The Coquimbo Region ( es, Región de Coquimbo, ) is one of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

's 16

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

(first order

administrative divisions Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

). It is bordered by

Atacama The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the w ...

to the north,

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

to the south,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is approximately north of the national capital,

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

. The capital and largest city is La Serena. Other important cities include the seaport

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port city, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, with which it forms Greater La Serena with more than ...

and the agricultural centre Ovalle. PanoramicadeOvalle

Geography and ecology

The Coquimbo Region forms the narrowest part, or 'waist' of Chile, and is hence one of the country's more mountainous regions, as the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

range runs closer to the sea than elsewhere. The region has notable marine species as well as

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

that are associated with the mountainous regions. With respect to marine organisms, the

upwelling Upwelling is an oceanographic phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water from deep water towards the ocean surface. It replaces the warmer and usually nutrient-depleted surface water. The nut ...

areas encourage bioproductivity off of this Pacific Coast area of Chile. In the southern mountainous areas of the Coquimbo Region, the rare and

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

Chilean Wine Palm ''Jubaea'' is a genus of palms with one species, ''Jubaea chilensis'' or ''Jubaea spectabilis'', commonly known in English as the Chilean wine palm or Chile cocopalm, and palma chilena in Spanish. It is native to southwestern South America and i ...

is found, whose habitat is threatened by human population growth in the region and associated

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

for residential expansion and agriculture. The Elqui Valley is home to a number of

astronomical observatories An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

, owing to the region's clear skies. It is also home to a 640-meter-long dam, the Puclaro, which confines the

Elqui River The Elqui River starts in the west Andes and flows into the Pacific Ocean near the Chilean city of La Serena. It is a wine and pisco producing area. Vicuña, the main town of the middle valley, was the home of Nobel Laureate poet Gabriela Mist ...

and produces a reservoir containing 4,630,000 m³ of water for agricultural irrigation.

Demography

Mining and agricultural activities account for the location of various places in the region, around the transverse valleys and mineral deposits. Originally this organization was structured according to the location of Indian villages of the ''

Diaguita The Diaguita people are a group of South American indigenous people native to the Chilean Norte Chico and the Argentine Northwest. Western or Chilean Diaguitas lived mainly in the Transverse Valleys which incised in a semi-arid environment. Ea ...

s''. A high percentage (70–75%) of inhabitants are of Mestizo (Euro-Amerindian) background, higher than any other region in Chile. Other indigenous peoples include the

Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...

, Atacameno,

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...

and

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

, who were immigrants themselves from

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

and Bolivia. Recent high population growth stresses the conurbation La Serena-

(est. 300,000 or 297,253 inhabitants), which concentrates half the regional population. In terms of population, major cities are (according to the 2002 census): La Serena (148,815),

(148,438), Ovalle (66,405), Illapel (21,826),

Vicuña The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the guanaco, which live ...

(12,910),

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

(11,615), and Los Vilos (10,966).

Economy

This region is a very popular travel destination. Visitors are mainly attracted to its long beaches, many of fine white sand, bathed by a calm sea, and the region's pleasant climate. Along with tourism, the province's main industries are agriculture and fishing. The mountains are a center of astronomy in Chile.

Communications

Printed press

The first

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

published in this region was El Minero de Coquimbo in 1828. In La Serena is published the newspaper '' El Día'' (founded on April 1, 1944) and the ''Weekly Tiempo'' (founded on 13 November 1993), while in the Coquimbo is printed '' La Región'' (founded on April 13, 2004) and the newspaper '' El Ovallino'' in Ovalle (founded on October 15, 1989).

TV

In television

TVN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

Red Coquimbo began on June 28, 1993, news segments broadcast signal within the country. Then conduct small programs with reports in the local accent. In cable television, there is CuartaVisión channel in the UHF signal cable 3 VTR and the TV signal 2 open Ovalle, transmitting content regional productions and local customs, traditions, sports, art, etc.. In Ovalle, the council passed on UHF channel 63 of the Cable Color Ovalle TV, originally called "Cultura Televisión." This channel will broadcast news and documentaries from Limarí. And have now ceased to exist several regional signals as

Telenorte Telenorte is a Chilean Television brand, launched as a TV network in 1966, closed in 2001 and relaunched through streaming since the 2010s. The network had stations in Arica, Iquique, Antofagasta and La Serena. History Creation, suspension an ...

launched in the 1960s, and had a studio in La Serena in 1993, which ended in 1998. The signal issued from Arica continued until 2001, when it was closed forever. Another regional channel, now gone, was the Canal 8 UCV TV. Identified as a local affiliate signal UCV TV, received support from the

station and, with great technical support, made soap operas and other shows. This channel in 1994 changed to signal the signal 9, until in 2002 finally closed its doors, leaving the memory of more than 25 years of history of local communications. In La Serena and Coquimbo are captured the following TV signals open: *

(4 VHF signal) * Canal 13 (VHF signal 13) *

Megavisión Red Televisiva Megavisión (MEGA) is a Chilean private television network headquartered in Santiago. It currently airs on digital frequency channel 27 ( ISDB-Tb) for HDTV. In 2012, ownership of Mega channel was transferred from Claro Group to B ...

(11 VHF signal) * Chilevision (2 VHF signal) * Red TV (VHF signal 7) * UCV TV (9 VHF signal) * Telecanal (5 VHF signal)

Notable people

* Nobel Laureate poet

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Li ...

was a native of

, in the Elqui Valley, a

Pisco Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternative ...

-producing area. *The paediatrician and biochemist

Hermann Niemeyer Hermann Niemeyer Fernández (26 October 1918 – 7 June 1991) was a well-known Chilean scientist he did much to establish biochemistry as a research discipline in Chile. In 1983 he received the National Science Prize for his major advances in ...

, one of the central figures in the development of

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

in Chile, was born in Ovalle in 1918

References

*R.N. Gibson, R.J.A. Atkinson and J.D.M. Gordon (2007) ''Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review'', CRC Press, 560 pages *C. Michael Hogan (2008
''Chilean Wine Palm: Jubaea chilensis'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg

External links

Gobierno Regional de Coquimbo
Official website – archived {{Authority control Regions of Chile