Chañaral

Chañaral is a small coastal city and commune in the Atacama region in the north of Chile. It is the capital of the province of Chañaral.

Its name, Chañaral means a "place where there are many trees of chaña" (the Chilean name for Geoffroea decorticans).

History
150px|thumb|right|Monumental lighthouse in Chañaral.
In 1824, Diego de Almeyda found a large area with copper ore in the region; later, he looked for a place from where to export the mineral and began to form a small village in the place where is the present town of Chanaral. In 26 October 1833, José Joaquín Prieto founded the  Distrito de Chañaral ("Chañaral District").

Geography
The commune of Chañaral has an area of . The city of Chañaral is to the north of Santiago at  and to the north of the city of Copiapó at .

The commune is bordered on the north by the Antofagasta region, on the east by the Diego de Almagro commune, on the south by the Copiapó province and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.

Near the town of Chañaral, to the north, is the Pan de Azúcar National Park.

The Salado river flows into the Pacific Ocean in the commune of Chañaral; it is about  long.

Chañaral has a very dry climate, a desert climate. The average amount of precipitation for the year, during 47 years, is only .

Population
 (last national census), there were 13,143 people living in the commune, giving it a population density of  inhabitants/km².

Chañaral is the largest city of the province with a population, in 2002, of 12,123 inhabitants. The small town of Salado has 1,149 inhabitants.

Related pages
Atacama Desert
Provinces of Chile

References

Other websites

 Territorial division of Chile 
 Gobierno Regional de Atacama  Official website 
 Province of Chanaral website 

Category:Cities in Chile
Category:Atacama Region