Antofagasta

Antofagasta is a city, port and commune in the Norte Grande of Chile and is the capital of the province and of the region of the same name. According to the 2017 census, carried out by the INE, it is the sixth most populous city in the country and the most populous commune outside the Metropolitan Region with 361,873 inhabitants, behind Santiago, Concepción, Valparaiso, the La Serena-Coquimbo conurbation and Gran Temuco, although it only represents 2.1% of the country's total population. Antofagasta's main industrial activities are closely linked to mining. In the last decades, since the 70s, it has presented a sustained growth in the areas related to construction, commerce and hotels, as well as a notable urban development.

Antofagasta is considered the city with the highest per capita income in Chile, reaching 37,000 dollars. Its important development is due to port and industrial activities, linked to mining that takes place in the area, with an Industrial District which is characterized by having facilities with first-line technology. According to studies, it has been listed as the most expensive city to live in the country.

Antofagasta has a large sports complex which was the sub-venue for the 2015 Copa América and which will possibly host the 2030 Soccer World Cup. Other national and regional competitions are also held in the city, soccer being the sport that attracts the most public.

The city's pleasant climatic conditions make it a must-see destination for visitors, who can enjoy multiple tourist services, attractive landscapes, shopping centers, beaches with warm waters and gentle waves, and also historical and natural monuments.

Many of its tourist and urban centers are linked to Mall Plaza, the Historic District of Antofagasta, Playa Balneario, Playa Trocadero, Playa Paraíso, La Chimba fishermen's cove, La Portada Natural Monument, La Chimba National Reserve, the Mano del Desierto, the Huanchaca Ruins, Croatia Park, as well as the different Quebradas that are throughout the city such as Carrizo, La Bruja, among others.

Map of the Region of Antofagasta, with the commune homonym in red.

Toponymy

Panoramic view of the north of Antofagasta.

Panoramic view of the south of Antofagasta.

There are a number of theories to explain the origin of the place name Antofagasta. No consensus has been reached on this. It is probably a compound word that comes from the southern cacán anto (or hattun, meaning 'big'), faya (or haya 'salt lake') and gasta ('town'), and would come to mean People of the Salar Grande. It could also be a compound word from Quechua anta (cobre) and pakay (to hide): 'Copper cache'. Another theory relates it to Antofagasti ('Puerta del Sol'), the name that the monkeys gave to the current natural monument La Portada.

It is said that the name Antofagasta is due to a decision by Bolivian President Mariano Melgarejo, who, around 1870, renamed the city in honor of a ranch he owned in Antofagasta de la Sierra.

The name of the native person of Antofagasta is antofagastina or antofagastino.

Antofagasta is known in Chile as the Pearl of the North and is usually abbreviated as Antofa.

History

Hispanic period

Spherical charter of the coasts of the Reyno de Chile raised by Order of the King in 1792 by several officers of his Royal Navy, Alejandro Malaspina; Juan Moreno Tejada; Juan de Lángara; Felipe Bauzá and Pedro Manuel Gangoiti. Ports of the current Antofagasta region are under Chilean jurisdiction.

At the end of the XVII century, Francisco de Cisternas y de la Fuente Villalobos, one of the wealthiest landowners in the north of the Captaincy General of Chile or Kingdom of Chile, obtained the Paposo encomienda by land grant on July 4, 1674. From then on, the roadstead was known as the Paposo Hacienda, because the encomendero, taking advantage of the natural pastures of the place, he dedicated it to raising cattle. The settlement began to be called Nuestra Señora del Paposo, apparently from 1679.

Map of Andrés Baleato, 1793 showing the limit between Chile and Peru in the river Loa.

During the time of the Spanish Empire, the Atacama desert appears as part of the Copiapó corregimiento of the General Captaincy of Chile.

On September 6, 1777, a Royal Order was issued referring to the collection related to almojarifazgo and alcabalas in Chile, which mentions the depopulated area of Atacama and the surrounding towns as part of Chilean jurisdiction:

Although in the Corridor of Copiapó, whose head is the village of San Francisco de la Selva, the ports of Cobija and the bay of Mexillones, port of Betas, the Juncal, the one of Copiapó or the Caldera, Bahía Salada, port of the Totoral and the one of the Huasco, as are so accidental the arrivals of ships with this arrangement, and also to the finest roads

General Archive of the Indias of Seville, Audiencia de Chile, legajo 328.

Likewise, on the map drawn up by the Spanish Navy in 1792, it is included within the Kingdom of Chile from the 22nd parallel to the south, in other words, from the area of the Loa river. On the 1793 map drawn up by Andrés Baleato, director of the Nautical School of Lima, by order of Viceroy Francisco Gil de Taboada y Lemus, Chile's northern border is degree 21 and a half, specifically the mouth of the Loa River, making explicit mention that the area was uninhabited and had just been settled from the 24th parallel.

Hipólito Unanue published the following about the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1793:

The cove of Túmbez separates it in the north of the New Kingdom of Granada and the river Loa in the south of the Atacama Desert and the kingdom of Chile

Political, Ecclesiastical and Military Guide to the Surreinate of Peruof 1793

In the memory of Francisco Gil de Taboada that he gave to his successor Ambrosio O'Higgins in 1795, the limit between Peru and Chile is described by the Loa river.

During the time of Governor Ambrosio O'Higgins (1788-1796), by order of their local authorities, they stationed themselves in Paposo in order to thwart eventual landings of English corsairs that roamed the coast of the Atacama desert.

According to Claudio Gay, on July 28, 1797, the Governor of the Kingdom of Chile, Gabriel de Avilés y del Fierro, authorized the sum of five hundred pesos of the time for the construction of a chapel in Paposo. Not content with that, he authorized the priest from Santiago, Rafael Andreu Guerrero, to move to the area as Lieutenant of Priest and place himself under the orders of the priest who owns Copiapó, in the Chilean corregimiento of Atacama. In 1853, the explorer Rodulfo Philippi mentioned the chapel.

According to the Peruvian historian, Mariano Paz Soldán, on October 1, 1803, King Carlos IV, by royal order, ratified by the same monarch in 1805, transferred the port of Paposo to the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of Peru, separating it from the Captaincy General of Chile. However, according to traditional Chilean historiography, the order was not fulfilled by the Spanish Viceroy in Lima, which is why it continued to be the territory of the Kingdom of Chile:

The King of the abandonment in which is the port of Our Lady of the Paposo and its immense coasts in the South Sea, as well as the proportions offered by the immediate territory and the Atacama Desert for the breeding of cattle, (...) In addition, S. M. has resolved that the expressed port, its coasts and territory are added to the virreinate of Lima, as well as to the political government, as to the military, for the greatest ease with which it can defend it, and because being worthy of all attention, it is therefore dependent on that capital, whose apostadero extends its jurisdiction to the south to all the ports and coasts to Chiloé; and having S. M.

Republican era

Atacama Desert Dispute between Bolivia and Chile.

When Chile became independent, the area of the Paposo roadstead was located within the northern region of the Kingdom of Chile, with the Loa River as its northern limit. This was defined, rather than by the parallel established in the colonial documentation, by the interpretation of the local authorities, both in Santiago and Copiapó.

The Virreynato of Peru after the latest dismemberments and new aggregations that have been made to it, has by limits to the north the province of Guayaquil; the Atacama Desert to the south, understanding throughout its territory from 32 minutes to the north of the equinoccial until 25° 10’ of southern latitude.

This document has been used as support by Peruvian and Bolivian historiography to affirm that the royal order of 1803 was indeed executed and that the northern limit of Chile was handed over to the Viceroyalty of Peru after declaring its independence from it, according to the beginning of the uti possidetis iure of 1810, it was made up of the Atacama desert without including it as an integral part of its territory. If so, if Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre annexed it in 1825 to the nascent Republic of Bolivia, they did so by dismembering it from Peru and not from Chile. Until 1840 the sovereignty exercised by the Bolivian government over the region was not effectively questioned., but on October 31, 1843, Chile created the province of Atacama including Paposo.

Physical map of the French explorer, geographer and geologist, Pedro J. A. Pissis, who explored the Atacama desert between 1848 and 1868. Your map shows the Rada de Paposo

The president of Chile, Manuel Bulnes, sent experts to reconnoitre the Atacameño coast. Of this he reported to Congress in a message addressed on July 13, 1842, in which he reported that he judged:

We need to send a scout commission to examine the coastline between the port of Coquimbo and the Moor of Mejillones in order to find out if in the territory of the Republic there were some guaneras whose benefit could provide a new bouquet of income to the public estate...

Manuel Bulnes

As a result of said investigation, the law of October 13, 1842 was enacted, which declared the guanos south of the Mejillones bay to be national property, and which provided that no ship could load this product without permission from the authorities Chilean. The President of the Republic was also empowered to tax the export of guano with customs duties.

