Mejillones
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Mejillones is a
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 ...
an port city and commune in
Antofagasta Province Antofagasta Province ( es, Provincia de Antofagasta) is one of three provinces in the northern Chilean region of Antofagasta (II). The capital is the port city of Antofagasta. Located within the Atacama Desert, it borders the El Loa and Tocopil ...
in the
Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region ( es, Región de Antofagasta, ) is one of Chile's sixteen first-order administrative divisions. The second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loa and Tocopilla. It is bordered t ...
. Its name is the plural form of the Spanish meaning "
mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
", referring to a particularly abundant species and preferred staple food of its indigenous inhabitants. It is situated in the northern side of the
Mejillones Peninsula Mejillones Peninsula ( es, península de Mejillones) protrudes from the coast of northern Chile north of Antofagasta and south of the port of Mejillones. The basement rocks of the peninsula are made of metamorphic and igneous rocks that formed i ...
, 60 km north of the city of
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 ...
. To the west, in the northern part of peninsula, is , the site of the naval combat of the same name, fought during 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 ...
(1879-1883). Mejillones is surrounded by the waters of the
Pacific Ocean 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 ...
to the west and by the most arid desert in the world to the east, the
Atacama 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 w ...
. It also marks the country's widest point (362 km) along a
parallel Parallel is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Computing * Parallel algorithm * Parallel computing * Parallel metaheuristic * Parallel (software), a UNIX utility for running programs in parallel * Parallel Sysplex, a cluster of IBM ...
.


History

The settlement of Mejillones dates back to the first communities of
Chango people The Changos, also known as Camanchacos or Camanchangos, are an indigenous people or group of peoples who inhabited a long stretch of the Pacific coast from southern Peru to north-central Chile, including the coast of the Atacama desert. Although ...
who inhabited the coastal area from 1825. Mejillones was included in maps of the
Captaincy General of Chile The Captaincy General of Chile (''Capitanía General de Chile'' ) or Governorate of Chile (known colloquially and unofficially as the Kingdom of Chile), was a territory of the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1817 that was, for most of its existenc ...
in the 18th century, depending from the city of
Copiapó Copiapó () is a city and commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal town of Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capital of Copiapó Province and Atacama Region. Copiapó lies about 800 km north ...
.Jaime Eyzaguirre (1967). BREVE HISTORIA DE LAS FRONTERAS DE CHILE.
/ref> Between 1838 and 1839, French businessmen known as ("Brothers Latrille"), contracted mining services of the Copiapino Juan López (miner known as
Chango Lopez Chango or El Chango may refer to: People * José de Jesús Méndez Vargas (born 1974), nickname El Chango, alleged Mexican drug cartel leader * Chango Spasiuk (born 1968), Argentine chamamé musician and accordion player * Juan Carlos Cárdenas (b ...
, considered the founder of
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 ...
), to mine
guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
deposits located south of Mejillones. In this manner, Luan López began mining around the vicinity of San Luciano hill in 1841. The concession for the mining of this
raw material A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials that are feedstock for future finished products. As feedst ...
was obtained by Domingo Latrille at the hands of the
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 ...
n government, which would last until 1842. Between 1841 and 1842, they made the largest shipments of this product to Europe. In 1845,
President of Bolivia The president of Bolivia ( es, Presidente de Bolivia), officially known as the president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia ( es, Presidente del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia), is head of state and head of government of Bolivia and the ca ...
Manuel Isidoro Belzu Manuel Isidoro Belzu Humérez (4 April 1808 – 27 March 1865) was a Bolivian military officer and statesman who served as the 11th president of Bolivia from 1848 to 1855. Under his presidency, the current national anthem of Bolivia and flag o ...
had a small
fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
built on the south side of Mejillones, to become a minor port of Bolivia. Through project development, the Bolivian government proposed to establish a major port city in the large jurisdiction of Mejillones. The territory was disputed between Chile and Bolivia until the signing of the Boundary Treaty of 1866. Bolivia and Chile mutually agreed to finance the construction of the ("Offices of Administration and Security of Customs") in order to protect the interests of Chilean workers and to implement an
export tax A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and pol ...
on minerals, primarily
salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
and
guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
. Subsequently, one of these buildings was transferred to the city of Antofagasta during the War of the Pacific; currently, this building is still in force and designated as the "Regional Museum". On October 8, 1879, the
Battle of Angamos The Battle of Angamos ( es, Combate de Angamos) was a naval encounter of the War of the Pacific fought between the navies of Chile and Perú at Punta Angamos, on 8 October 1879. The battle was the culminating point of a naval campaign that las ...
was fought here in front of the peninsula of Angamos between the navies of
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 ...
and
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 ...
, which ended in the Chilean capture of the
monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West Vir ...
. Afterward, the increasingly prosperous
nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion A polyatomic ion, also known as a molecular ion, is a covalent bonded set of two or more atoms, or of a metal complex, that can be considered to behave as a single unit and that has a net charge that is not zer ...
industry showed a boom going through the port at Mejillones, where the mineral boarded on the Antofagasta railroad left for foreign ports abroad. During this time, strong waves wreaked havoc on the shipping facilities, which required the reestablishment of Mejillones, this time reborn under the
Chilean flag Chilean may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Chile, a country in South America * Chilean people * Chilean Spanish * Chilean culture * Chilean cuisine * Chilean Americans See also *List of Chileans This is a list of Chileans who ar ...
. Also after the War of the Pacific, administrative organization began, which in the case of Mejillones would involve the preparation of
urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
in agreement with the existing type of port. This work was commissioned to
naval engineer A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
Emilio de Vitds. The plan, which was perhaps more realistic than those proposed before, was based on 63 city blocks and was completed with the Foundation Act (), signed by
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Germán Riesco Germán Riesco Errázuriz (; May 28, 1854 – December 8, 1916) was a Chilean political figure, and he served as President of Chile between 1901 and 1906. Early life He was born in Rancagua, the son of Mauricio Riesco, a Spanish merchant and o ...
and dated February 7, 1906. In 1970, a majority vote approved the bill presented by Mayor Araya Cuadra to build a theater located across the rear of the Plaza Almirante Latorre. The work was carried out with the grant of a loan by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development in the amount of $500,000. Such funding would not satisfy the completion of the project, and work stopped in 1972 pending the granting of a loan extension that failed to materialize by the time of the coup of the Armed Forces of September 11th of 1973.


