Tarapacá Region

The I Tarapacá Region () is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. The present Tarapacá Region was created in 2007 by subdividing the former Tarapacá Region under Law 20.175. It became operational on 8 October 2007.

The port city of Iquique is the capital of the region.

History
Chile's former Tarapacá region was a former Peruvian province, which was occupied by Chile under the 1883 Treaty of Ancón at the close of the War of the Pacific, and then formally annexed in 1929 by the Treaty of Lima.

The region was important economically as a site of intense saltpeter mining, before synthetic nitrate manufacturing became possible.

Geography
The Tarapacá region borders the Arica and Parinacota region to the north, Bolivia's Oruro Department on the east, the Antofagasta region on the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west.

Population
, there were (estimated) 336,769 persons living in the region, for a population density of  inhabitants/km².

The largest city in the region is Iquique, with 164,396 inhabitants (2002 census).

Administration
In 2007, the former region of Tarapacá was subdivided to create the Arica y Parinacota Region to the north and the present day Tarapacá Region to the south. The Tarapacá region is further subdivided into two provinces: Arica and Parinacota.


+ Tarapacá Region - Provinces and comunas  Province Capital Code Comuna Area(km²) Population(2002) Iquique (011)  Iquique 01101 2 Iquique 2,242.1 166,204 01102 1 Alto Hospicio 593.2 50,215 Total of Iquique province 2,835.3 216,419 Tamarugal (014) Pozo Almonte 01401 7 Pozo Almonte 13,765.8 10,830  01402 3 Camiña 2,200.2 1,275 01403 4 Colchane 4,015.6 1,649 01404 5 Huara 10,474.6 2,599 01405 6 Pica 8,934.3 6,178 Total of Tamarugal province 39,390.5 22,531 Total of the region 42,225.8 238,950

Related pages
Regions of Chile

References

Other websites

 Territorial division of Chile 
Gobierno Regional de Tarapacá  Official website