During this period, explorers and industrialists -Chileans and foreigners- toured the area, discovering mineral deposits and installing exploitations along the coast. Around 1850, the Paposo Hacienda belonged to the Chilean Gallo Goyenechea family, originally from Copiapó, who worked the copper ore that existed in its vicinity. Guano was also exploited.

In 1853, they disembarked in Paposo Philippi and Diego de Almeyda, who found members of the Atacameño ethnic group, exchanging products with the local monkeys. From here, both explorers continued on their way to an oasis of the Lican Antay ethnic group and named San Pedro de Atacama, by the Spanish conquistador..

According to the aforementioned French explorer, on September 10, 1857, by Decree of the Intendant of the Chilean Province of Atacama, a new Sub-delegation, of a coastal nature, was created within the Chilean Department of Caldera, which included the Treasury of Paposo.

In the middle of the XIX century, the Chilean mining businessman, José Antonio Moreno Palazuelos —who discovered and exploited countless deposits along the coast of Antofagasta and support before the Chilean authorities the authorization for the opening of the port of Taltal to maritime traffic on July 12, 1858— would have acquired the sector from the aforementioned Gallo family. Having done this, around 1858 the one-armed Moreno, as he was known, built his residence in Paposo, a formidable mansion lined with tile and which is currently in deplorable condition, without any renovation project. restoration. Later, his daughter, Julia María Moreno Zuleta (married to Rear Admiral Juan José Latorre Benavente around 1882), inherited the facilities and their vast properties. It should be noted that the Latorre Moreno/López Latorre/Santa Cruz López succession received a million-dollar compensation for the construction, on land they owned, of the Cerro Paranal Astronomical Observatory, which is located about 60 km northeast of the hamlet. Currently, the Paposo Neighborhood Council bears the name of Moreno.

The subsequent territorial claims of the Bolivian government, which would last until the 1866 treaty, would be part of the origin of the border conflict that would finally unleash the War of the Pacific and the definitive confirmation of Chilean sovereignty over the coastal region located between Antofagasta and taltal.

After the War of the Pacific, Paposo continued to be an unsheltered cove for docking ships, but known for being a minor port with drinking water -on a coast poor in that element- and abundant local fishing. Because it never enjoyed railways that connected it with the nitrate interior (Taltal Canton), added to its proximity to Puerto Oliva (where nitrate from the Taltal nitrate canton was shipped and exported), its economic and urban development was very scarce. However, around 1900, copper ores were exported from its dock, and to a lesser extent, saltpeter, while fishermen sold their catch on boats or in neighboring mines.

After the creation of the province of Antofagasta and the Department of Taltal, on July 12, 1888, the Paposo area ceased to belong to the province of Atacama. That year it became the 5th Rural Subdelegation of the Commune of Taltal.

Like many towns of its time, poor in sanitation and limited drinking water, Paposo was frequently affected by cholera epidemics.

According to Espinoza, mentioned above, around 1896, Paposo belonged to Delfina Zuleta de Barazarte, who was the widow -in her first marriage- of the mining businessman, José Antonio Moreno Palazuelos. Espinoza's text mentions that the & # 34; Paposo establishments & # 34;, owned by him, were valued that year, in the amount of 231,000 pesos at the time. Barazarte's widow also owned "establishments" in the port of Taltal.

Bolivian era

Official plan of the new population and port of Antofagasta, by José Santos Prada (1869).

Pier of Antofagasta (June 1941).

Monument to Juan López.

In 1837, during the government of Andrés de Santa Cruz, the Litoral Department was created in Bolivia, which was divided into two provinces: La Mar (capital Cobija) and Atacama (capital San Pedro de Atacama); and in 1868, Antofagasta became the capital of the province of Mejillones.

The city of Antofagasta lacks a founding certificate, it is estimated that its occupation began in 1866, previously by the Chilean prospector, a native of Copiapó Juan López, later the mining explorer José Santos Ossa converged, in July 1866.

Prior to the settlement of the place, Juan López, who is considered the first inhabitant of the city in Chile, settled in the Peña Blanca sector, today known as La Chimba, where mineral extraction began in a precarious manner. First, Juan López had to resolve the issue of subsistence due to the lack of water. The one he found in aguadas de Morro Moreno 25 km to the north. Today there is still a spring of Andean water in the Chimba area.

On September 18, 1866, José Santos Ossa and Francisco Puelma were awarded the nitrate land concession, following a request sent to the Bolivian government. Chilean miners discovered rich saltpeter (nitrate) deposits in the Salar del Carmen sector, east of present-day Antofagasta, and agreed to form an Atacama Desert Exploring Society. After the formation of the company, what was called La Chimba began to populate in November of that 1866.

On March 19, 1868, the Melbourne Clark Company was established, after the integration of Chilean and English interests. After the earthquake of August 13, 1868, it was necessary to legally recognize La Chimba as a mining town, so on August 27, 1868, the Bolivian President Mariano Melgarejo commissioned the prefect of the Coastal Department to officially found it in the sector delimited by the commissioners Hilario Ruiz and José Santos Prada. Thus, on October 22, the town and the port were officially founded under the name of La Chimba, as stated in the founding act. Later the city was renamed as Antofagasta. The first official plan of the town and port of Antofagasta was drawn by José Santos Prada on September 14, 1869. In this document, the land of the Melbourne Clark Company was delimited, as well as 17 blocks and a main square.

On May 8, 1871, Antofagasta was designated by the Bolivian government as Puerto Mayor, open to trade from all over the world. On January 25, 1872, after a session directed by the sub-prefect of the Department of Mussels Manuel Buitrago, the Municipality of Antofagasta was founded, where the Corps of Municipal Agents (later renamed as the Municipal Board) was formed, made up of two Germans, a English and six Chileans.

In August 1872, Quintín Quevedo arrived in Antofagasta from Valparaíso to overthrow the de facto Bolivian president Agustín Morales, but the coup expedition was dissolved by the prefect of Cobija. Quevedo takes refuge in the corvette Esmeralda under the command of Patricio Lynch, who transfers him to Peru. The lack of explanations from Chile to an alleged support for Quevedo prompted La Paz to sign a defensive treaty with Lima to safeguard the resources of Antofagasta.

On November 27, 1873, the Compañía de Salitres y Ferrocarril de Antofagasta signed a contract with the Bolivian government, which authorized the mineral exploitation free of rights for 15 years. This contract was not ratified by the Bolivian Congress, which at that time was analyzing negotiations with Chile.

Pacific War

Battalion No. 3 of Chilean Army Line, formed in columns at Plaza Colón de Antofagasta in 1879.

In 1873 Bolivia signed a secret treaty with Peru to curb the supposed power of Chile and the naval hegemony of this country in South America. This fact would be used as an argument five years later for Chile to unleash the War of the Pacific. The alliance between Peru and Bolivia prohibited Bolivia from entering into boundary treaties with Chile without consulting Peru. Despite this, in 1874 Chile and Bolivia signed the boundary treaty, which replaced the 1866 treaty. One of its points was not to impose new taxes on Chilean people, industries and capital for 25 years.

Titles of the Bolivian newspaper "El Comercio" de La Paz, February 28, 1879: "Criminal occupation of the Litoral by the Chilean forces". The image itself is of a reissue made on March 23, 1973.

For Bolivia, the 1873 contract between the government and the Nitrate Company was not yet in force, since, according to the Bolivian constitution, it had to be approved by congress.

On May 9, 1877, a new earthquake occurred in Antofagasta that left the precarious buildings on the ground, for which the Bolivian representatives proposed asking for a foreign loan for the reconstruction.

According to the Bolivian version, the contract with the nitrate company was incomplete, so the congress, in order to approve the contract, decided to make effective, in 1878, a tax of 10 cents, which did not infringe the 1874 treaty because the contract it was not yet in force as of that date. Bolivia suspended the tax out of deference to the Chilean government, but before a note from the Chilean foreign minister, the tax law was reactivated, and then the annulment and auction of the Nitrate Company.

According to the Chilean version, the 10-cent tax violated the 1874 treaty that established that no new taxes should be imposed on Chilean companies operating in Bolivian territory. Given the rupture of the boundary treaty by Bolivia and the annulment of the contract of the Salitres Company, Chile occupies the Bolivian territory of Antofagasta, whose sovereignty had been ratified before 1866.

On February 14, 1879, the Chilean military forces under the command of Colonel Emilio Sotomayor occupied the Bolivian port of Antofagasta with the aim of preventing the auctioning off of Chilean-owned mining belongings, an auction ordered by the Bolivian government because, according to This Chileans had not paid the tax increase decreed by the highland government. Chilean forces with the support of the armored frigates Blanco Encalada and Cochrane and the corvette O'Higgins at the time that the Government of Chile declared the 1874 treaty annulled. Bolivian prefect Severino Zapata issued a protest and took refuge in the Peruvian consulate. With this first military action the War of the Pacific began.

