Department of Moquegua

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Moquegua is one of the twenty-four departments that, together with the Constitutional Province of Callao, make up the Republic of Peru. Its capital and most populated city is the homonymous Moquegua. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the western slope of the Andes mountain range. It limits to the north with the department of Arequipa, to the east with the department of Puno, to the south with the department of Tacna and to the west with the Pacific Ocean. With 15,734 km², it is the third least extensive department —before Lambayeque and Tumbes, the least extensive— and with 10.3 inhab/km², it is the fifth least densely populated —before Amazonas, Ucayali, Loreto and Madre de God, the less densely populated. This department was created on January 2, 1837 with the city of Moquegua as its capital.

With a GDP per capita of USD 28,740, Moquegua is the richest department and the second with the highest human development index in the country.

History

Plaza de Armas of the city of Moquegua, the cathedral of the city is appreciated.

During the Early Horizon the region was assimilated by the Pucará Culture; in the Middle Horizon, by the Tiahuanaco Culture. Later they dominated the Aymara kingdoms. Over the years, the entire region came under the rule of the Inca Empire. Around 1540, more or less, the first Spaniards arrived in search of land to settle. One of the thirteen of the Isla del Gallo, Juan de la Torre, led the domination between the mountains of Huaynaputina and Tixan. With the founding of the city of Moquegua (1541) and its first Spanish families were located, the Caleta de Ilo (today the port of Ilo) was also created there in 1713, which suffered the arrival of many pirate ships including Francis Drake; Several mills were established to produce the region's wheat. Moquegua distinguished himself in the fight for independence and for this reason it was given the title of city (January 9, 1823). A hero from Moquegua, Marshal Domingo Nieto, fought bravely in the battles of Junín and Ayacucho.

After the Independence of Peru, the administrative division of the country was preserved to that of the colony with minimal changes, this is how Moquegua went from forming one of the Repartimientos of the Municipality of Arequipa to being one of the seven Provinces of the Department of Arequipa, a situation that was preserved until the 1830s, when due to the internal disputes in Peru and the Bolivian interventionism of Santa Cruz in the politics of Peru and the formation of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, the peoples of Moquegua, Locumba, Tacna and Arica are in favor of joining the upper Peruvian provinces. However, it is provided that a new Department be created in South Peru, the so-called Litoral Department with the then Arequipa provinces of Arica and Tarapacá. Once the confederation was dissolved, this new department was dissolved, which was later reorganized by adding the Province of Moquegua, renamed the Department of Moquegua.

During the War of the Pacific, the region endured the Chilean incursion, which devastated people and property.

Territorial organization

Since colonial times and in the republic since 1823, he has been part of the Department of Arequipa, such as the Province of Moquegua.
In 1853, the Department of Moquegua was established in the provinces of Moquegua, Arica, Tacna and Tarapacá. The capital was the city of Tacna.

In 1868, the Tarapacá Litoral Province was created separate from the Moquegua Department.
In 1875, the Litoral Province of Moquegua was created, with capital in the city of Moquegua. The Department of Moquegua is renamed Department Tacna.

In 1884, the Department of Moquegua, with the provinces of Moquegua (capital: Moquegua), Puquina (capital: Omate) and Tarata (capital: Tarata), was created from the Litoral Province of Moquegua.
In 1936, with Law No. 8230, the Department of Moquegua was created, with the provinces Mariscal Nieto (Capital: Moquegua) and General Sánchez Cerro (capital: Omate).

Administrative division

The Department has an area of 15,733.97 km² with a population of 182,333 inhabitants and is administratively divided into three provinces:

Provinces of the department of Moquegua
Ubigeo	Province	Capital	Districts	Surface km2	Problation 2016	Altitude m. n. m.
1801	Mariscal Nieto	Moquegua	7	8 671.58	82 296	1 417
1802	General Sánchez Cerro	Omato	11	5 681.71	28 685	2 160
1803	Ilo	Ilo	3	1 380.68	71 352	13

Geography

Most important rivers: Ilo, Osmore and Asana.
Volcanoes: Ubinas (5672 m s. n.), Ticsani (5408 m.), Huaynaputina (4850 m. n. m.).
Cordilleras: Cordillera del Barroso y Cordillera Volcaánica.
Abras: Quella (4800 m. n. m), Yaretane (4700 m. n. m.), Suches (4650 m. n. m.), Anco Apacheta (4650 m. n. m.) and Organune (4500 m. n.) in Mariscal Nieto.
Islands: Punta Coles.
Lagunas: Jucumarini and Vizcacha.

