TALARA

community, Piura departmento, northwestern Peru, on the Pacific Ocean. Rebuilt and developed by the International Petroleum Company (which provided workers' housing, hospitals, and schools), it is a refining and shipping port for Peru's main oil-producing region. To the southwest, near the foot of the La Brea Mountains, is the site of the pits (where Spaniards boiled tar to caulk their ships) and of Peru's first oil well, dug (not drilled) in 1850. Commercial production began after 1914. Pop. (1990 est.) 89,500.