After the war, the truce pact between Bolivia and Chile of 1884 was signed, which establishes that the territory between the Loa river and the 23rd parallel would remain under the administration of Chile, while Bolivia would be allowed the access to the ports of Arica and Antofagasta. However, both treaties left pending issues that were clarified in two subsequent treaties, the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1904 and the Lima Treaty of 1929.

The Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Chile and Bolivia, signed on October 20, 1904 and promulgated on March 21, 1905, established the borders of both countries. The territory of Antofagasta remained within Chile; In exchange, this country undertook to build at its own expense the railway that linked Arica and the Alto de La Paz (see Arica-La Paz Railway), to pay the obligations that Bolivia could incur by guarantees of up to five percent on the capital invested in the following railways, the construction of which may be undertaken within thirty years: Uyuni to Potosí; Oruro to La Paz; Oruro, through Cochabamba, to Santa Cruz; from La Paz to the Beni region; and from Potosí, through Sucre and Lagunillas, to Santa Cruz" payment of £300,000 in cash to Bolivia, cancellation of debts recognized by Bolivia for compensation to mining companies and cancellation of obligations that Bolivia had with individuals and other obligations for a loan for the construction of the railway between Mejillones and Caracoles. In addition, Chile granted Bolivia free transit of trade through its territory and ports in perpetuity. This treaty has been a constant source of diplomatic tensions during the XX century and the beginning of the XXI, because Bolivia lost complete sovereignty over the Pacific Ocean.

Chilean sovereignty

Antofagasta Post and Telegraph Building, 1940.

With the treaty of 1904 Antofagasta became Chilean. The arrival of Chileans increased, especially those from the Norte Chico provinces (the current Atacama and Coquimbo regions), to the new provinces of Antofagasta and Tarapacá, the so-called Norte Grande. New settlers also arrived from Europe (especially Spanish, Croatian, English and Greek) and from China and Arab countries. These new elements together with the culture of the highlands created the modern culture of the Norte Grande, which presents more Andean and European elements than that of the Central Valley.

Francisco Astaburoaga wrote in his Geographical Dictionary of the Republic of Chile in 1899 about the place:

Antofagasta.-—City and port of the Pacific, capital of the province and department of its name. Yace in the 23rd 39th Lat and 70th 22nd Lon. Its seat extends from the edge of the sea in apples of 100 meters per side, divided by straight streets of 18 meters wide of NO. to SE., cut by other equals from NE. to SO., and contains a house of 7.588 inhabitants with a regular church, mayoral buildings, customs, civil registration, mail and telegraph, a theater, two hotels, liceo and free primary schools, two silver and two commercial establishments. It also has distillation machines for the supply of drinking water, of which it is almost completely lacking, being arid and even bald its contours and serrania in long distance. But in its immediate vicinity and farther away are centers of silver and copper minerals and salts, which hold their commercial movement and communicate with them by good roads and by a railroad that enters the Republic of Bolivia, running to its border across Chilean territory for a distance of 441 kilometers until reaching an altitude of 3,696 meters. Its port, though capable enough, is only regular in depth, and also in shelter for being very discovered in the western winds. Healthy and temperate climate: almost never rains. In the years before 1866, the site that occupies this city was found desert, and its bay was barely visited by fish boats; it only served for the boarding of the nearby minerals in the next Chimba. At that time he began to serve his port for the export of the salitre and bórax of the neighboring bank of San Mateo, and already in 1870 he had one that another room, wineries and two docks in relation to that industry; and hence he entered a growing advance with the discovery in that year of the mines of Caracoles, the port of entry and departure of them and of other neighbors. At that time he belonged to Bolivia, and the President of this republic Melgarejo gave him the name for a territorial possession, which he had in the immediacy of the old town of Antofagasta de la Sierra. In the beginning of the war of that republic with Chile, it was the first point occupied by it (14 February 1879), and in 6 and 12 May the following was declared respectively a seat of the Chilean authority of the territory and the main port; later it was erected the law of 12 July 1888 in the capital city of its province. Dista about 1100 kilometers to the N. de Valparaíso and 375 to the S. de Iquique.

The Chilean geographer Luis Risopatrón described it as a 'village' in his book Diccionario Jeográfico de Chile in 1924:

Antofagasta (City) 23° 29’ 70° 25’. It is composed of about 150 blocks, cut in straight angle by the streets of 18 m wide, on a surface of 3.5 km2, it is stretched from the edge of the rada of the same name, in a plane inclined from the skirts of the hills, among which opens cradles of easy access. The range of a healthy and temperate climate has been recorded 17.2° C of average temperature, 71% of average relative humidity, 517.5 mm of evaporation, 2.5 of average nebulae (0-10) and no rain, in 1919. In the years before 1866, the place that occupies this city was deserted; in 1870, it had one that another room, wineries and two springs and entered into increasing advance, with the discovery, in that year of the snail ore. President Melgarejo of Bolivia, to whose country he then belonged, gave the following year the name he has, for that of a territorial possession, that he possessed in the immediacy of the people of Antofagasta of La Sierra; he was then occupied in his territory. Since then, an annual increase in the population of 7.57% with a proportion of alphabets has been recorded in the period 1895-1907, the latter being 46.4%. Be sweated with drinking water, from the slopes of Polapi i Palpana by a 340-kilometre-long pipe.

In 1906, the strike of porters and railway workers on the Antofagasta-La Paz line, which began in January, turned into a major general strike in Antofagasta. The Antofagasta Region depended, until the crisis of 1929, on the exploitation and export of saltpeter. Hundreds of nitrate offices were born in the middle of the desert, and were later abandoned. The exploitation of nitrates was later replaced by the copper exploitation. Capitals from the United States settled in the interior and administered the copper mining, until the Nationalization, carried out by the government of Salvador Allende.

Geography

Cerro Moreno and Bahía Moreno.

The city is located in the southern hemisphere of America, at 23°38'39 S latitude and 70°24'39 W longitude, with an average elevation of 40 meters above sea level.

Monument to the Tropic of Capricorn.

It limits to the south with Taltal and Diego de Almagro, to the north with Sierra Gorda, Mejillones and San Pedro de Atacama, to the west with the Pacific Ocean and to the east with the Los Andes Department of Argentina. The northern limit of the commune runs through a series of milestones, being noteworthy (from west to east) Punta Lagartos, the Negro, Valenzuela, Carrasco, Amarillo, Búfalo, Mastodon, Mariposas, Cerrillos, Pingo, Pajonales hills and, finally, a part from the Piedra Pómez pampas. In the southern limit, Punta Dos Reyes, the Paranal, Alto de Varas, Guanaco, Negro del Tolar, Punta del Viento, Varitas, Puntas Largas, San Rosendo and Dos Hermanos hills stand out. border zone on July 20, 1999, by Supreme Decree No. 1,166 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The urban area of Antofagasta appears abruptly among the desert landscape and is located on the coastal plains, south of the Mejillones peninsula and north of Cerro Coloso. The Tropic of Capricorn coincides in the northern sector of the city, outside the urban area, where the Andrés Sabella Gálvez National Airport is located. For this reason, on December 21, 2000, the Tropic of Capricorn Landmark was inaugurated.

It has little vegetation because it is inserted in the Atacama desert, the most arid in the world.

Climatology

Average air temperatures in meteo, 1951 to 2008 (NASA).

The commune of Antofagasta presents a variety of desert climates, which varies according to altitude.

In the coastal plains (where the city is located) there is a desert climate with abundant clouds (BWk).

Behind the Coastal Range is a normal desert climate (BWk), with an average annual temperature between 18° and 28°C.

In the sector of the Domeyko Mountain Range we have a cold desert climate (BWk), with an average annual temperature that does not exceed 18 °C in winter, but in summer it can exceed 30 °C.

Finally, in the most internal sector, prior to the Andes Mountains, there is a cold tundra climate by height (ETH).

The average annual temperature is 16.4 °C; the monthly minimum, of 12 °C and the monthly maximum, of 26 °C. The marked aridity and scarcity of water is regulated by the Humboldt Current, which translates into mild and stable temperatures during most of the year, as well as abundant humidity and morning mists known as camanchaca. The Pacific anticyclone generates winds from the south and southwest.

The city's rainfall is 1.7 mm per year. However, in March 2015 an unusual rainstorm caused havoc, which is why President Bachelet declared a state of constitutional emergency in the city, for which the Armed Forces took control of the area.

According to climatic records, quite important rainy events have been recorded in Antofagasta, as is the case in 1940, where 39 mm of water were recorded, after the incessant rains that affected the town of Taltal (June 13, 1940) and the Antofagasta Alluvium (1991), where 42 mm of water fell.