Location

To the north they border with: Arequipa; to the south with Tacna; towards the east with the departments of Tacna and Puno; towards the west with the sea of Grau (Pacific ocean that corresponds to Peru). Located in the southwestern region, it has regions of the coast and mountains. Ubinas, its disturbing volcano, is the only one active in all of Peru. On its slopes, the earth is fertile, in contrast to the desolation of its peaks.

South Latitude: between 15th and 17th 50th parallels.
Western longitude: between meridians 69o 59' and 71o 29'.
Number of provinces: 3.
Number of districts: 20.
Climate: sunny subtropical and desert, with a temperature of 20.5 °C, a maximum of 33 °C and a minimum close to 9 °C. The city of Moquegua has a mild and dry climate, with few rains, with an intense and benign sun.

Demographics

According to the 2007 population census, the department has 161,533 inhabitants. Height of the Capital Region, the city of Moquegua is at 1410 m s. no. m. in a beautiful and fertile coastal valley.

The department of Moquegua has a population of 161,533 inhabitants according to data from the INEI (National Institute of Statistics and Informatics). Of the 161,533 inhabitants of Moquegua, 78,646 are women and 82,887 are men. Therefore, 51.31 percent of the population are men and 48.69 percent are women (2011).

Economy

Valley of Moquegua.

Ilo.

Ilo's olive plantations are the main business of its agriculture, which is the occupation of most of the Moqueguanos. The Samegua avocado plantations also stand out. Omate is the center of fruit production, especially lemon, lime and apricots. On the other hand, cattle are raised in almost the mountain region of this region. and sheep and sheep grazing also constitutes an important activity. As for mining, the copper riches are numerous in the Quellaveco and Cuajone mines. The energy in general comes from the Ilo thermal power plant, which has a large area of influence. Regarding trade, it is active in the port of Ilo, where the largest fishmeal and fish oil factory in the country is located. In addition, a small port and burgundy wine industry develops.

Education

In the area of basic education, it has 94 public and private schools.

At the top level, it has 2 universities based in the department: the José Carlos Mariátegui University, the first private university, and the state National University of Moquegua (UNAM).

Transportation

Ground transportation

Railroad Toquepala-Cuajone-Ilo.

The Department of Moquegua has a Road Network of 1,895.8 km, of which 458 km (24.2%) belong to the National Network, 309.4 km (16.3%) to the Departmental Network and 1,129.4 km (59.5%) to the Neighborhood Network. The department of Moquegua has two main roads to articulate with the departments of the Southern Macroregion: the Ilo - Desaguadero Binacional highway that crosses the region from West to East and the Panamericana Sur highway that crosses the department from North to South. The Puno Moquegua Interoceanic Axis converges to the Binational highway. Likewise, the Moquegua - Omate highway allows the integration of high Andean towns located in the highlands of the department (Tambo River Basin), contributing to the flow of agricultural products to the coast.

The Ilo - Desaguadero - La Paz Binational highway has made it possible to boost the import and export capacity of the region, Latin American tourism and mainly the development of the populations of southern Peru. The immediate benefit translates into less travel time between the coast and the highlands and reduced transportation costs, mainly facilitating trade flows that occur with great intensity between these areas. The Costanera Highway allows the city and port of Ilo to be directly linked with the cities of Camana and Matarani to the north and the city of Tacna to the south.

By means of the railway, it has a 217.7 km railway line that connects Toquepala-Cuajone-Ilo. The line is managed by the Southern Copper Corporation for the transport of minerals. A railway corridor is also planned to link Ilo with Bolivia.

