- This article is about the Atacama Region; for the desert, see
Atacama Desert
.
The
Atacama Region Region
(
Spanish
:
Region de Atacama
) is one of
Chile
's 15 first order
administrative divisions
. The southern portion of the
Atacama Desert
is in the region; the rest of the desert is in the other regions to the north (
Norte Grande
natural
region).
The
capital
of the region is the city of
Copiapo
; it is at 806 km (501 mi) north of
Santiago
, the capital of country.
From 1843, Atacama was a province of Chile but in 1974, with the creation of the
Regions of Chile
, it became one of those regions.
The Atacama region borders the
Tarapaca
region to the north,
Argentina
(provinces of
Catamarca
,
La Rioja
and
San Juan
), on the east, the
Coquimbo
region on the south and the
Pacific Ocean
on the west.
[3]
Places next to Atacama Region
|
|---|
|
The highest
mountains
of the region are:
Nevados Ojos del Salado
, 6,893 m (22,615 ft) high, and
Nevado Tres Cruces
, 6,748 m (22,139 ft) high; they are in the
Andes
, in the border with Argentina.
As of 2015
[update]
, there were (estimated) 312,486 persons living in the region,
[4]
for a
population density
of 4.2 inhabitants/km².
The largest city in the region is its capital,
Copiapo
, with 125,983 inhabitants (2002 census).
[
source?
]
The Atacama region is divided in three provinces:
Chanaral
,
Copiapo
and
Huasco
.
Atacama Region - Provinces and
comunas
| Provinces
|
Capital
|
Code
|
Comunas
|
Area
(km²)
[3]
|
Population
[3]
2002
|
Copiapo
(031)
|
Copiapo
|
03101
|
4
Copiapo
|
16,681.3
|
129,091
|
| 03102
|
3
Caldera
|
4,666.6
|
13,734
|
| 03103
|
5
Tierra Amarilla
|
11,190.6
|
12,888
|
| Total of the Copiapo province
|
32,538.5
|
155,713
|
Chanaral
(032)
|
Chanaral
|
03201
|
1
Chanaral
|
5,772.4
|
13,543
|
| 03202
|
2
Diego de Almagro
|
18,663.8
|
18,589
|
| Total of the Chanaral province
|
24,436.2
|
32,132
|
Huasco
(033)
|
Vallenar
|
03301
|
9
Vallenar
|
7,083.7
|
48,040
|
| 03302
|
6
Alto del Carmen
|
5,938.7
|
4,840
|
| 03303
|
7
Freirina
|
3,577.7
|
5,666
|
| 03304
|
8
Huasco
|
1,601.4
|
7,945
|
| Total of the Huasco province
|
18,201.5
|
66,491
|
| Total of the region
|
75,176.2
|
254,336
|