Alto Hospicio is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an municipality and commune located next to

Iquique Iquique () is a port List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the At ...

, in the Iquique Province, Tarapacá Region. It is a fast-growing popular area in the heights of

and has a population of 94,254 according to the preliminary result of the 2012 census. It is the second largest commune of the Greater Iquique urbanization with a total population of 275,000 in 2012.

History

The first inhabitants of Alto Hospicio were the Chango indigenous group, that arrived from the coast. They climbed 550 meters from the cove of Ique Ique during the so-called Festival of the Mule (Bajo Molle), and stopped to rest on the pampa. During reign of Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1380 - 1410 CE), the exploitation of the silver deposits of Huantajaya, located about northeast of the site of Alto Hospicio Central Prison, began. Exploitation of silver continued until the end of the eighteenth century when Basilio de la Fuente, a prominent resident of the town of San Lorenzo de Tarapacá, made a fortune with the mineral and funded major irrigation works. After the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

, Alto Hospicio was little more than a desolate train station (specifically the area of Alto Molle), where no more than 100 people lived. By the 1950s, groups of Aymara farmers settled in the area, bringing agricultural products from the inland altiplano. They constructed modest plots for small-scale horticulture and agriculture (both crops and livestock). The economic boom experienced by Iquique in the mid-1990s brought about a population explosion in Alto Hospicio. It was transformed from a small town of about 2,000 inhabitants in the early nineties to a huge city with over 100,000 inhabitants. Alto Hospicio is away and above Bajo Iquique. In August 2007 the Alto Hospicio Basic Emergency Hospital opened in La Pampa area of the city. Though originally part of Iquique, Alto Hospicio was incorporated as its own municipality on 12 April 2004, when Law No. 19943 was approved under President Ricardo Lagos Escobar. Alto Hospicio hosts a large open-air market, La Quebradilla, which is open six days a week. The market trades in used clothing from around the world.

Demographics

Preliminary results of the 2012 census indicate a population of 94,254 inhabitants of Alto Hospicio. According to the 2002

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of the National Statistics Institute, Alto Hospicio had 50,215 inhabitants. Of these, the vasy majority lived in

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

s outside Iquique, and only a tiny minority in

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

s due to its desert like surrounding. The population grew by nearly 900% (44,627 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses and similar (90.7%) between 2002 and 2012 by about 44,000 inhabitants. The commune of Alto Hospicio is composed of 4 census districts. ''Source'': INE 2007 report, "Territorial division of Chile"

Climate

The climate of the area is coastal desert, similar to La Pampa, which is influenced by the dry climate and the Humboldt Current. It is characterized by abundant cloudiness, and low oscillation amplitude from autumn throughout the winter to the early part of spring. But this changes in summer when temperatures double and the oscillation increases, and temperature can vary considerably throughout the day. In the morning it may be sunny, but be very cloudy or rainy in the afternoon. The community receives some rainfall in summer, especially between January and February due to high air pressure fronts commonly called "Bolivia," negatively referring to cold Bolivian or Altiplano winters. Alto Hospicio also receives some rainfall in winter but not every year. Chile's climate is changing due to global warming. Alto Hospicio is a place where temperatures are not incredibly high, but sun rays can be very damaging. Average high in summer is 24 °C (75.2 °F) and 9.4 °C (48.92 °F) to 15 °C (59 °F) in winter.

Administration

As a commune, Alto Hospicio is a third-level

administrative division of Chile The administrative division or territorial organization of Chile exemplifies characteristics of a unitary state. State administration is functionally and geographically decentralized, as appropriate for each authority in accordance with the law ...

administered by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

, headed by an

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Ramón Galleguillos Castillo. Within the

electoral divisions of Chile This article covers the electoral division of Chile, which involves two distinct systems: # Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chamber of Deputies and Senate of Chile, Senate: Chile is divided into electoral districts and senatorial constituencies for ...

, Alto Hospicio is represented in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

by Marta Isasi ( Ind.) and Hugo Gutiérrez ( PC) as part of the 2nd electoral district, which includes the entire Tarapacá Region. The commune is represented in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

José Miguel Insulza José Miguel Insulza Salinas (born June 2, 1943) is a Chilean politician, lawyer, and academic serving as a senator for the Arica y Parinacota Region since 2018. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1999 and Ministe ...

(PS, 2018–2026) and José Durana (UDI, 2018–2026) as part of the 1st senatorial constituency ( Arica and Parinacota Region and Tarapacá Region).

References

External links

*
Municipality of Alto Hospicio
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in Iquique Province