It represents 53% of Chile's mining output, led by copper and followed by potassium nitrate, gold, iodine, and lithium, which means it could have had GDP per capita higher than Luxembourg had it had a large degree of autonomy. The mining industry regularly accounts for more than 90% of the region's exports.^[8]

The availability of infrastructure and services, due to the region's mining boom, together with its abundance of beautiful natural scenery, have opened vast prospects for the travel industry, both in the interior and on the coast. Interesting tourist attractions include the small town of San Pedro de Atacama, once the center of the Atacameño culture, Atacama Salt Flat, the Valley of the Moon, the Quitor Pukará, the Puritama hot springs and the numerous astronomical observatories including the Very Large Telescope and ALMA.

See also

• 2007 Tocopilla earthquake
• Atacama border dispute
• Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia
• War of the Pacific
• Norte Grande, natural region of Chile

References