Tarata is a city in the

Tacna Region Tacna (; Aymara language, Aymara and Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Taqna'') is the southernmost Regions of Peru, department and Regional Government of Tacna, region in Peru. The Chilean Army occupied the present-day Tacna Department during the W ...

in southern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It is the capital of

Tarata District Tarata District is one of eight districts of Tarata Province in Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast ...

and Tarata Province.

History

Pre-Inca Era

The works of the archaeologist Rogger Ravines in the Karu cave show a very early settlement of Tarata, around 7000 BC, that is, more or less 9000 years ago. The study of regional cultural development over time is a task that Archeology has yet to develop. Not much is known of Tarata's remote past. The archaeologist Ravines found an Archaic settlement at the site of Kano, high up in the Tarata district, not far from their present city. The petroglyphs and cave paintings stand out in the province of Tarata, for this remote period.

Spanish Era

In 1611 work began on the temple of San Benedicto Abad, patron of the city of Tarata, thus beginning the process of evangelization of the area and in turn the process of acculturation and conversion of the indigenous populations. The temple was officially inaugurated on January 3, 1741, the same day that the Spanish foundation of the city took place.

Republican Era

In 1824, Simón Bolivar decrees the political creation of the district of Tarata, with President Manuel Pardo promulgating decades later the creation of the province of Tarata, on November 12, 1874, as well as its districts: Estike, Tarukachi, Tarata, Tikako and Kandarave.

Administration by Chile

After the

Battle of Tacna The Battle of Tacna, also known as the Battle of the Peak of the Alliance (Spanish: ''Batalla del Alto de la Alianza''), effectively destroyed the Peru-Bolivian alliance against Chile, forged by a secret treaty signed in 1873. On 26 May 1880, ...

, and the subsequent retreat of

vian and

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 ...

n forces, the city was occupied by Chile and incorporated as a commune, beginning a process of Chilenisation. The commune was formally established on December 22, 1891, taking into account the limits assigned by the decrees of November 9, 1885 and of May 10, 1886, and was composed of six subdelegations: ''Pocollai'', ''Pachía'', ''Palca'', ''Tarata'', ''Sama'' and ''Calana''. A

Civil Registry Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events ( births, marriages, and deaths) of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database has different names in different countries and even in diffe ...

office had operated in the commune since 1885. In 1911, the city was officially incorporated into the Chilean Province of Tacna as the Department of Tarata, with Tarata becoming the seat of the eponymous department. In 1921, however, Chile abolished the department, and in 1925 gave back the city to Peru under the mediation of U.S. President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

, who enforced the limits agreed upon on the north, which did not include the city.

Demographics

According to the

2007 Peru Census The 2007 Peru Census was a detailed enumeration of the Peruvian population. It was conducted by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática on Sunday, October 21, 2007. Its full name in Spanish is XI Censo de Población y VI de Vivie ...

, The city of Tarata had 2,882 inhabitants, of which 2,577 speak

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

as their native language, this being the most widely spoken language, followed by

Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...

with 840 speakers. The predominant age group is children between 10 and 14 years old.

Geography

The region is located below the Titicaca plateau and has a diverse

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

, including

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

es,

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 ...

s, and mountainous zones, from which arise

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s that go over the punas and the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

s, thus forming the

hydrographical Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, Coast, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the pr ...

system of this zone. The region is small in size but has a significant

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

potential. It has various

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

s and diverse production.

Climate

The average climate per year is 8.6°C (47.5°F).

Notes

References

Populated places in the Department of Tacna {{Tacna-geo-stub