Antofagasta

Antofagasta faces the Pacific from the Atacama Desert coast of northern Chile, where coastal hills descend to a narrow shore. Rain is almost absent, and freshwater arrives by fog, rare streams and storage. The bay and nearby islands supplied fish, shellfish and seabirds to Chango communities, who moved between coastal camps and inland routes.

The Atacama formed a borderland between Andean chiefdoms and Pacific fishing peoples. Inca roads entered the south, and Spanish conquest placed the territory within the Viceroyalty of Peru. The coast remained thinly settled because silver and copper wealth lay inland. Caravan tracks connected mines with small landing places where boats could approach the open shore.

After independence in the 1820s, Bolivia claimed the desert coast and made Cobija, farther north, its main Pacific port, while Chile disputed the boundary. Mule and llama caravans carried silver and copper ore down to small landings, and Atacameño and Chango people took part in the trade. Fog and stored water made settlement possible.