TARAPAC

northernmost region, Chile, bordering Peru and Bolivia on the north and east and fronting the Pacific Ocean on the west. Tarapac was ceded to Chile by Peru after the War of the Pacific (187983) and was organized as a province (area 22,820 sq mi [59,104 sq km]) in 1884, and as a region in 1974. It is divided into the provinces of Arica, Parinacota, and Iquique. Part of the Atacama Desert, it is without water except at the base of the Andes, where streams flow down into the sands and are lost. In some places, however, there are oases with vegetation and water enough to support small settlements. Tarapac was sparsely populated until the 19th-century desert nitrate boom. Deposits are found on the Pampa de Tamarugal, a broad, desert plateau about 3,000 ft (910 m) above sea level between the coast range and the Andes. Since 1940, however, unfavourable world markets for nitrate have resulted in a decline in population. The regional economy is now based largely on fishing and fish processing and agriculture. New irrigation projects have opened lands for the cultivation of sugarcane, olives, citrus fruits, and alfalfa. There is an automobile assembly plant at Arica. The Pan-American Highway runs the length of the region, and nitrate railways run inland from the main ports of Arica (a free port for Bolivia) and the regional capital of Iquique (q.v.). Pop. (1982 prelim.) 273,427.