Demographics

According to data from the 2002 census by the National Institute of Statistics, the Mejillones commune has 10,042 inhabitants; of these, 7,888 (78.6%) live in
urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
s and 530 (5.3%) in
rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...
s. At that time, there were 4,654 men and 3,764 women residing in the commune. In the ten years since the previous census of 1992 (pop. 6,315), the population grew 33.3% (2,103 persons). It is expected to grow after the construction of , due to be Chile's biggest sea port, expected to be completed around 2030.


Administration

As a commune, Mejillones is a third-level
administrative division of Chile The administrative division or territorial organization of Chile exemplifies characteristics of a unitary state. State administration is functionally and geographically decentralized, as appropriate for each authority in accordance with the law. ...
administered by a
municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...
, headed by an
alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...
who is directly elected every four years. Within the
electoral divisions of Chile Chile has two distinct electoral division systems: * To elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate, Chile is divided into several electoral divisions, namely electoral districts and senatorial constituencies. * To elect members of ...
, Mejillones is represented in the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
by Pedro Araya ( PRI) and Manuel Rojas (
UDI Udi may refer to: Places * Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria * Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India People * Udi Gal (born 1979), Israeli Olympic sailor * Udi Vaks (born 1979), Israeli Olympic judoka ...
) as part of the 4th electoral district, together with
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 ...
,
Sierra Gorda The Sierra Gorda () is an ecological region centered on the northern third of the Mexican state of Querétaro and extending into the neighboring states of Guanajuato, Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí. Within Querétaro, the ecosystem extends from ...
, and
Taltal Taltal is a Chilean commune and city in Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta Region. According to the 2012 census, the commune has a population of 11,132 and has an area of . The commune is home to Paranal Observatory and includes the northern por ...
. The commune is represented in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
by Carlos Cantero Ojeda ( Ind.) and José Antonio Gómez Urrutia ( PRSD) as part of the 2nd senatorial constituency (Antofagasta Region).


References


External links

* {{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in Antofagasta Province Port cities in Chile Populated places established in 1879 1879 establishments in Chile Coasts of Antofagasta Region