Although the city was founded in the 16th century, there is evidence of habitation in the area by the Chango people as early as 7,000 BC. During colonial times, Iquique was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru as much of South America was at the time, and remained part of Peruvian territory until the end of the 19th century. Iquique's early development was due in large part to the discovery of mineral riches, particularly the presence of large deposits of sodium nitrate in the Atacama Desert. In July 1835, Charles Darwin, during his voyage on the Beagle, traveled to Iquique and described it as a town "very much in want of everyday necessities, such as water and firewood". These necessities had to be brought in from considerable distances. Darwin also visited the saltpeter works. The city has been devastated by several earthquakes, including the 1868 Arica earthquake, the 1877 Iquique earthquake, and the 2005 Tarapacá earthquake. The 2014 Iquique earthquake occurred with a moment magnitude of 8.2 on April 1, 2014. . Territorial disputes between Bolivia and Chile triggered the War of the Pacific in 1879. The Battle of Iquique was fought in the harbor of Iquique on May 21, 1879, now commemorated as Navy Day, an annual public holiday in Chile. The outcome of the war gave Chile this portion of the Peruvian territory. Over the years there was substantial emigration from other parts of Chile to this area which was called the Norte Grande. In subsequent years the further exportation of Chilean saltpeter significantly helped in the development of the city, attracting foreigners and rapidly expanding housing projects. In December 1907, the city was marred by the Santa María de Iquique Massacre when the Chilean Army, under the command of Gen. Roberto Silva Renard, opened fire on thousands of saltpeter miners, and their wives and children, who assembled inside the Santa María School. The workers had marched into town to protest their working conditions and wages. Somewhere between 500 and 2,000 people were killed. The folk groupQuilapayún recorded an album in remembrance of the event in 1970. In December 2007 a series of cultural and ceremonial activities were planned, culminating in the week between December 14 to 21, to commemorate the centenary year of the massacre. Mars 96 launched by Russia in 1996, but failed to leave Earth orbit, and re-entered the atmosphere a few hours later. The two RTGs onboard carried in total 200 g of plutonium and are assumed to have survived reentry as they were designed to do. They are thought to now lie somewhere in a northeast-southwest running oval long by wide which is centred east of Iquique, Chile. Prior to becoming Chilean territory, Iquique was home to some of the greatest Peruvian heroes, namely Alfonso Ugarte, Ramon Zavala, a rich saltpeter entrepreneur; Guillermo Billinghurst, later President of Peru, and Ramon Castilla, three times president of Peru, who was born in San Lorenzo de Tarapacá and died in the Desert of Tiviliche, Tarapacá, who lived in Iquique during his mandate as Governor of Tarapacá in 1825.
Governance
As a commune, Iquique is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2012–2016 alcalde is Jorge Soria. Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Iquique is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Mrs. Marta Isasi and Mr. Hugo Gutiérrez as part of the 2nd electoral district, which includes the entire Tarapacá Region.The commune is represented in the Senate by Fulvio Rossi Ciocca and Jaime Orpis Bouchon as part of the 1st senatorial constituency.
Economy
Iquique has one of the largest duty-free commercial port centers of South America, the Zona Franca of Iquique which has been traditionally called Zofri. There are around of warehouses, banking branches, and restaurants. Copper mining, mainly in Quebrada Blanca, Cerro Colorado, and Doña Inés de Collahuasí, is also an important industry in Iquique.
Demographics
According to the 2002 census of National Statistics Institute, the commune of Iquique had an area of and 216,419 inhabitants. Of these, 214,586 lived in urban areas and 1,833 in rural areas. The township has an area of and a population of 166,204 inhabitants. The population grew by 42.7% between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. Iquique is home to 56% of the total population of the Tarapacá region. In 2008, the city had 226,204 inhabitants. Iquique commune is divided into the following districts: There is a significant percentage of ethnic group colony residents. The most numerous communities are Croatian, Italian, Greek, Chinese, Arabic nationalities, Peruvians and Bolivians, British peoples, and the French. In the 1910s and 1920s, about a thousand East Indian saltpeter mine workers hired by British mine companies appeared in Iquique and today, their descendants mixed into the local population. Lately, a wave of North American and Australian immigrants came to retire and enjoy the city's beach climate. Immigrants currently correspond to 9.2% of the total population.
Climate
Iquique has a rare desert climate with low extremes of temperatures all year round and almost no rainfall. Being characterized by abundant cloudiness, it is sometimes classified as BWn, indicating a coastal desert climate with abundant cloudiness as the n denotes a climate with frequent fog. It is common for this place to almost have no rainy days in a year. It is one of the driest cities in the world, along with Arica.