Average climate parameters of Antofagasta
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	31.8	30.5	30.6	28.8	28.6	23.8	24.0	27.0	25.5	27.4	26.0	29.1	31.8
Average temperature (°C)	25.4	26.1	23.0	20.4	18.7	17.3	16.4	15.9	17.2	18.2	20.1	23.7	20.2
Average temperature (°C)	20.3	20.2	19.2	17.4	15.8	14.6	14.0	14.1	14.8	15.7	17.2	18.9	16.9
Temp. medium (°C)	17.5	17.2	16.3	14.7	13.4	12.3	11.8	12.2	12.8	13.9	15.1	16.4	14.5
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	11.4	10.2	10.1	10.0	8.4	3.2	4.4	3.4	3.0	3.6	5.5	5.0	3.0
Total precipitation (mm)	0.2	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.3	1.2	0.3	0.4	0.6	0.1	0.1	0.1	3.4
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	0.2	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.7	0.2	0.2	0.1	2.7
Hours of sun	319.3	291.0	294.5	252.0	229.4	207.0	204.6	213.9	219.0	260.4	276.0	310.0	3077.1
Relative humidity (%)	76	77	78	79	79	79	78	78	77	77	75	75	77.3
Source No. 1: Chilean Meteorological Directorate
Source No. 2: University of Chile (sunshine hours only)

Microclimates

The sectoral climate of the city of Antofagasta is varied depending on the geographical location: while for the south side of the city in the sector of Coviefi and Jardines del Sur it is drier and occurs in the morning with a southerly wind of freezing wind chill and usually sunny the rest of the day; to the north it has a misty and humid microclimate and opens to the sun from midday; On the other hand, for the La Negra and Nudo Uribe sectors, the climate is freezing, windy and foggy due to the altitude (800-1000 m), which is the height horizon of the low coastal cloudiness, giving rise to camanchacas in certain periods of the year that they dissipate suddenly at noon.^{[citation needed]}

Geomorphology

Quebrada El Carrizo, located in the southern sector of the city.

Relieve of Antofagasta.

Antofagasta is founded on rocky, hard and resistant soils. On this layer there is a dense soil of sand and rock fragments of medium size where there are abundant mineral traces. According to the general classification of soils, it is on loamy-clay soils of type I and II.

The city has an irregular geomorphology due to the presence of steep hills (400-500 m) that are part of the Coastal Range on its eastern edge, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. The formation of the rocky massif means that the slope of the coastline is very steep (Colossus sector, south of the city). The height of the hills that surround Antofagasta is insufficient to produce the phenomenon of atmospheric dew point when the morning clouds rise.

The coastal edge has volcanic sediments, in contrast to the constitution of the fine sand hills. A rock formation called La Portada de Antofagasta stands out in the sea.

Hydrography

Satellite image of Antofagasta, seen by Sentinel-2 of the European Space Agency.

There are about fifteen ravines that present holes with accumulations of sand and gravel. Among the largest are the holes La Chimba, Caracoles, La Cadena, La Negra and El Way. These basins and their respective ravines —the Quebrada sin nombre, Baquedano, El Toro, El Carrizo and Jardines del Sur— were responsible for the flooding resulting from the so-called flood of 1991.

Antofagasta as a city does not have natural beaches on its coastline, most of the existing ones being artificial, the coastline is rocky and abrupt and only to the north of the city, natural beaches extend on the cliffs in the La Portada sector such as Las Losetas and La Rinconada after the previous one.

The presence of the Pacific anticyclone causes a marked absence of precipitation. The annual average rainfall is only 4 mm, which generally occurs in the months of June, July and August. In a very special way, the precipitations can extend until the months of November and December, as a consequence of the altiplano winter phenomenon.

Within the hydrographic resources of the commune, we find the salt flats, among which the Pajonales, Dead Sea, Punta Negra and Navidad salt flats stand out.

Demographics

According to the data collected in the census applied in 2002 by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the commune of Antofagasta has a population of 296,905 inhabitants distributed over an area of 30,718 km², of which 143,685 are women and 153,220 are men. Of these, 285,155 correspond to inhabitants of the city and the rest to small urbanistically independent localities, but administratively part of the commune of the same name. The percentage of intercensus variation between 1992 and 2002 is 30%.

Antofagasta is home to 60.10% of the region's total population. 0.37% (1,113 inhabitants) correspond to the rural population and 99.63% (295,792 inhabitants) to the urban population.

The nitrate boom of the early XX century attracted various immigrants of all nationalities to the region, with those from European origin. Among the most important immigrant groups we find the British and Croats; and to a lesser number Greeks. At the same time, a significant number of internal immigrants arrived to work in the nitrate mines. These new "nitrate pampinos" They came mainly from the center and south of Chile, giving rise to the bulk of the current population. Both European immigration and that of Chilean workers from the south of the country is commonly called historical immigration, since it occurred at an important moment in the development of the city. The one from Europe ended more than a century ago; however, workers from other regions of Chile continue to arrive in the region. This immigration flow from Europe has been replaced by the constant arrival of Latin Americans.

There are important Latin American and Asian communities residing in the city of Antofagasta. The largest foreign population corresponds to immigrants from Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia, followed by historical immigration such as Chinese and Arab.

The Afro-descendant and Afro-Latino population has increased considerably in recent years, with the majority of them being of Ecuadorian-Colombian and Venezuelan origin. Antofagasta is one of the main destinations for Latin American immigrants in the country, reaching the figure of 100,000 immigrants in the last five years, fluctuating between 12% and 20% of the city's population.

For the Census carried out in 1907, 15.7% of the population of Antofagasta were foreigners, mainly Bolivians, British and Peruvians.

There are currently 37,877 foreigners living in the city, of which 11,771 are Colombian, 10,126 are Peruvian and 9,710 are Bolivian.

Historically, there has only been one recorded decline in the population: the 1930s-40s, when it dropped from 54,570 to 51,107. The main reason was the closure of the nitrate mines in the interior of the province, forcing many families to leave the area and return to the south.

Administration

Antofagasta Region Intendence Building.

Antofagasta Justice Center.

The commune of Antofagasta belongs to the 2nd constituency (II - Antofagasta), which will be represented in the Senate by Esteban Velásquez (FREVS), Pedro Araya Guerrero (independent) and Paulina Núñez Urrutia (RN). As part of district number 3, the Chamber of Deputies is represented by Catalina Pérez (RD), Sebastián Videla Castillo (IND-PL), Yovana Ahumada Palma (PDG), Jaime Araya Guerrero (PPD-IND) and José Miguel Castro (RN).

The administration of the commune falls on the Municipality of Antofagasta, an autonomous corporation under public law, with legal personality and its own assets.

Its highest authority, during the 2021-2014 period, is Mayor Jonathan Velásquez Ramírez (Ind.), who is advised by an Economic and Social Council with a consultative nature. Meanwhile, the Municipal Council, whose function is supervisory, normative and decisive, is made up of:

• Luis Aguilera Villegas (RN)
• Gabriel Alvial Ibarbe (Ind.)
• Roberto Jorquera Vergara (Ind.-PR)
• Ignacio Pozo Piña (PR)
• Standard Leiva Escalona (PS)
• Paz Fueca Contreras (RD)
• Camilo Kong Pineda (CS)
• Karina Guzmán Arias (FREVS)
• Waldo Valderrama Salazar (PCCh)
• Natalia Sánchez Muñoz (PTR)

The commune has three local police courts. Additionally, it has a series of municipal directorates, entities created to satisfy and control certain community needs in a more specific way. In the commune of Antofagasta is the building of the Regional Administration, administrative headquarters of the Regional Government.

Economy

Area Map

City growth.

Antofagasta is considered the second most expensive city to live in in Chile along with Santiago and Punta Arenas. In addition, it is considered one of the cities whose population has the highest purchasing power and earns more than the country's average due to its hegemony mining. Despite the economic crisis of 2009, Antofagasta has lower unemployment rates than the rest of Chile.

In 2018, the number of companies registered in Antofagasta was 10,557. The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) in the same year was 2.48, while the economic activities with the highest Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index) were Repair of Machinery for the Textile, Clothing, Leather and Footwear Industry (59.17), Manufacture of Bearings, Gears, Gear Trains and Transmission Parts (44.31) and News Agencies (37.55).

Antofagasta is one of the cities that hosts a greater proportion of foreign professionals (engineers and technicians), coming from other areas, mainly from Santiago and Concepción.

Historically, both the region and the commune have had an economy based to a lesser extent on industrial production and largely on the exploitation of minerals, especially copper. In the early years, the search for guanos and copper deposits was the main attraction. Later, by the XIX century, the discovery of saltpeter deposits and their great value worldwide at that time, made Antofagasta A place of interest. Saltpeter mining declined sharply with the synthesis of sodium and potassium nitrate in Germany and copper rose to prominence in the mid-20th century XX.

After the fall of the nitrate industry, which was triggered by the discovery of synthetic nitrate, Chile entered a deep economic depression that affected it for decades. Currently, copper has become the country's main mineral. Other minerals of interest are lithium, iodine, borates, silver mining and gold to a much lesser extent.

