Clockwise, from top:Morro de Arica;Arica Cathedral; station of the Arica-La Paz railway; Casa de la Cultura de Arica; Presencias tutelares sculptures; Museum of History and Weapon; Plaza Colón
Arica (/əˈriːkə/ə-REE-kə;Spanish:[aˈɾika]) is acommune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in theArica Province of northernChile'sArica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only 18 km (11 mi) south of the border withPeru. The city is thecapital of both the Arica Province and the Arica and Parinacota Region. Arica is located at thebend of South America's western coast known as the Arica Bend or Arica Elbow. At the location of the city are two valleys that dissect theAtacama Desert converge:Azapa andLluta. These valleys provide citrus and olives for export.[3]
Arica is an important port for a large inland region of South America. The city serves afree port for Bolivia and manages a substantial part of that country's trade.[3] In addition it is the end station of the Bolivianoil pipeline beginning inOruro.[3] The city's strategic position is enhanced by being next to thePan-American Highway, being connected to bothTacna in Peru andLa Paz in Bolivia by railroad and being served byan international airport.
Arica has anextremely dry climate, with almost no rainfall. Even so, the frequent maritime winds from thecold waters nearby renders a moderate desert climate. Its mild weather has made Arica known as the "city of the eternal spring" in Chile[4] while its beaches are frequented by Bolivian society.[3] The city was an important port already duringSpanish colonial rule. Chileseized the city from Peru in 1880 during theWar of the Pacific, being recognized as Chilean by Peruin 1929. A substantial part ofAfrican Chileans live in or trace their origins to Arica.
Archaeological findings indicate that Arica was inhabited by different native groups dating back 10,000 years. These people are the first known culture to mummify their dead, predating the Egyptians by 2,000 years, and their mummies have been discovered as recently as 2004 and buried as shallow as <1 meter beneath the city's surface.[5]
Spaniards settled the land under captain Lucas Martinez de Begazo in 1541, and in 1570, the area was grandly retitled as "La Muy Ilustre y Real Ciudad San Marcos de Arica" (the very illustrious and royal city of San Marcos of Arica). At the time of the Spanish settlement the region around Arica was already multiethnic displaying a mix of local sedentary populations andmitma settlers from theAltiplano.[6] The proportions of these are that the first made up about 66% of the population and the latter 25%.[6] The remaining 9% were fishing-oreinted people known asCamanchacos.[6] Many of the sedentary populations are thought to have spoken thePuquina language.[6] In 1540 theencomienda system was established in Arica and its sorroundings with conquistadorLucas Martínez de Vegaso obtaining 1,638 encomienda indians (a third of tributaries distributed).[6]Pedro Pizarro and Pedro de la Fuente followed in numbers receiving each approximately 600 tributaries.[6]
Following the collapse of Spanish rule, in 1821, Arica was part of the recently independent Peruvian Republic. The Peruvian Constitution of 1823 regards it as a province of the Department ofArequipa. In 1855, Peru inaugurated the Arica-Tacna railroad (53 km long), one of the first in Latin America. The rail line still functions today.
The 1868 earthquake devastated the city, leaving it in ruins under theMorro de Arica.
Theearthquake of August 13, 1868 struck near the city with an estimated magnitude of 8.0 to 9.0. Estimates on the death toll vary greatly, some estimates have the number at 25,000 to 70,000 people.[8] Others estimate that the population of Arica was less than 3,000 people and the death toll was around 300.[citation needed] It triggered atsunami, measurable across the Pacific inHawaii, Japan and New Zealand. As Arica lies very close to thesubduction zone known as thePeru–Chile Trench where theNazca Plate dives beneath theSouth American Plate, the city is subject tomegathrust earthquakes.
Chilean forces occupied the region following theWar of the Pacific. TheTreaty of Ancón in 1883 formally acceded the region to Chilean control. The 1929 Tacna-Arica compromise in theTreaty of Lima subsequently restoredTacna to Peru but Arica remained part of Chile.
In 1958, the Chilean Government established the "Junta de Adelanto de Arica" (Board of Development for Arica), which promulgated many tax incentives for the establishment of industries, such as vehicle assembly plants, a tax-free zone, and a casino, among others.[9]Many car manufacturers opened plants in Arica, such asCitroën,Peugeot,Volvo,Ford andGeneral Motors, which produced the Chevrolet LUV pickup until 2008.
In 1975, together with Chile's new open economy policies, the "Junta de Adelanto de Arica" was abolished.
The Arica and Parinacota Region was created on October 8, 2007, under Law 20.175, promulgated on March 23, 2007, by PresidentMichelle Bachelet in the city of Arica.
