Taltal 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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

in Antofagasta Province,

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 ...

. 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 Paranal Observatory is an astronomical observatory operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). It is located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile on Cerro Paranal at altitude, south of Antofagasta. By total light-collecting area, it ...

and includes the northern portion of

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 ...

Etymology

It has been claimed the etymological origin of the name is the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

word ''Thalthal'', which means “night bird.” This would make it one of the northernmost Mapuche toponyms in Chile.

History

The history of Taltal begins with the opening of the copper mine "El Cobre" by José Antonio Moreno in 1850 about 20 kilometers north of Taltal. This brought miners and prospectors to the area. In 1855 Moreno expanded his operations to include Taltal. The discovery of copper in 1858 on nearby Mount Cachiyuyal increased pressure on the port, which had to utilize customs officials from Copiapo. So Moreno requested official recognition of the port which was granted by decree on 12 July 1858. However, the real boom began in 1876 with the opening of nitrate mines, in particular

potassium nitrate 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 ...

. In 1879, the first nitrates were shipped from the area. In 1882 a railway was completed from Cachinal de la Sierra and other nitrate mining sites. It was built by the "Taltal Railway Company", a British company, sold to private investors in 1954, and dismantled in 1970 due to the end of nitrate mining. At the peak of production in the 1930s, Taltal had a population of over 30,000 and was the third largest nitrate port in Chile. On June 18, 1991, following an unusual rainfall event, a series of mudflows devastated part of city.

Demographics

According to the 2002

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 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 ...

, Taltal had 11,000 inhabitants (6,182 men and 4,918 women). Of these, 9,564 (86%) lived 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 1,536 (14%) 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. The population grew by 2.3% (11,148 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Taltal is a third-level administrative division of Chile 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 is Guillermo Hidalgo Ocampo. Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Taltal 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 ...

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

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 ...

. 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 Jorge Soria ( Ind., 2018–2026) and Luz Ebensperger (

, 2018–2022) as part of the 2nd senatorial constituency (Antofagasta Region).

Tourism

Llullaillaco National Park Llullaillaco National Park is a national park of Chile, 275 km southeast of Antofagasta in the Andes. It lies between the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Domeyko and the international border with Argentina. In the park there are several i ...

is an area of 268,670 ha protected by the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF). It lies in the Andes at an altitude of between 3,000 and 6,700 meters, and includes the

Llullaillaco Llullaillaco () is a dormant stratovolcano at the border of Argentina (Salta Province) and Chile (Antofagasta Region). It lies in the Puna de Atacama, a region of tall volcanic peaks on a high plateau close to the Atacama Desert, one of the dri ...

Volcano (6,739 meters), Cerro de la Pena Mountain (5260 m) and Cerro Aguas Calientes Mountain (5,060 m). The park is home to

vicuña The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the guanaco, which live ...

s and

guanaco The guanaco (; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids, the other being the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations. Etymology The guanaco g ...

s, with the highest population density of these species in the region. The park is part of the protected area of the Montano Desert that lies in the

Cordillera Domeyko The Cordillera Domeyko is a mountain range of the Andes located in northern Chile, west of Salar de Atacama. It runs north-south for approximately 600 km, parallel to the main chain. The mountain range marks the eastern border of the flat pa ...

the desert steppe and the Andean salt flats. *

, located on

Cerro Paranal Cerro Paranal is a mountain in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and is the home of the Paranal Observatory. Prior to the construction of the observatory, the summit was a horizontal control point with an elevation of ; now it is above sea ...

in 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 ...

, 110 km north of the city and administered by the European Southern Observatory. Soon the

will also be home to the E-ELT (

European Extremely Large Telescope The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is an astronomical observatory currently under construction. When completed, it is planned to be the world's largest optical/near-infrared extremely large telescope. Part of the European Southern Observatory ...

) to be located on

Cerro Armazones Cerro Armazones is a mountain located in the Sierra Vicuña Mackenna of the Chilean Coast Range, approximately south-east of Antofagasta in the Antofagasta Region, Chile. Before construction started on the European Extremely Large Telescope, th ...

, 20 kilometers east of Cerro Paranal. * Cifuncho bay, located 30 km south of Taltal. With an extensive and beautiful beach of white sand and turquoise water, it is considered one of the five most beautiful beaches in Chile.CIFUNCHO La Belleza Naturalmente Atractiva de Taltal
www.taltal.cl retrieved 1 September 2013 * El Medano canyon, located 90 kilometres north of Taltal, is one of the most important sites to observe

cave painting In archaeology, Cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are more than 40,000 ye ...

s in the northern coast of Chile. This paintings are the remains of an extinct culture called the

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 drew their experiences of hunting

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

s and

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

s. It is believed that the paintings are between 500 and 1,000 years old. * Caleta

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 ...

() is 54 km north of Taltal. It was once a mining centre and was inhabited by the pre-Hispanic

. Surrounded by pastures irrigated by moisture coming off the sea, the area has a very rich flora and fauna and was once a border between Chile and Bolivia in the nineteenth century.

Architectural heritage

The city of Taltal contains many houses that are registered in the Inventory of Cultural Heritage Properties in Chile. Highlights include the Alhambra Theatre (1921), the Augusto Capdeville Museum (1885), the railroad houses (1886), the Plaza Hotel (1898), houses in the downtown area, the (which was completely devastated by a fire in January 2007 but is now rebuilt) and the Protestant church (1896).

Taltal wind farm

The company Enel Green Power has begun the construction of the new Taltal Wind Farm, which will be located in the commune of Taltal,

, approximately 1,500 kilometers north of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, the

an capital. The project will require a total investment of $190 million US dollars and will produce a total of 99 megawatts (MW). It will have 33 windmills, making it the biggest wind farm in Chile.

References

External links

*
Municipality of Taltal
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in Antofagasta Province 1858 establishments in Chile Coasts of Antofagasta Region