Airway

The region has two airports: the “Hernán Turque Podestá Aerodrome” located in the city of Moquegua and the Ilo Airport, located in the city of Ilo, which have the regulatory air navigation standards; however, due to the low level of demand they are not in operation, due to the economic advantages of road transport. These airports are considered as alternative infrastructure to the Arequipa and Tacna airports. Additionally, the department has 2 aerodromes located in Ciudad Nueva in Ilo and in Villa Botiflaca in Cuajone, which are owned by the Southern Peru Cooper Corporation Mining Company and are used exclusively by private individuals.

Waterway

Ilo.

The Ilo Port Terminal is the most important in the Region. It has modern equipment and its dimensions are 300 m long by 27 m wide. It has a reinforced concrete landing stage 71.9 m long by 23 m wide, for direct berthing for 20,000 t vessels and two for 3,000 t vessels, in addition to loading and unloading, storage and conservation operations.

The area of influence of the Ilo TM includes the regions of Tacna, Puno, Cuzco, Madre de Dios and the Republic of Bolivia. In the medium term, its importance will increase as a consequence of the expansion of the agricultural frontier in the Region (Pasto Grande Special Project and the CLEMESI Project) and by the traffic that the Interoceanic Highway will generate.

Religion

Cathedral of Moquegua: After a selenite-like landscape, with large desert terraces arranged in successive endless planes, one finds in the deep valley of the Moquegua river the hildalga city of its name, capital of the department and of the province of Marshal Nieto. The city of Moquegua has suffered the ravage of violent earthquakes, despite which it has raised again and again its characteristic "mojinete" roofs, which are still preserved in some houses.

Santa Catalina de Guadalcázar is the Patron Saint of the City. Santa Fortunata. virgin and martyr who is in body present in the Santo Domingo Cathedral is also venerated by the inhabitants of the warm Moquegua

Tourism

Mirador Cristo Blanco in the town of Torata

Its capital, the city of Moquegua, has one of its main attractions in the viceregal architecture. Notable, for example, are the Church of Santo Domingo, the ruins of the Iglesia Matriz, the ruins of the Jesuit Convent, the house of the Diez Canseco family, the house of Martina Fernández y Cornejo, the house of the Fernández Dávila family Towers. In the surroundings, the valleys of Moquegua, Samegua, Torata, Omate and also those of Ilo stand out. Likewise, the observatories of Punta Coles, Alto La Villa, the Cuajone viewpoint and the Ilo roundabout and, on the other hand, the sanctuary of the Virgen de la Candelaria. In Ilo, the El Algarrobal site museum is a must. In the province of Mariscal Nieto, 24 kilometers from the city of Moquegua, is the district of Torata, where you can see beautiful village houses, the impressive parish church and the stone mills, currently in operation. The impressive Cerro Baúl is also located in this district.

In the high Andean part of Moquegua is located one of the most beautiful valleys in Peru, Carumas, Cuchumbaya and San Cristóbal, together they form an incomparable landscape in Moquegua of fertile lands, Pre-Inca and Inca terraces that are cultivated today, full of canyons, gorges and rivers that are tributaries of the Tambo river, we also have the Cuchumbaya hot springs and the most beautiful hot springs in southern Peru Putina that together with the cold water river form the Huatalaque river becoming a river of several km long of hot water, in Carumas we have the San Felipe Church, a jewel of colonial architecture based on Sikh stone, the stone bridge, the Alto and Huataraquena crosses, you can see the Sarauja dance typical of the area and the most representative of the Department of Moquegua, of fine melodies accompanied by the 40-string charango, Carumas, Cuchumbaya and San Cristóbal is a Valley that opens up to national tourism and is projected to the neighboring country In addition, in the highest part we have the majestic Ubinas and Ticsani, two fierce volcanoes that watch over the valley, thus making this area a strong tourist attraction.

Ilo
Moquegua
Cerro Baúl
Ubinas
Contisuyo Museum
Torata

Authorities

See also: Annex:Congressors of the department of Moquegua

Regionals

Like all the other departments of Peru and the Constitutional Province of Callao, it constitutes a de facto region with its own Regional Government as well as an electoral district that elects two congressmen.

Main article: Regional Governors of Moquegua