In 1984-1985, the Swedish metal companyBoliden Mineral AB paid a local mineral extracting company, Promel Ldta., 10 million SEK ($1.2 million, $3.15 million in 2021 dollars) to receive, treat and confine around 20,000 tonnes of smeltery sludge from Rönnskärsverken in Skellefteå, containing among other things high levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and iron and smaller amounts of gold and silver. To earn additional income, Promel planned to extract various substances from the waste at its processing plant at Sitio F in the outskirts of Arica. The end products were mainly raw arsenic and iron-silver-gold oxides. The first shipment arrived in Arica in August 1984 and the processing of 500 kg test batches in October 1984 gave positive results with oversight from an official from the Chilean Health Authority inSantiago. After the sludge processing had begun at large scale and the third and last shipment of sludge arrived to Promel's plant in Arica in July 1985, contact between Boliden and Promel ceased.
In the late 1980s, Promel ceased all activities at Sitio F for unknown reasons and abandoned the remaining 10,000 tons of the highly toxic smelting sludge out in the open exposed to the elements. The area surrounding the plant was later used by the local authorities to build state-sponsored social housing aimed at low-income families. No physical barrier between the former plant and the residential area existed at the time. Residents of the new neighborhood had no knowledge about the contents of the sludge at the site, which became used as a playground by children.
In the 1990s, many residents around the former plant began to show symptoms of lead and arsenic poisoning. In 1998, the Chilean authorities ordered Promel to move the toxic waste. Promel moved the sludge to a walled area on the other side of a nearby hill and covered the material with a plastic mat. It was supposed to be a temporary storage site, yet the material remains there to this day. Cleanup of the remaining parts of Sitio F finished as late as 2010. Even after the removal of the sludge, the health effects on the local population continue to be devastating. Almost 8,000 residents were tested for toxic substances in 2010. Of the 6600 people that got results back from the Chilean Health Authority, 12.9% showed arsenic in their urine samples. Studies have found very high rates of arsenic related lung cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer and skin cancer in the local population. Other health effects include non-cancerous heart and lung diseases and fertility problems such as low birth weights and spontaneous miscarriages.
In 2013, 796 Arica residents, including human rights defenders, started legal action in Sweden against Boliden. The Court of Appeal for Northern Norrland held that the claims of the victims were time limited, and the Swedish Supreme Court declined to hear the case.[10][11][12]
Themorro de Arica is one of the major attractions in the city
According to the 2017 census by theNational Statistics Institute, Arica spans an area of 4,799.4 km2 (1,853 sq mi) and has 222,619 inhabitants (110,115 men and 112,504 women). The population grew by 20% (37,351 people) between the 2002 and 2017 censuses. Arica is home to 97.7% of the total population of the region.[2]
The population of Arica is made up of various long-established groups in the region, and other more recent arrivals settled at differing times. Among the long-established groups, the oldest consists of indigenousAmerindians, such as theAymara, whose presence in the region is of several millennia. These are followed by the second oldest, the local colonial-era groups, which includes local mestizos (of mixed Spanish-Amerindian origin), local criollos (whites of colonial Spanish origin), and localafrodescendants of colonial-era slaves. The third oldest group consists of early post-colonialChinese Chileans who first arrived as miners and rail workers in the 1890s.
These long-established groups of Ariqueños have been augmented by various later settlers, mostly other criollos and mestizo Chileans from elsewhere around Chile, but also numerous Europeans, who arrived in the 1900s, including more Spaniards arriving from Spain, as well as Italians, Greeks, British, and French. These arrived at different times during the last century.
Some Ariqueños, primarily the indigenous Amerindians, but also the afro-descendants, share cultural affinities to counterpart populations in neighbouring border areas of Peru, and more distantly, Bolivia.
The urban area of Arica has 175,441 inhabitants in an area of 41.89 km2. Arica in 2007 had more than 185,000 inhabitants (not counting the inhabitants of the valleys and Lluta Azapa, with that reach almost to the 194.000 inhabitants). The growing city of Arica spreads outward into the desert and the Peru-Chile border. The Azapa Valley has developed a year-round agricultural economy due to improvements in irrigation and transportation of its products.
The villages that make up the commune are Villa Frontera and San Miguel de Azapa. Some hamlets are Poconchile, Molinas, Sora, Las Maitas and Caleta Vitor.
Arica was made famous in 1970 by the spiritual masterOscar Ichazo when he held a 10-month training there for 50 North Americans from theEsalen Institute in California. TheArica School, based in the United States of America, has influenced thousands of people all over the world.
The commune of Arica is composed of 19 census districts.