54% of Chile's mining production is extracted in the Antofagasta Region, which represents 16% of world copper production. Among its most important copper companies are Mantos Blancos, located about 60 km from Antofagasta, Compañía Minera Zaldívar, Minera Escondida, which is hegemonic in the area, as well as SQM (lithium borates and carbonate), and Atacama Minerals (saltpeter), among others.

20 km inside the urban area is the Ciudad Empresarial La Negra, a complex of approximately 2400 hectares with the Noranda copper blast furnace refinery (Alto Norte), which gives a high production of arsenic residues, and the Inacesa cement and lime plant.

Within the urban radius, the operations centers of multiple companies are inserted within the Industrial District, mainly along Pedro Aguirre Cerda avenue.

The Casino & Resort Enjoy Antofagasta opened its doors on November 11, 2008. The construction of the complex —which includes a 2,300 m² casino, a five-star hotel, a convention center with a capacity for 864 people, a spa, three restaurants, five bars, bingo, buffet, cafeterias, theaters, a children's entertainment area and a discotheque, in addition to 264 parking spaces, 35,637 m² in total— was in charge of the architects from Estudio Larraín and the company Salfacorp. The casino itself has 700 slot machines, 40 game tables and 320 bingo positions.

Trade

Paseo peatonal Arturo Prat, axis of the main commercial area of the city.

View of the main entrance of the Mall Plaza Antofagasta.

Until the mid-1990s, the city's commercial core was concentrated mainly in the central area, spread out along the Arturo Prat and Manuel Antonio Matta pedestrian promenades, as well as some surrounding streets. The sector was fundamentally made up of local or national stores, generally local family-run.

In order to generate new urban development poles for citizens and decentralize commerce, new projects were born with a view to a greater impact on the commercial flow of Antofagasta. In the middle of the aforementioned decade, the most important commercial chains in the country began to be located in the city, attracted mainly by the high purchasing power of the workers associated with the mining industry in the region: Falabella, París, La Polar, Ripley, Johnson. s, Corona, Tricot, Dijon and Hites.

The recent community equipment for the northern sector of the city, essentially on the periphery of the "Plaza Bicentenario de la República", has contributed enormously to decentralizing commerce.

With the inauguration of Mall Plaza Antofagasta, a regional subsidiary of the homonymous national chain, on September 15, 2006, the city has extended its commercial area towards the waterfront, setting up spaces intended mainly for leisure and family recreation. This commercial project, which houses large stores and the main national banks, is part of the improvement plan for the Costanera Central, it is the first venue of its kind to be set up in the city and is classified as the main leisure center from Antofagasta.

On the other hand, the Emilio Sotomayor square is also one of the main commercial arteries of the city, and concentrates a group of small local artisans. In this same place is the Municipal Market, a place for selling food and flowers, where a significant number of home cooking restaurants are concentrated, whose specialty came from seafood. In addition, the square is a meeting point for cultural and recreational activities, as well as an important source of work.

Urban profile

Columbus Tower and Cathedral, symbols of the North Pearl.

In the urban area, Antofagasta is characterized mainly by very defined zones, according to the socioeconomic level of its population (north sector, central sector, southern sector, central-high sector, etc.

From 2005 onwards, Antofagasta has experienced strong urban growth towards the southern sector and especially in the extreme north of the city, where upper-middle class housing complexes have emerged, such as condominiums and apartments.

Despite all of the above, the city still maintains its historic quarter, characterized mainly by buildings dating from the glorious days of Chilean saltpeter, and which are slowly giving way to modern constructions.^{[citation required ]}

The areas with the most exclusive housing and the most affluent sectors of the city are to the south, in upper-middle class neighborhoods such as Coviefi and upper-class neighborhoods such as Jardines del Sur.

Antofagasta is a city that —unlike those founded by the Spaniards, who began construction around a block that they called “Plaza de Armas” with certificates and blessings—, had its origin thanks to the discovery of saltpeter in the Salar del Carmen by the industrialist José Santos Ossa. Among the most famous explorers is Juan López, the monkey, who in 1866 set "La Chimba" his permanent residence. This fact has allowed him to be recognized as the founder of Antofagasta, since the origins of this city are not entirely clear.

Tourism

Natural monument The Cover.

Desert Hand.

Municipal spa at midnight.

According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) and the National Tourism Service (SERNATUR) during the first half of 2006, of a total of 1,249,578 tourists (from national or foreign territory) who traveled through Chile during In said period, 123,643 did so through the commune of Antofagasta, which translates into a growth in the communal tourist flow of 31.39% (compared to the 94,107 tourists in the previous report).

Japanese park.

San Pedro de Atacama, considered the archaeological capital of Chile, was declared a Typical Zone in 1980, it is one of the main tourist poles in the region, which has several Chilean national monuments in the commune. On the second day of February, the Candelaria festival is celebrated and, in the same month, the carnival of San Pedro; on June 29, the feast of this saint and on December 25, adoration of the Child God.

Among the tourist attractions is La Portada, a geomorphological accident of volcanic rocks and fossil remains that has an area of 31.27 ha. It has a coastal cliff that reaches a maximum height of 52 meters above sea level and that surrounds the arch of La Portada; it is 43 m high, 23 m wide and 70 m long. Located approximately 18 km to the north, along Route 1, it has a 70 m unnamed path located at an altitude of 50 m, which can be covered in approximately 10 minutes on foot (it has access for the disabled). Beach access path is closed, as a security measure.

Another attraction is the La Chimba national reserve, located approximately 10 km to the northeast, in the ravine of the same name (Cordillera de la Costa). With an area of 2,583 ha, it presents a series of factors that generate microclimates. Declared a National Reserve on July 13, 1988 (Supreme Decree No. 71 of the Ministry of Agriculture), it presents landscapes of great scenic beauty, where you can take walks, observing the wild flora and fauna.

The Tropic of Capricorn Landmark is located just meters from the Andrés Sabella Gálvez National Airport and marks the exact position of that tropic. It is an observatory of the solstice phenomenon.

75 km south of the city is the Hand of the Desert, a sculpture created by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal.

The Llullaillaco National Park is a property of 268,670 hectares protected by the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) within the commune of Antofagasta, 275 km from the city. It is inserted in the Andes Mountains, between 3,000 and 6,700 meters above sea level, where the Llullaillaco volcano (6,739 meters above sea level), and the hills of La Pena (5,260 meters above sea level) and Aguas Calientes (5,060 meters above sea level) stand out. It is inhabited by vicuñas and guanacos, animals that have their highest population density in the region here. The Montane Desert of the Domeyko Cordillera, the desert steppe of the Andean salt flats and the azonal formations of vegas and bofedales are considered within the protected area.

Playa El Trocadero located in the northern part of the City

The Morro Moreno National Park, located in front of Antofagasta and a few kilometers from the Juan López beach, is one of the six misty oases in the country, where a great variety of animal and plant species live, some of them endemic. It has an altitude of 1,100 meters and is frequently covered in clouds.

The commune has a series of beaches, some of which have been artificially built as a measure to improve the coastline. Mention should be made of the beaches Municipal Spa, to the south; The Trocadero, to the north; Paradise, in the center; El Huáscar (8 km to the south), Amarilla (11 km to the south), La Rinconada (26 km to the north) and Juan López (36 km to the north).

In the summer the habit of bathing at night until after midnight on artificial beaches is taking root among the population due to the high solar radiation that occurs during summer days. On February 20, 2010, a massive night bath was held in El Trocadero, with the participation of more than 5,000 people. For the coming years, the aim is to promote this activity, with the presence of lifeguards and greater police deployment.^{[citation required]}

In November 2011, both architecture and Antofagasta culture were seen on the Space television program: The Amazing Race Latin America 3, broadcast throughout Latin America, and where the Chilean participants were victorious.^{[citation required]}

Ruins of Huanchaca, ancient silver foundry located in the southern sector of the city.

Hotels

Hotel Antofagasta and Hotel Terrado.

In Antofagasta there are approximately 67 places of accommodation, divided mainly between hotels, apart hotels, youth hostels, residences and cabins. Adding a hotel capacity of around 4,000 beds.

Within the hotel range, one of the oldest venues is the Antofagasta hotel, inaugurated on November 29, 1953, which belongs to the Panamericana Hotels chain.

Since the mid-1990s, multinational chains began to settle in the city, including the Radisson, the Holiday Inn Express Antofagasta and the Hotel Diego de Almagro.

In 2008 the Hotel Casino and Resort Enjoy was inaugurated under the Hotel del Desierto brand, run by Enjoy Chile, a 5-star hotel with 92 rooms and a gaming casino along with restaurants, discos, event rooms, museums, amphitheatres, spa and gym.

