Arica

- _For the province, see **Province of Arica**. For the region, see **Region of Arica and Parinacota**._

**Arica** is a commune and a port city with a population of 196,590 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's most northern city; it is at only  south of the border with Peru.

The city is the capital since 2007 of both the Arica Province and the Arica and Parinacota Region. It was founded on 25 April 1541 by Lucas Martínez Vegaso as _San Marcos de Arica_.

## Population

(last national census), there were 185,268 people living in the commune, giving it a population density of  inhabitants/km².

The city of Arica has an urban area of  and a population, in 2002, of 175,441 inhabitants.

## Geography

Arica is on the Pacific Ocean coast at the bend of South America's western coast known as the Arica Bend or Arica Elbow. The city is on the foot of the **Morro of Arica**, or just **El Morro**, a steep and tall hill,  above sea level.

The city is at  from Santiago, the national capital. The mouths of two rivers: the Lluta and the _San José de Azapa_ rivers, are near the city.

The commune has an area of . It borders with Peru (Tacna province) on the north, the Parinacota province on the east, the Camarones commune on the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west.

### Climate

The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Arica is a "mild desert climate" and of the subtype "**BWh/BWn**". Arica is known as the more dry inhabited place on Earth, at least as measured by rainfall: the average amount of precipitation for the year is .

The average temperature for the year in Arica is . The warmest month, on average, is January with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is July, with an average temperature of .

The highest recorded temperature in Arica is , which was recorded in March. The lowest recorded temperature in Arica is  , which was recorded in May.

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## Notable residents

- Dante Poli - Former football player
- Hipólito Unanue - Physician, and briefly president of Peru
- Américo - Chilean singer

## Other websites

- Municipality of Arica

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Arica
- **native name lang**: es
- **settlement type**: List of cities in Chile, City and Communes of Chile, Commune
- **image skyline**: AricaSiempreArica.png
- **image alt**: Collage of Arica
- **image caption**: Collage of Arica
- **image flag**: Bandera de Arica.svg
- **flag alt**: Flag
- **image shield**: Escudo de Arica.svg
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **nickname**: "City of the eternal spring"
- **image map**: Comuna de Arica.svg
- **mapsize**: 175px
- **map alt**: Map of Arica commune in Arica and Parinacota Region
- **map caption**: Map of Arica commune in Arica and Parinacota Region
- **pushpin map**: Chile
- **pushpin map narrow**: yes
- **pushpin label position**: bottom
- **pushpin map alt**: Location in Chile
- **pushpin map caption**: Location in Chile
- **coor pinpoint**: city
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **subdivision name**: Chile
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of Chile, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Arica y Parinacota Region, Arica and Parinacota
- **subdivision type2**: Provinces of Chile, Province
- **subdivision name2**: Arica Province, Arica
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1541
- **founder**: Lucas Martínez Vegaso
- **government type**: Municipality
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **leader name**: Salvador Urrutia Cárdenas
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 4799.4
- **population total**: 185268
- **population as of**: 2002
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population blank1 title**: Urban area, Urban
- **population blank1**: 175441
- **population blank2 title**: Rural area, Rural
- **population blank2**: 9827
- **population density blank1 km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Arican
- **demographics type1**: Sex
- **demographics1 title1**: Male
- **demographics1 info1**: 91,742
- **demographics1 title2**: Female
- **demographics1 info2**: 93,526
- **timezone**: Time in Chile, CLT
- **utc offset1**: −4
- **timezone dst**: Time in Chile, CLST
- **utc offset1 dst**: −3
- **area code**: _country_ 56 + _city_ 58
- **website**: [http://www.municipalidaddearica.cl/ Municipality of Arica]