Atacama Region

This article is about the Atacama Region; for the desert, see Atacama Desert.

The Atacama Region Region () is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. The southern portion of the Atacama Desert is in the region; the rest of the desert is in the other regions to the north (Norte Grande natural region).

The capital of the region is the city of Copiapó; it is at  north of Santiago, the capital of country.

History
From 1843, Atacama was a province of Chile but in 1974, with the creation of the Regions of Chile, it became one of those regions.

Geography
The Atacama region borders the Tarapacá region to the north, Argentina (provinces of Catamarca, La Rioja and San Juan), on the east, the Coquimbo region on the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west.

The highest mountains of the region are: Nevados Ojos del Salado,  high, and Nevado Tres Cruces,  high; they are in the Andes, in the border with Argentina.

Population
, there were (estimated) 312,486 persons living in the region, for a population density of  inhabitants/km².

The largest city in the region is its capital, Copiapó, with 125,983 inhabitants (2002 census).

Administration
The Atacama region is divided in three provinces: Chañaral, Copiapó and Huasco.


+ Atacama Region - Provinces and comunas Provinces Capital Code Comunas Area(km²) Population2002 Copiapó(031) Copiapó 03101 4 Copiapó 16,681.3 129,091 03102 3 Caldera 4,666.6 13,734 03103 5 Tierra Amarilla 11,190.6 12,888 Total of the Copiapó province 32,538.5 155,713 Chañaral(032) Chañaral 03201 1 Chañaral 5,772.4 13,543 03202 2 Diego de Almagro 18,663.8 18,589 Total of the Chañaral province 24,436.2 32,132 Huasco(033) Vallenar 03301 9 Vallenar 7,083.7 48,040 03302 6 Alto del Carmen 5,938.7 4,840 03303 7 Freirina 3,577.7 5,666 03304 8 Huasco 1,601.4 7,945 Total of the Huasco province 18,201.5 66,491 Total of the region 75,176.2 254,336

Related pages
Atacama Desert
Regions of Chile

References

Other websites

 Territorial division of Chile 
Gobierno Regional de Atacama  Official website