Census districts of the Arica commune
#
District
Area (km2)
2002 Population
1
Puerto
1.2
2,744
2
Regiment
0.7
3,880
3
Chinchorro
13.3
12,816
4
San José
1.2
13,216
5
Población Chile
17.3
9,086
6
Azapa
1,937.8
14,991
7
José Manuel Balmaceda
2.7
11,984
8
Carlos Dittborn
2.1
10,525
9
Lauca Park
0.4
4,934
10
José Miguel Carrera
0.6
5,836
11
Condell
0.5
6,358
12
Strong Citadel
215.9
28,209
13
Chaca
794.0
223
14
El Morro
0.9
3,286
15
Chacalluta
419.3
1,684
16
Molinos
1,376.0
649
17
Pedro Blanqui
7.3
25,131
18
Cancharayada
5.3
17,530
19
Las Torres
2.9
11,878
–
stragglers
308
Total
4,799.4
185,268
Source: INE 2007 report, "Territorial division of Chile"[13]
Jean-François Dauxion-Lavaysse, a Frenchman, born in 1770 or 1775, died on 8 July 1829 in Arica. He was the first director of theChilean National Museum of Natural History and the Botanical Garden.[14][15]
TheMorro de Arica is a tall, nearly-vertical rock formation and hill located in the city, situated approximately 139 meters above sea level. It was the last bulwark of defense for the Peruvian troops who garrisoned the city. It wasattacked and captured on 7 June 1880 by Chilean troops, as the final effort of theirCampaña del Desierto (Desert Campaign) during theWar of the Pacific.
Near to the city center is theAzapa Valley, anoasis where vegetables and, famously, Azapaolives are grown. Economically, it is also an important port for Chileanore. Thesemi-tropical latitude, combined with the low humidity and the city's beaches, have made Arica a popular tourist destination. It is also a center of Chileanrail networks withBolivia. For air travel, the region is serviced byChacalluta International Airport.
Arica has strong ties with the city ofTacna,Peru. Many people cross the border daily as they travel between the two cities, partially due to the many services (for example, dentists, doctors, etc.) that are cheaper in Peru. Arica is connected to both Tacna andto La Paz via separate railroad lines.
According to theKöppen Climate Classification system, Arica has a hotdesert climate, abbreviated "BWh" on climate maps.[16] Unlike many other cities with arid climates, Arica seldom sees extreme temperatures throughout the course of the year and it is also relatively overcast. Arica is also known as the driest inhabited place on Earth, at least as measured by rainfall: average annual precipitation is 0.76 mm (0.03 inches), as measured at the airport meteorological station.[17]
Climate data for Arica (1991–2020, extremes 1955–present)
Within theelectoral divisions of Chile, Arica is represented in theChamber of Deputies by Mr.Vlado Mirosevic (Partido Liberal) and Mr. Luis Rocaful as part of the 1st electoral district, which includes the entire Arica and Parinacota Region. The commune is represented in theSenate byJosé Miguel Insulza (PS, 2018–2026) and José Durana (UDI, 2018–2026) as part of the 1st senatorial constituency (Arica and Parinacota Region andTarapacá Region).
Arica was one of the four host cities of the1962 FIFA World Cup, and it was the venue for aRip Curl Pro Search surfing event that took place from June 20 to July 1, 2007.Arica plays host to a leg of the International Bodyboarding Association's world tour event every year at the notorious "el flops" surf break. The event has been running since 2004.[citation needed]
Plaza Colón: the civic heart of the city, the public square is where its residents congregate for celebrations, diversions or just being a part of the community.
Other attractions include the former house of the Governor, theFormer Arica Custom House, railway station Arica-La Paz, the Archaeological and Anthropological Museum of San Miguel de Azapa, Sea and Historical Arms and Arica. For evening entertainment there is the Casino de Arica.
More than 20 km of beaches, many known for the quality of surfing, span across the Coastal Range in the northern sector. The harbored location makes these beaches unique from other cities in Chile in terms of topography.
Chungará Lake: Arica is the main access road to the lake, the 29th highest in the world (and the 10th highest in South America),[23] with an approximate height of 4517 metres. It is located within theLauca National Park.
Pucará de Copaquilla: about 3,000 metres above sea level, dates from the 12th century, declaredNational Monument, located on a promontory that serves as the defence has a double stone wall, which protects a series of internal spaces. From this point it is possible to observe the pre-and streams.
Termas de Jurasi a few miles southeast ofPutre, byRuta 11-CH, turning off a dirt road. Underground waters are home to temperatures above 40 °C (104 °F) which are reputed to have medicinal properties.
Surf Arica is a world-famous spot for surfing. The wave known as "El Gringo" hosts surfing andbodyboarding world championships every year. In 2007, Arica was the site for an ASP world tour contest. Others stops on this tour include Hawaii,Tahiti,Fiji and South Africa.
Passenger train services on theArica–La Paz railway ceased in 1996, but as of 2017 there were proposals to restart services from Arica as a tourist attraction (and for freight).[24]
In 2011, Chile announced plans to privatise thePort of Arica. These were opposed by Bolivia, as Arica is its main sea port.[25]
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