Antofagasta
- For the copper-mining company named after the region, see Antofagasta plc.
Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile, and is the capital of both Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. It has a population of 296,905 according to (2002) census.
Geography
Location
Antofagasta is a large and thin city located just south of Peninsula de Mejillones and north of Cerro Coloso. The city is surrounded to the east by tall and steep hills that are part of Chile's Cordillera de la Costa (spanish Coast Mountain Range), and to the west the Pacific Ocean.
Antofagasta lies in the Atacama Desert, one of the most arid regions of the world. Annual rainfall in the city averages less than 4 mm, and there was a period of 40 years when no rain fell at all.
Near Cities
Antofagasta neighborhood has only a few, small cities. One of them is Mejillones, a small port 65 km. to the north, in the northern part of Peninsula de Mejillones. Near 90 km. to the north of Antofagasta a famous beach called Hornitos attracts tourists and Antofagasta residents. Always to the north, Tocopilla is a coastal city located 188 km. from Antofagasta, altough its too far away to be considered inside Antofagasta neighborhood. Calama, the second biggest city in Second Region of Chile is located 213 km. northeast of region capital. A medium size industrial complex is situated 10km. to the east of Antofagasta under the name of La Negra, in the Pan-American Highway.
History
The place of the city was first part of a series of native settlements. The inhabitants were Changos, indigenous whose subsistence was based on fishing.
Founded between 1866 and 1874, Antofagasta was originally part of Bolivia but passed into Chilean hands on 14 February 1879 when it was occupied by Chilean troops, marking the beginning of the War of the Pacific.
Although Antofagasta lies in a very arid zone, its development was fast due to rich minerals that could be found in the area, such as guano and saltpeter.
Antofagasta is nowadays the principal cupper-exporting port of Chile.
Antofagasta production is mainly based on services to the mining companies that lie near the city.
Demography
With its poupation of near 300,000 people, Antofagasta is the fifth biggest city of Chile. Its inhabitants are principally Chilean, altough a big Yugoslavian colony is actually part of the city.
Ambulant population is also a big portion of the residents of Antofagasta due to several mining companies working out near the city.
The city
Antofagasta has an airport (Aeropuerto Pablo Marambio) that is both civil and a military base. The city has also two sea ports: One is a state port and is located near Antofagasta downtown. The other one is part of Escondida mine and is placed to the south part of the city, near Cerro Coloso.
Antofagasta industrial complex is situated to the north part of the city. The city also has a small agricultural zone in Quebrada La Chimba.
To the north part of the city, La Portada de Antofagasta, a natural monument, is famous by its beauty.
The city has several state and private schools and two major universities.
During the last ten years, Antofagasta has experimented a construction boom of mainly big apartment buildings.
The actual major of the city is Daniel Adaro.
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