Calama is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and commune in the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barre ...

in northern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. It is the capital of El Loa Province, part of the

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region (, ) is one of Chile's Administrative divisions of Chile, sixteen first-order administrative divisions. Being the second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, El ...

. Calama is one of the driest cities in the world with average annual precipitation of just . The River Loa, Chile's longest, flows through the city. Calama has a population of 147,886 (2012

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

). The commune also encompasses the Quechua communities of Estación San Pedro, Toconce and Cupo; and the Lickan-antay communities of Taira, Conchi Viejo,

Lasana Lasana is a small village located northeast of the city of Calama in the Calama province of Chile's northern Antofagasta Region. It sits along the banks of the Loa River. Pukará de Lasana, ( Quechua ''pukara'' fortress), a pre-Columbian fortre ...

, San Francisco de Chiu Chiu, Aiquina-Turi, and Caspana. In 2003 the nearby town of Chuquicamata, once the largest open-pit copper mine in the world, was dismantled citing environmental reasons and encroachment from the mine's expansion. Residents of Chuquicamata then moved to Calama, away from company-owned residences, to find housing on their own.

Etymology

There are a variety of hypotheses about the origin of the name "Calama," but the two main accounts suggest that it comes from the Kunza language, spoken in the past by the Lickan-antay, an ethnic group that resides in the El Loa Province. Hector Pumarino Soto suggests that "Calama" stems from the Kunza word "Ckara-ama," which means "town in the middle of the water". Until the middle of the 20th century, the urban site of Calama and the surrounding oasis were flanked by the River Loa on two sides, and the fertile plain and swamps on the other sides, giving the location the appearance of an island in the middle of the desert surrounded completely by water. Emilio Vaïsse, meanwhile, says that Calama comes from the Kunza word "Ckolama," which means "place where

partridge A partridge is a medium-sized Galliformes, galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide Indigenous (ecology), native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They ar ...

s abound". This is supposed testimony to the abundance of such a bird, living over everything in the middle of the western swamp sector.

History

Prehispanic Era

The exact evidence related to the history of Calama does exist, including

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s and the caves of Yalquincha (NE of the city), the chullpas of Topáter (pre-Columbian cemeteries to the east of the city), the Copper Mummy, and other remains in

Chuquicamata Chuquicamata ( ; referred to as Chuqui for short) is the largest open-pit mining, open pit copper Mining, mine in terms of excavated volume in the world. It is located in the north of Chile, just outside Calama, Chile, Calama, at above sea level. ...

. At the intersection of the Camino del Inca (the longitudinal one) and the routes that crossed the coast of the Altiplano, Calama became the main shelter of the Despoblado of Atacama. Their extensive lands for growing

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

and

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

give testimony of the high capacity to supply food to the troops of Chasquis and to give tribute to the

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

. In fact, when Diego de Almagro, returning from

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

, passed by the Calama shelter, the natives gave him copper horseshoes, which were made using a mysterious Incan technique used by towns conquered by the Incas. The science of such a technique still has yet to be explained, but the presence of such horseshoes further suggests strong Incan influence in Prehispanic times.

Hispanic Era

Spanish colonization obviously caused some changes; however, the hostile climate impeded establishment of greater control. These changes influenced the control of trade routes that crossed the desert and communication to the port of Cobija with the deposits of Potosí

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

and the cattle farms of Salta and Tucumán. In this sense, Calama continued as a main point of provision for commercial routes. In the 18th century, with the Bourbon Reforms. Calama was included in maps of the

Captaincy General of Chile The General Captaincy of Chile (''Capitanía General de Chile'' ), Governorate of Chile, or Kingdom of Chile, was a territory of the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1818 that was, initially, part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. It comprised most of mod ...

in the 18th century, depending from the city of

Copiapó Copiapó () is a List of cities in Chile, city and communes of Chile, commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal List of towns in Chile, town of Caldera, Chile, Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capi ...

Bolivian Republic Era

After

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

's Declaration of Independence (6 August 1825), and with gradual changes in the administration of the territory, Calama remained constituted under the Departamento de Litoral (1829), subdivided in the Provincia de Lamar y la Provincia de Atacama (Cobija being the departmental capital). Calama was an important town in the Atacama Province, through which traveled the weekly mail between Cobija and Salta-Potosí, since 1832. In 1840, the provincial capital transferred from Chiuchiu to Calama, increasing the communication boom. The border conflicts between Chile and Bolivia did not reach either Calama or the Atacama Province. The greater dispute concentrated in the central prairie and in the coast, where they began to discover rich silver deposits, saltpeter, and

guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...

. The ambiguity that led to the frontier conflicts was the possession of the central plain and the Atacama coast. The environment was made tense when Chilean troops, under the command of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Emilio Sotomayor Baeza, invaded the port 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. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

on the morning of February 14, 1879. Later, Bolivia declared war on Chile on March 1.

Chilean Republic Era

Since that day, the changes in the administration have been very deep. It being part of the administrative center of 2° order in Bolivia, returned as one of 4° order under the Chilean administration (subdelegation). In 1888, under the government of José Manuel Balmaceda, Calama returned as an administrative center of 3° order, inaugurated as the municipality on 13 October. Prior to that, in 1886, Calama was chosen for a railway station of the Antofagasta-Bolivia Railway, which further expedited shipments through Calama.

Geography and climate

Calama has two distinct entities: the

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

and the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

Mountain Range. Between , the

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

( BWk) is characterized by annual

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

that does not surpass . The average temperature is throughout the year with drastic changes between average daily highs of over and average daily lows below in winter and record highs of over in summer. Light easterly winds are common in the mornings with strong westerly winds in the afternoon.

Orography

The western boundary of the town of Calama is marked by the peaks of the foothills, which occurs north of Calama in the foothills of the Loa River, which has many names, from north to south: Sierra Moreno, Cerros Chuquicamata Cerros de Montecristo. The Cerro Poquis (4,589 m), is the maximum altitude, north of

. South of it begin the foothills of the Cordillera de Domeyko, which in turn serve to chart the southern boundary of the district, with the names of Sierra de Limón Verde and Cordon Barros Arana. The passage of Loa river from east to west leaves a plain, in which the city of Calama and the oasis is located.

Demographics

According to the 2002

of the National Statistics Institute, Calama has an area of and has 138,402 inhabitants (70,832 men and 67,570 women). Of these, 136,600 (98.7%) lived in

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

s and 1,802 (1.3%) 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 are typically desc ...

s. The population grew by 3.6% (16,595 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Calama 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, borough cou ...

, headed by an

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Esteban Velásquez Núñez. Within the

electoral divisions of Chile This article covers the electoral division of Chile, which involves two distinct systems: # Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chamber of Deputies and Senate of Chile, Senate: Chile is divided into electoral districts and senatorial constituencies for ...

, Calama 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 Bourb ...

by Marcos Espinosa ( PRSD) and Felipe Ward ( UDI) as part of the 3rd electoral district, (together with Tocopilla, María Elena, Ollagüe and San Pedro de Atacama). 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).

Transportation

Calama is served by the El Loa Airport.

References

External links

*
Municipality of Calama
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in El Loa Province Capitals of Chilean provinces