The Iquique chain Terrado Suites opened the Hotel Terrado Suites Antofagasta in February 2009 with 138 rooms (136 suites and 2 presidential) in a 17-story building.^{[quote required]}

Other hotels are Alto del Sol and the 5-star Apartament Florencia Suites, both to the south of the city.^{[citation needed]}

Culture

Antofagasta fin. Oil by Marta Zúñiga Otis.

The Andrés Sabella House of Culture is located in the national monument corresponding to the former town hall building of the Municipality of Antofagasta. Various courses for artistic purposes are taught there, as well as shows of a diverse nature and musical encounters.

The Municipal Theater of Antofagasta, which was inaugurated on September 11, 1981, is managed by the Corporación Cultural de Antofagasta. It has two stalls with a total capacity of 900 people. It is the headquarters of the Antofagasta Symphony Orchestra, created in 1962 and inaugurated with a concert on November 2, under the direction of Rafael Ramos Vivar, its principal conductor from its beginnings until 1969. Successive conductors have been: Joaquín Taulis, Eliseo Santelices, Luis Reygadas, Terry Lee Hulick, Juan Rojas Martorell, Fernando Guerra, Celso Torres Mora and Christian Baeza who is today the principal conductor. The orchestra is a dependent body of the aforementioned Cultural Corporation and is made up of more than 60 musicians.

Music

Inti-Illimani Concert in the Huanchaca Ruins.

The Corporation also has a Music School, which was founded by Rafael Ramos Vivar. This teacher, together with a group of outstanding professors, provided training for students in the field of piano performance, flute, violin, guitar, lyrical singing and the fundamental classes of Theory and Solfeggio and Harmony. Since 2007, the teacher and cellist Yasna Meneses González has directed the School, which has the chairs of Ramos Teóricos (theory and solfeggio, rhythmic and harmony), Singing (lyrical singing and popular singing), Popular Music (electronic bass, electric guitar, drums, saxophone) and Classical Music (violin, viola, cello, double bass, transverse flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, piano, percussion and classical guitar). Among the disciplines taught are: Music Appreciation (First year), Music Literature, Complementary Piano, Complementary Choir (First year), Scenic.

The School of Music has a Youth Chamber Orchestra for students of the classical sector, and also has the Instrumental Ensemble for students of popular music.

Cinema

Antofagasta hosted two film festivals, which have a common origin.

In 2004, the first Antofagasta International Film Festival (Ficiant) was held at the CineMundo premises in the Antofagasta Shopping mall, directed by the filmmaker Adriana Zuanic. Two years later, due to a split between the organizers, the Northern Chile International Film Festival was born under the direction of Zuanic herself and with extensions to other communes in the region, including Calama, Tocopilla, Mejillones and San Pedro de Atacama. After the death of Zuanic (2008), the festival began to be led by his closest collaborators —Marcela Díaz Gálvez, René Huerta Quinsacara, Claudio Galeno, Jorge Wittwer, Arlette Ibarra and Pedro Arturo Zlatar—, but due to incompatibilities with Zlatar, the original production team stepped aside from organizing the event. In 2012 it celebrated its eighth and last version, with Zlatar as general producer and Víctor Bórquez as artistic director.

Meanwhile, the Ficiant celebrated its sixth edition in 2012, its director was Omar Villegas.

Currently, the International Documentary Festival called Antofadocs is taking place.

Museums and Libraries

Antigua Customs, part of the Regional Museum of Antofagasta.

Most of the museums in Antofagasta are private. The exception is the regional one, located in the old Customs building, the only one that depends on the Directorate of Libraries, Archives and Museums. As of 2008, it offers a new permanent exhibition distributed in 12 rooms, as well as an Auditorium room for mounting temporary and traveling exhibitions and carrying out extension activities.

The Andrés Sabella museum has an art gallery and iconographic material of the local poet that is managed by the cultural corporation of the same name. Previously located in the former Maritime Government building (part of the Regional Museum), it was transferred during the 2000s to the Casa de la Cultura Andrés Sabella.

The Huanchaca Cultural Park is home to the Atacama Desert Museum (administered by the Huanchaca Ruins Foundation), a 2,000-m² facility that has five permanent exhibition rooms and a hall for traveling exhibitions, as well as an auditorium.

The Seventh Line Military History Museum is another important cultural center for the region that has clothing, weapons, and items from the Pacific War. It can be visited in the Reinforced Regiment No. 20 La Concepción.[2]

The Professor Humberto Fuenzalida Villegas Geological Museum, created in August 1974, was the first geological museum in the country. Completely remodeled, it reopened its doors in December 2012 on the campus of the Universidad Católica del Norte, administrator of its valuable collection of minerals and fossils that includes "the oldest rock found on the face of the Earth".

Abaroa House, former residence of the Abaroa family, built in 1927.

The Abaroa house, managed by the cultural corporation of the same name, was designated a historical monument on February 6, 2008. Reused for a time as a historical saltpeter museum, the initiative did not prosper and closed a few years after its opening.

The commune also has three public libraries managed by DIBAM: No. 120, Isaac Arce Ramírez (inaugurated on May 9, 1976), No. 122, Mario Bahamonde and No. 124, Ljubica Domic Wuth. The Regional Library, installed in the old premises of the public services building (national monument by decree No. 79), was inaugurated on November 14, 2013.

Monuments

Ruins of Huanchaca, traces of the ancient silver foundry of the Huanchaca Mining Company.

Clock tower located in Plaza Colón.

The city has a significant number of monuments, which record various processes of national history.

The Ruins of Huanchaca, which correspond to the structural foundations of the Establecimiento Industrial Playa Blanca of the Compañía Huanchaca de Bolivia, were built in 1892 and became fully operational the following year, carrying out the activity of amalgamation and refining of silver ores. Due to its low profitability, the company ceased its activities in 1902. After years in the hands of the Chilean Treasury, it was transferred to the property of the Universidad Católica del Norte in 1964. Declared a National Historical Monument on January 7, 1974, they are contemplated in a recovery project by Enjoy Antofagasta.

The Melbourne Clark Saltpeter Company Dock, better known as the Historic Dock, was built in 1872 to serve as a loading dock, although it also served as a passenger dock. It is a historical vestige of great importance, since the Chilean troops commanded by Colonel Emilio Sotomayor landed there on February 14, 1879, an event that marked the beginning of the War of the Pacific. Declared a National Historic Monument on July 12, 1978, there are plans to use it in a gastronomic neighborhood.^{[citation required]}

Near the Melbourne Clark Saltpeter Dock was the partially destroyed Miraflores Dock, which belongs to the Antofagasta Yacht Club.^{[citation required]}

The José Francisco Vergara square is a record of the old saltpeter activity. Formerly located in the Nitrate Office of the same name, it was transferred in 1978 to the Coloso Campus of the University of Antofagasta.^{[citation required]}

In Plaza Colón is the Clock Tower, a donation from the English colony to the city. Inaugurated on September 17, 1911, it was declared a National Historic Monument on April 18, 1986 (the Kiosco de Retreta was inaugurated on March 26, 1911 and declared a National Historic Monument on August 30, 1995).

Festivities

The heterogeneity of cultural manifestations in Antofagasta lies in part in the contribution made by the colonies of immigrants residing in the city. Sas and May

Annually, February 14 is celebrated on Antofagasta Day, in reference to the Chilean landing of Antofagasta, by Colonel Emilio Sotomayor. This party is sometimes confused with a celebration related to a supposed foundation of the city of Antofagasta.^{[citation required]}

Both in Antofagasta, as well as in Arica, Iquique, Alto Hospicio, Tocopilla and Calama, La Octava de la Fiesta de La Tirana (better known as La Tirana Chica), a religious celebration in honor of the Virgen del Carmen. The folkloric celebration was initially held on July 24 (eight days after the Fiesta de La Tirana), but later the date has become mobile (considering one or two weeks after the main fiesta).^{[ citation required]}

Every year, at the beginning of November, the Festival of Foreign Communities (known as Las Colonias) is held, a unique event in the country in which for 3 days you can enjoy the best gastronomy and dance of the participating communities in the city. The first festival was held on October 29, 1983 and brought together residents from Yugoslavia, Spain, Greece, Japan, Germany, Bolivia, Italy and China, as well as the host Chile. In Antofagasta, the communities of Croatia, Greece, Peru, Japan, China, Bolivia, the Arab Union, Argentina, France, Italy and Chile are still present.^{[citation required]}

Garnish

Rama	Military unit
Chilean Army	Command of the I Army Division 3.a Armored Brigade Aviation platoon No. 1. North Military Hospital
Chilean Air Force	Command of the V Air Brigade (Chile) Aviation Group No. 7 Aviation Group No. 8 Anti-aircraft Defense Group No. 21 Aviation Infantry Group No. 41 Telecommunications and Detection Group No. 31

Education

According to the Chilean Ministry of Education, in 2007 Antofagasta had an enrollment volume of more than 74,000 students, broken down as follows: Pre-school or Nursery Education 7,049; Special Education 1909; Basic Education 44,898; Secondary Education 20,495 (12,871 Scientific-Humanist, and 7,574 Technical-Professional).

