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Iquique is a city in northern Chile, capital of Tarapacá Region, on the Pacific coast, just west of the Atacama Desert and the Pampa del Tamarugal.
The city's name comes from the Aymara word "Ique-ique", which translates to "laziness", but can also mean "sleep" or "bed."
I
quique has one of the largest duty-free commercial port centers (or Zona Franca) of South America and has been traditionally called Zofri. There are around 2.4 km² of warehouses, banking branches, and restaurants.
 HISTORY OF IQUIQUE
Although the city was founded in the sixteenth century, there is evidence of habitation in the area by the Chango people as early as 7000 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 (Chilean saltpeter, locally called salitre) in the Atacama Desert. Some of the greatest Peruvian heroes were neighbors in Iquique, namely Alfonso Ugarte (who was elected Mayor in 1876), Ramon Zavala, a rich saltpeter entrepreneur; Guillermo Billinghurst, later President of Peru (who after being overthown in 1914 came to Iquique - then already under Chilean rule - to live out his last years).
Territorial disputes between Bolivia and Chile triggered the War of the Pacific in 1879. The outcome of the war gave Chile this portion of the Peruvian territory. Over the years there was much emigration from other parts of Chile to the area which they called the Norte Grande. In subsequent years the further exportation of Chilean saltpeter (mainly to European countries) 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 army, under the command of Gen. Roberto Silva-Renard, opened fire on thousands of saltpeter miners, their wives and children, 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 were killed. The folk group Quilapayún recorded an album in remembrance of the event (Cantata Santa María de Iquique) in 1970. In December 2007 a series of cultural and ceremonial activities were held to commemorate the centenary of the massacre.
TRIVIA
In July 1835, Charles Darwin, during his voyage on the Beagle, travelled to Iquique and described a town very much in want of everyday necessities, such as water and firewood. These had to be brought in from a considerable distance. Darwin also visited the saltpeter works.
In 1868 and again in 1877, the former Peruvian city was devastated by earthquakes. On 13 June 2005 there was yet another earthquake, with a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter Scale.
The Battle of Iquique was fought in the harbour of Iquique on May 21, 1879, now commemorated as Navy Day, an annual public holiday in Chile.
From Wikipedia.org, the Free Encyclopedia
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