Tocopilla

- 22.096388888889 - 70.2Koordinaten: 22 ° 6 ' S, 70 ° 12' W

Tocopilla is a nitrate port in northern Chile and is located in the Región de Antofagasta.

The town in the province of Tocopilla has about 24,000 inhabitants (2005 ). The city's name comes from the Aymara language and means about as much as Grand Canyon.

Geography

The port city is located on the Pacific Ocean. East of the city are the up to 2,300 m high mountains of the Coast Range. On 14 November 2007, near the small town, a devastating earthquake struck with a magnitude of 7.7 on the Richter scale.

History

The city was founded in 1843 by 29 September Domingo Latrille. The Sociedad de Tocopilla Mineralógica explored then smaller copper deposits. 1871 began with the shipment of saltpetre.

The city belonged until 1879 with Bolivia. In the Salpeter (1879-1883), the city on March 22, 1879 captured by Chilean troops. After that, the Peruvian ironclad Huascar was looking off the coast Tocopillas by Chilean merchant ships and brought several to. Tocopilla was up to the Battle of Tarapacá a very important port to land Chilean troops. Then the importance of the city fell to the war effort.

Since 1890, a railroad line connects the city with the hinterland. The Ferrocarril de Tocopilla al Toco was later partially electrified - and the technique of current recovery (recuperation) was used for the first time when braking the talwärtsfahrenden trains in South America. The railway is still in operation today, making it the last train nitrate Chile.

2007 died in the earthquake two women. It originated high damage.

Economy

The thermal power plants of Tocopilla and are still important energy supplier for all of northern Chile. In addition, the fishing industry plays a major role. The port used to export copper from the mine Chuquicamata and El Toco Salpeterexport from.

The high unemployment in the city leads to substantial out-migration of the population, in particular to Antofagasta.

Tourism

Are of interest to tourists the long beaches and marine fisheries.

Sons and daughters of the town

Chilean Coast Range
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