Chañaral is a small coastal

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the Atacama Region,

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

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of the

Chañaral Province Chañaral Province ( es, Provincia de Chañaral) is one of three Provinces of Chile, provinces in the northern Chilean Regions of Chile, region of Atacama Region, Atacama (III). Its capital is the small coastal town of Chañaral. Geography and de ...

. It is largely unknown by tourists, who generally head straight for towns such as

San Pedro de Atacama San Pedro de Atacama is a Chilean town and commune in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region. It is located east of Antofagasta, some 106 km (60 mi) southeast of Calama and the Chuquicamata copper mine, overlooking the Licancabur volcano. ...

. The town has no high rise buildings. On the arid hills nearby is a lighthouse which casts a beam over the town during the night. Throughout the day and night, there is a lively atmosphere on the narrow streets. Despite it being coastal, it is not a typical seaside resort, partly because the ocean is contaminated by the copper mining industry. Situated a short distance to the north is the

Pan de Azúcar National Park Pan de Azúcar National Park is a national park of Chile. The park straddles the border between the Antofagasta Region and the Atacama Region. Its name, ''Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar'', means "sugar loaf national park". Geography The park ...

History

In 1824, Diego de Almeyda discovered large natural deposits of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

in the area, and was the first in the mining industry in Chile to export it. For this reason, the town was founded in October 26,1833 as ''Chañaral de las Ánimas'' (" Chañar field of the Souls"). A few years later, Pedro Lujan discovered ore at El Salado, where a mine was built. In 1836, a shipping port promising

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 constructed. The great boom Chañaral began in 1860 when A. Edwards & Company was settled where an inn exists today.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census by the

National Statistics Institute National Institute of Statistics may refer to: *National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia *National Institute of Statistics of Cambodia *National Institute of Statistics and Census of Costa Rica *National Institute of Statistics and Census of Nica ...

(''INE'') the commune of Chañaral spans an area of and had 13,543 inhabitants (6,968 men and 6,575 women). Of these, 13,180 (97.3%) lived in urban areas and 363 (2.7%) in rural areas. The population fell by 2.8% (393 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. The

demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

for a person from Chañaral is ''Chañaralino'' for a man and ''Chañaralina'' for a woman.

Administration

As a

, Chañaral 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. The 2008-2012 alcalde was Hector Volta Rojas ( PRSD), and the council has the following members: * Carmen Rojas Cornejo ( RN) * Isabel Ogalde Álvarez ( PS) * Margarita Flores Salazar (PRSD) * Mary Álamos Gutiérrez ( PDC) * Mery Schampke Galleguillos ( PPD) * Omar Monroy López ( PRI) 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 ...

, Chañaral 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 Lautaro Carmona ( PC) and Carlos Vilches (

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 5th electoral district, (together with

Diego de Almagro Diego de Almagro (; – July 8, 1538), also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador known for his exploits in western South America. He participated with Francisco Pizarro in the Spanish conquest of Peru. While sub ...

and

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 ...

). 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 ...

Isabel Allende Bussi María Isabel Allende Bussi (, , ; born 18 January 1945) is a Chilean politician. A member of the Socialist Party and daughter of former president of Chile Salvador Allende and Hortensia Bussi, Allende served as a deputy from 1994 to 2010 and ...

( PS) and Baldo Prokurica Prokurica ( RN) as part of the 3rd senatorial constituency (Atacama). Faro Monumental Chañaral

References

External links

*
Municipality of Chañaral
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chanaral Communes of Chile Port settlements in Chile Populated places established in 1833 Populated places in Chañaral Province Capitals of Chilean provinces 1833 establishments in Chile Coasts of Atacama Region