It has 94 establishments that offer kindergarten, basic and secondary education. The commune has a Municipal Corporation, which is in charge of the 53 municipal educational establishments that ensure free education to the population, serving 42,823 students in 2007, of which 3,078 were pre-school students, 253 of Special Education, 26,826 of Basic Education and 11,963 of Secondary Education.

It also has 21 state-subsidized private establishments, and 20 non-subsidized private schools, of which the schools Hrvatska Skola San Esteban, San Luis, Universitario Antonio Rendic and The Antofagasta British School managed to rank within the top four places in the region according to the score obtained in the University Selection Test valid for the 2007 admission process.

Antofagasta is the first city in Chile to have a municipal school operating within a military compound: the Centro de Recuperación de Estudios Integrados a la Instrucción Militar, located inside the Reinforced Regiment no. º20 The Conception.

Kindergartens and nursery schools

Municipalized

• Snow White Warm School
• Escuela de Párvulos Los Pingüinitos
• Marcela Paz Prison School
• Semillita Warehouse

Subsidized individuals

Paid individuals

Schools, high schools and colleges

Municipalized schools

Municipalized high schools

Schools

Paid individuals

Subsidized individuals

Universities

In 1947, the State Technical University was founded and on October 1, 1956, the Universidad del Norte (now Católica del Norte) was created, thanks to the support of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. He started his classes the following year, but only in 1961 did he receive an extension of land where he built a university campus. On October 9, 1956, negotiations began for the creation of the Centro Universitario Zona Norte, dependent on the University of Chile. On May 29 and June 28, 1957, the Universidad del Norte and the Zona Norte University Center were inaugurated respectively.

On October 24, 1968, the Antofagasta Campus of the University of Chile was inaugurated, following a university reform agreement approved on October 3 that meant the autonomy of the Centro Universitario Zona Norte.

Decree Law (DL) No. 1 of March 10, 1981 gives legal support to the merger of the headquarters of the University of Chile and the State Technology, giving rise to the University of Antofagasta.

At the end of the 1990s, the first private universities appeared in the city.

In addition, in the city of Antofagasta, pre-university schools were established to prepare fourth-year high school students to take the University Selection Test (PSU) (former PAA).

Traditional universities (Belonging to the Council of Rectors)

• Catholic University of the North (private, belonging to the Catholic Church)
• University of Antofagasta (state)
• Arturo Prat University (state)

Private universities

• Universidad Pedro de Valdivia
• Universidad Santo Tomás
• University of the Republic
• Technological University of Chile (INACAP)
• Central University of Chile (Sede in process of closing)

Paid college students

• Cpech
• Centre of study and pre-university Simon
• Pedro de Valdivia
• Tesla

Alternative colleges

• University of Antofagasta
• Catholic University of the North

Professional Institutes

• AIEP de la Universidad Andrés Bello
• INACAP
• St. Thomas
• The Lakes

Technical training centers

• Ceduc UCN
• North Esane
• CFT INACAP
• St. Thomas
• Finning Technical Institute

Language Institutes

• Wall Street Institute (WSI)
• The King Language Institute (TKLI)
• Tronwell

Mining training centers

• CEIM de Fundación Educacional Escondida
• UNAP CTM
• Finning FIT

Sports

Professional sports in Antofagasta began a slow process of disappearance in the early 1990s, as a result of financial problems and a lack of support from the community, as well as poor administration.^{[ citation required]}

Football

The main sport practiced in Antofagasta, as in the rest of the country, is soccer. In order to organize the growing discipline, on April 5, 1910, the Antofagasta Football Association (now Luciano Durandeau Prado) was founded, one of the oldest local football unions in the country (there are 8 local associations, grouped into the Regional Amateur Football Association, ARFA).^{[citation required]}

Club de Deportes Antofagasta, from the First Division, is the only local representative in Chilean professional soccer. The city had two other clubs in amateur football, Ormazábal (from 2006 to 2008) and Unión Bellavista (2008), which, after briefly participating in the Third Division, withdrew from the tournament for financial reasons.^{[citation required]}

The main stadium is the Regional Calvo y Bascuñán, inaugurated on October 8, 1964, which has a maximum capacity of 21,178 spectators. Its construction was planned to be a sub-venue for the 1962 Soccer World Cup, which finally did not happen after the Carlos Dittborn Stadium in Arica was confirmed for this purpose on February 11, 1962. It was remodeled and reopened on March 20, 2013, within the framework of the Chilestadios program of the National Sports Institute.

Another sports venue enabled for the practice of professional football is the Parque Juan López Stadium, adapted during the remodeling of Calvo y Bascuñán to host First Division matches.^{[citation required]}

Water sports

Water polo developed greatly in the 1970s and 1980s, but only the Minera Zaldívar and H₂0 Polo clubs remain, which organize the local championships of this sport. ^{[citation required]}

Swimming, like water polo, developed greatly in the aforementioned decades, but then remained practically inactive until the mid-1990s, when new clubs began to be refounded under the competitive supervision of the Swimming Association from Antofagasta. An important pillar for the development of this sport has been the Olympic Pool, which with its modernization plan has achieved a privileged level of equipment, infrastructure and aquatic technology. This allowed the city to host various National Swimming Championships in different categories during the first decade of this century, and host the water polo and synchronized swimming stage of the 2005 South American Youth Championship.^{[citation required]}

Basketball

Although Hrvatski Sokol has been a multi-sports club since its inception, basketball has always been prominent as its main discipline. Organized by a group of Croatian immigrants, its founding act was signed on December 1, 1927 by Juan Goic, the club's first president, along with 17 other of his compatriots.^{[citation required]}

In 1947, under the presidency of Juan Agnic, they managed to acquire the 5000 m of land of the then Quinta Aramayo for the construction of their own stadium. Thanks to the collection of funds by the club's board of directors and the donation of 6,000 bags of cement by Josip Broz Tito, the sports venue with capacity for 7,000 spectators was inaugurated in 1966.^{[citation required ]}

Antofagasta was one of the five venues for the 1959 World Basketball Championship. The sub-venue for the tournament was the Green Cross Club gymnasium.^{[citation needed]}

Other sports

Baseball is one of the most representative sports in the city after soccer. The first news of baseball in Chile dates back to the 1920s, in the cities of Iquique and Tocopilla; later this sport expanded to other northern cities, including Antofagasta. In 1970, the city shared the headquarters, along with Tocopilla, for the South American Baseball Championship, and has hosted various regional and national championships.^{[citation required]}

The Antofagasta Cycling Association was founded on August 31, 1920 and is one of the oldest in the country. The affiliated clubs are Antofagasta, Internacional and Green Cross, after the disappearance of a dozen clubs, such as Berico, Unión Española, Chile, Garrison Militar, Olímpico, Mantos Blancos, Soquimich, Ciclo Club, Bianchi San Eugenio, Juventud China, Veneros and Mecano. This sport has carried out its tests in public spaces, such as Plaza Colón, Avenida Brasil and the Costanera, because although the authorities have planned to build a velodrome for years, it has never been built.^{[quote required]}

Tennis is practiced mainly in 3 clubs for this sport: Antofagasta Tennis Club, Ferroviario Tennis Club and AutoClub Antofagasta. Several Future ATP tournaments have been held in the city, in the years 2007, 2009, 2018,

Horse riding is concentrated at the Isidro Bosch Hippodrome in La Chimba. Part of the Club Hípico de Antofagasta, it is a 59.42-hectare enclosure that previously functioned on the current grounds of the Regional Stadium. It was enabled on its current grounds on October 15, 1961. This event meant the depotentiation of the business, since due to the remoteness of the sector, the bets decreased considerably.^{[citation required]}

On February 14, 1999, the Antofagasta International Triathlon was held in the city, an ITU scoring date to qualify for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, where important triathletes from all over America participated.^{[citation required ]}

Another less traditional sport is sandboarding, practiced in places like the Coloso dunes (on the way to Playa Escondida), in the northern sector of the city; in addition to bodyboarding and surfing, widely practiced in the city by various people throughout the entire coastal zone of the Antofagasta Region, being the venue for various championships and sporting events in the disciplines.^{[citation required ]}

Motor Racing: In 1970 Antofagasta had a racetrack called "Roca Roja" located south of the city, but currently has an asphalt track, located in the northern sector near the detour that connects with the natural monument "La Portada" on the way to the Cerro Moreno airport, a sports venue conditioned to receive the large number of pilots and the general public, who attend the races every Sunday, an activity that has gained more notoriety in recent years, caused by the mining boom and the mystique that It is produced because Antofagasta is a city located between the desert and the sea.^{[citation required]}

Sports venues

• Calvo Regional Stadium and Bascuñán
• Estadio Parque Juan López
• Sokol Stadium
• Green Cross Stadium

Transportation

Antofagasta is connected to the rest of the country by air, sea and land transportation.

