Country Information
FAR NORTH:
This zone is mostly barren due to the presence of the Atacama desert, the world's driest desert. Here you can find valleys, oasis, gulchs and salt flats. Here also is located the mining center of Chile especially in regards to copper, gold, silver and saltpeter, around Antofagasta, Arica and Iquique. In this zone, cities are mostly ports and tourist attrations, situated along the coastal sector.
Arica:-
Arica is located near the northern border of the country, at the mouth of river Azapa, 19 km from the Peruvian border or Línea de la Concordia and 2,051 km from Santiago. It is known as the City of Eternal Spring due to its weather, enjoying high temperatures all the year round.
Its status as a tax-free zone creates a lot of commercial activity. Because it is a free-port, a wide range of products of every kind can be purchased here at low prices.
Its beaches are attractive all year round, among them Bahía Chinchorro and Las Machas. Another attraction is the Morro de Arica, with its Museo de Armas, which is much frequented by tourists. It contains vivid reminders of the Pacific War, such as uniforms, bullets and other objects used by the soldiers.
Different vestiges of the indian cultures can be appreciated here in the goods which are offered for sale, produced by primitive techniques, particularly those in the Pueblo Artesanal. Here you will find museums with displays of objects used by these pre-Hispanic cultures and others brought by the Spanish settlers.
RIO LOA VALLEY AREA
Calama:-
Calama with a population of 123,000, is located 215 km north west of Antofagasta and 1,568 from Santiago, at an altitude of 2,250 m above sea level. Its importance is based on the fact that it is the neighboring city to the Chuquicamata copper mine.
It is the largest oasis of all the Andean foothills, as can be observed from the crops that grow round about. Commerce is particularly important, since the city functions as a dormitory town for the people who travel to work at the mine. It also has a big influx of tourists.
There are a number of tourist attractions, such as Parque Loa, the Iglesia Catedral San Juan Bautista and the Museo Arqueológico y Etnográfico.
There is a lot of activity in the evenings, particularly in the well-stocked shops of the Ramirez pedestrian precinct, with their merchandise piled up to the roof. On the pavements there are presentations of street art.
The town is the starting point for visits to the town of Chuquicamata, and, on the other side of the Cordillera de la Sal, San Pedro de Atacama.
San Pedro de Atacama:-
This town is of particular interest to foreign visitors on account of its fame as a place for spiritual enrichment, and because it is considered to be the archeological capital of Chile. Located in one of the oases of the Andean plateau in the Second Region, it has a population of approximately 2,500 and stands at a height of 2,438 meters above sea level.
Articles made by local people are for sale in the handicrafts market on the main square. Here also can be found the "Padre le Paige" Archeological Museum, with its interesting collection of artefacts from the Spanish conquest, and also of the Aymara culture.
Tocopilla:-
Located on the narrow littoral platform of the coastal mountain chain, 186 km north of Antofagasta and 163 km from Calama. This is a small town with 24,574 inhabitants. It was founded as a fishing cove in 1843.
It has a saltpeter railway, a port mechanized by saltpeter, two thermoelectric plants that supply Chuquicamata and the rest of the network in the North.
