The Department of the Litoral, also known as the Atacama Department and commonly known as the Bolivian coast, was the description of the extent of the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

coast of the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the ...

included in the territory of

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

from its inception in 1825 until 1879, when it was lost to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Background

When Bolivia emerged in 1825 as an

independent state Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, these territories were part of the Bolivian

Potosí Department Potosí (; Aymara language, Aymara: ''Putusi''; qu, P'utuqsi) is a Departments of Bolivia, department in southwestern Bolivia. It comprises 118,218 km2 with 823,517 inhabitants (2012 census). The capital is the city of Potosí. It is most ...

. During the government of

Andrés de Santa Cruz Andrés de Santa Cruz y Calahumana (; 30 November 1792 – 25 September 1865) was a Bolivian general and politician who served as interim president of Peru in 1827, the interim president of Peru from 1836 to 1838 and the sixth president of B ...

, the territories were established as the Department of the Litoral. The main towns on the Pacific coast, from north to south, were

Tocopilla Tocopilla is a city and commune in the Antofagasta Region, in the north of Chile. It is the capital of the province that bears the same name. Every year Tocopilla celebrates its anniversary on 29 September with a big show the day before, which ...

Cobija Cobija is a city in Bolivia, capital of the department of Pando, is located about 600 km (373 mi.) north of La Paz in the Amazon Basin on the border with Brazil. Cobija lies on the banks of the Rio Acre across from the Brazilian ci ...

Mejillones Mejillones is a Chilean port city and commune in Antofagasta Province in the Antofagasta Region. Its name is the plural form of the Spanish meaning "mussel", referring to a particularly abundant species and preferred staple food of its indigeno ...

and

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American wars ...

. The port of

Paposo Paposo or Caleta Paposo is a hamlet in the southern part of Antofagasta Province, Chile. It is located on a narrow coastal plain bordering the Pacific Ocean. The census of 2002 counted 259 inhabitants, who predominantly relied on fishing and minin ...

was taken from the colony as the capital of the coast Atacameño. After it consolidated its independence,

executed various acts of sovereignty on the northern desert coast. It established its territory throughout the coast to the mouth of the

River Loa The Loa River (Spanish language, Spanish: Río Loa) is a U-shaped river in Chile's northern Antofagasta Region. At long, it is the country's longest river and the main watercourse in the Atacama Desert. Course The Loa's sources are located on ...

, forming a border with

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

would have expanded more, but this was prevented by Bolivia establishing the city of

Administrative divisions

In 1875 the capital of the department was moved from La Mar (today

) to

. When the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...

broke out in 1879, the divisions of the department were as follows:

Treaties

The treaty of 1866 established the border between the two States on the parallel 24°, creating an area of common interests between 23 and 25 degrees south latitude. The treaty of 1874, which established the final boundary between the two nations the parallel 24°, provided that for a period of 25 years, new taxes shall not be imposed on the Chilean people and companies based in the area. Chile was willing to move down the coast from the desert to allow Bolivia a sovereign outlet to the ocean, under the conditions seen before. This eliminated the area of common interest from the treaty of 1866. Bolivia and Peru, bound by a secret treaty of defensive alliance since 1873 (one year before the border treaty with Chile), were defeated by Chile in the

which lasted until 1884, costing Bolivia its coast and Peru its department of

Tarapacá San Lorenzo de Tarapacá, also known simply as Tarapacá, is a town in the region of the same name in Chile. History The town has likely been inhabited since the 12th century, when it formed part of the Inca trail. When Spanish explorer Diego ...

. Though the coast was a valuable source of

saltpeter Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrat ...

, it was not the cause.

Claim

Since then, Bolivia retains the policy of a territorial claim of a sovereign outlet to the Pacific Ocean. As part of this policy, the

national coat of arms A national coat of arms is a symbol which denotes an independent state in the form of a heraldic achievement. While a national flag is usually used by the population at large and is flown outside and on ships, a national coat of arms is normally ...

shows 10 stars: the 9 current departments and the tenth representing the former Litoral Department. The internal communications of the armed forces carried the slogan in the footnotes: "The sea is ours by right. To recover it is a duty." (in Spanish, ''"El mar es nuestro por derecho, recuperarlo es un deber"'').

Día del Mar Día del Mar (''Day of the Sea'') is an annual celebration in Bolivia that observes the loss of Litoral Department during the 1879–1883 War of the Pacific with Chile. The day is celebrated on the 23 of March, at the conclusion of the week-long '' ...

is celebrated annually in Bolivia. During the week long event, Bolivia reasserts their claim to their lost territory; some of the celebrations contain Chilenophobic statements.

Notes

References