Andrés Sabella Gálvez Airport.

The main connectivity road is Route 5, a road that connects the city with the rest of the country and is part of the Pan-American Highway. This route connects with the city through Route 26 in the northern sector of the city and route 28 in the southern access. In addition, the city is connected to the north of the country by Route 1, a road that also allows access to the Andrés Sabella Gálvez National Airport and the La Portada natural monument.^{[citation required]}

Vehicle traffic is concentrated around the main avenues of the city, due to the long and narrow conformation of the urban area. The only continuous axis that crosses Antofagasta from north to south corresponds to the coastal complex popularly known as Costanera avenue —formed by Jaime Guzmán, Ejército, Republica de Croacia, Grecia, José Manuel Balmaceda, Aníbal Pinto, 7º de Línea and Edmundo Pérez Zujovic avenues. —, which allows access to places such as Mall Plaza Antofagasta, the Coloso Campus of the University of Antofagasta or the town hall building, among others.^{[citation required]}

Andrés Sabella Airport is the only air terminal in Antofagasta and is located in Cerro Moreno, north of the city. Three national airlines operate: LATAM, Sky Airline and JetSmart.

Costanera and port of Antofagasta (Antofagasta Terminal Internacional).

The city also has a port complex with seven berths, inaugurated by President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo on February 14, 1943 under the name of Puerto de Antofagasta, which is made up of two terminals. No. 1, made up of berths 1, 2 and 3, is multi-operational and has been managed by the Antofagasta Port Company (EPA) since July 1, 1998. No. 2, made up of berths berths 4, 5, 6 and 7, is single-operator and has been managed by the company Antofagasta Terminal Internacional (ATI) since March 1, 2003. Overall, this tourist port (a member of the Association of Cruise Ports of the Southern Cone) and commercial can operate a production of 5,000,000 tons of cargo.^{[citation required]}

The port complex has a connection to the Antofagasta Bolivia Railway (FCAB).^{[citation required]}

Public transport

Microbus of the public transport service TransAntofagasta.

Antofagasta's public transportation is based on the service provided by collective taxis and microbuses.^{[citation required]}

There are different lines among which are The lines:

-121 - 103 - 102 - 107 - 104 - 108 - 109 - 110 - 111 - 112 - 114 - 119 - 129

Main transportation is made up of thirteen minibus lines, which correspond to buses with a capacity of less than thirty people. This service is part of a tender and is known as TransAntofagasta. This public transportation plan officially came into effect on November 28, 2005, replacing the old minibus service. These go as far as Caleta Coloso and in summer as far as the Juan López Spa.

Minor transportation is made up of collective taxi lines, which correspond to black sedans that make their way through the urban area through fixed routes.

Due to the urban and demographic growth that Antofagasta has experienced in the last decade, the implementation of an urban train, using the current line of the Antofagasta to Bolivia Railroad, is under study and discussion. The objective of the project is to decongest the vehicular traffic that causes problems at rush hour, linking the north and south of the city through a direct tram line.

Media

In Antofagasta there is a wide range of communications services available, from fixed and mobile telephony to wireless broadband networks. Fixed telephony, whose telephone prefix is 55, covers almost all households through companies such as Movistar and VTR Globalcom. As for internet services, these have expanded significantly during the same decade. Antofagasta is the headquarters of some locally distributed media outlets, both on television, radio and in the press. In the case of television, it receives the signal from national channels such as Televisión Nacional de Chile (which also has a local network), Canal 13, TV+ Mega, Chilevisión, La Red, Telecanal and Antofagasta TV, in addition to having 2 local channels by cable: Digital Channel (signal 15 VTR), Antofagasta TV (signal 16 VTR) and AMcanal (signal 41.3 Movistar). The National TV+ Channel does not have a repeater in the area, so this channel only reaches the city through cable and satellite television without difficulties.

The city receives the signal of 39 radios in the modulated frequency (FM); 13 are of local origin: 3 of which are radios with minimal coverage (Sokol, Manantial and Verbo) and 2 associated with the region's traditional universities: Radio UA, linked to the University of Antofagasta and Radio Sol FM, linked to the Universidad Católica del Norte (first FM in Antofagasta and the oldest in force), Channel 95, Radio Desierto; The Anglo Latina Radio signal is also broadcast from Antofagasta, which broadcasts exclusively over the Internet, taking its HD audio signal to the whole world. In addition, national signals such as FM Dos, Radio Cooperativa, ADN and Radio Agricultura through the FM signal I want to broadcast some of their programs.

In the case of the written press in Antofagasta, there are 2 regional media outlets: El Mercurio de Antofagasta and La Estrella de Antofagasta (both owned by Empresa Periodística El Norte S.A. subsidiary of El Mercurio S.A.P.). In addition, the national newspapers of the two large media groups are distributed: El Mercurio, Las Últimas Noticias, La Tercera and La Cuarta, as well as various magazines and weeklies from different publishers.

The city also has digital newspapers such as El Nortero, El Regionalista, El Timeline, Región 2 and El Diario de Antofagasta.

The Journalistic Company El Norte S.A. It also publishes Norte Minero in Antofagasta, the mining magazine and the only one of the company that circulates nationwide.

Radio stations

FM

• 88.1 MHz Radio Canal 95 (Local)
• 88.9 MHz DNA Radio Chile
• 89.3 MHz FM Okey (V Region)
• 89.7 MHz FM Seven (Local)**
• 90.1 MHz Radio Corporación
• 90.7 MHz Radio Concierto**
• 91.1 MHz Cooperative Radio
• 91.5 MHz Heart FM
• 92.1 MHz Radio Desert (Local)**
• 92.5 MHz Radio Romina (Local)
• 92.9 MHz Radio Armonía
• 93.5 MHz Radio Bío-Bío
• 93.9 MHz Charanga Latina (Local)
• 94.5 MHz Future Radio**
• 95.1 MHz FM I want (Local)
• 95.9 MHz Radio Pudahuel
• 96.5 MHz Radio Carnival (Local/National)
• 97.1 MHz Digital FM (Local/Nacional)**
• 97.7 MHz Radio Sol FM
• 98.5 MHz FM Two
• 99.1 MHz Pauta FM
• 99.5 MHz Positive Radio
• 99.9 MHz Radio Universidad de Antofagasta (Local)
• 100.5 MHz Radioactive
• 101.3 MHz The FM Conqueror (North Network) (Local/National)
• 101.9 MHz Radio Carolina
• 102.5 MHz Madero FM (Local/Regional)
• 103.3 MHz FM Centre
• 103.9 MHz Radio Isabella/Atlanta (Local) (*)
• 104.3 MHz Radio Litoral FM (Mejillones)
• 104.7 MHz Radio Nuevo Mundo (Local/Nacional)
• 105.1 MHz The 40s.
• 105.7 MHz Play FM**
• 106.3 MHz Start Radio
• 106.7 MHz FM Plus (Local)**
• 107.1 MHz Radio Hrvatski Sokol (Local)**
• 107.3 MHz Radio Adonay Nacional
• 107.5 MHz Radio Manantial (Nacional)
• 107.7 MHz Radio San Pablo
• 107.9 MHz Radio El Verbo

(Expired)

**= Mainly Anglo stations

(*) Isabella broadcasts from 7 AM to 10:00 PM, Atlanta the remaining hours and is the owner of the signal

Television

VHF

• 2 - TV+
• 4 - Telecanal.
• 6 - TVN (transmits the signal of TVN Red Antofagasta)
• 7 - Chilevision
• 9 - Mega
• 11 - The Network
• 13 - Channel 13

DTT

• 2.1 - TV+ HD
• 2.2 - TV MORE 2
• 2.3 - UCV TV
• 6.1 - TVN HD
• 6.2 - NTV.
• 7.1 - Chilevision HD
• 7.2 - UChile TV
• 9.1 - Mega HD
• 9.2 - Mega 2
• 13.1 - Channel 13 HD
• 14.1 - Antofagasta TV
• 14.2 - TVR
• 14.3 - UNIFE TV
• 14.4 - Tevex.
• 38.1 - New HD Time
• 38.2 - New Time SD
• 38.3 - Radio New Time
• 41.1 - LRP TV
• 41.2 - LRP TV 2
• 41.3 - AM Canal
• 41.4 - RTV +

Wired

• 15 - Digital Channel
• 16 - Antofagasta TV

Homonymous places

• Antofagasta de la Sierra, Argentina

Twinned cities

The city of Antofagasta has signed town twinning protocols with:

• Corvallis, Oregon, United States.
• Split, Croatia.
• Tongling, People's Republic of China.
• Maracaibo, Venezuela
• Volos, Greece
• Ibarra, Ecuador
• Ambato, Ecuador