Tocopilla is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and commune in the

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region (, ) is one of Chile's Administrative divisions of Chile, sixteen first-order administrative divisions. Being the second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, El ...

, in the north of Chile. It is the capital of the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

that bears the same name. Every year Tocopilla celebrates its anniversary on 29 September with a big show the day before, which includes a parade down in the main street of the city, food and a fireworks display at midnight. The city is divided into two main parts consisting of the central city and smaller portion known as ''La Villa Sur'' (in which the more luxurious houses are located). The two parts are divided by the thermoelectric power plant and a large

saltpeter Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula . It is a potassium salt of nitric acid. This salt consists of potassium cations and nitrate anions , and is therefore an alkali metal nitrate ...

processing and shipping plant, with the coastal highway connecting the two portions. The northern portion of Tocopilla is home of the municipal buildings, the central square and many stores and shops. The steep gradient of the city from beach to vertical hillside is covered in houses and apartments crammed together to save space. A large artificial beach called "Covadonga" and a small artificial beach called "Caleta Boy" are the main attractions during summer months and serve as a focus away from the heat of the Atacama. On the north side of the city, there is a black sandy beach called "El Panteón". Tocopilla is the birthplace of artist

Alejandro Jodorowsky Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean and French Experimental film, avant-garde filmmaker. Known for his films ''El Topo'' (1970), ''The Holy Mountain (1973 film), The Holy Mountain'' (1973) and ''Santa Sangre'' ...

and footballer Alexis Sánchez.

Toponymy

Tocopilla means "the devil's corner" in the

Quechua language Quechua (, ), also called (, 'people's language') in Southern Quechua, is an Indigenous languages of the Americas, indigenous language family that originated in central Peru and thereafter spread to other countries of the Andes. Derived from ...

. Jodorowsky explains the etymology further in his autobiography ''The Dance of Reality'': "In the Andean language of Quechua, ''Toco'' means "double sacred square" and ''Pilla'' means "devil." In this case, the devil is not the incarnation of evil but a being of the subterranean dimension who gazes through a window made of both spirit and matter—that is, the body—in order to observe the world and share his knowledge with it. Among the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

, ''Pillán'' means "the soul, the human spirit arrived at its final destination."

2007 earthquake

On 14 November 2007, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred east-southeast of Tocopilla, followed by aftershocks of magnitude up to 6.8. As a consequence, 1,200 homes were destroyed in Tocopilla, leaving 4,000 of its 27,000 inhabitants homeless. There were two fatalities, and at least 115 were injured.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Tocopilla had 23,986 inhabitants (12,050 men and 11,936 women). Of these, 23,352 (97.4%) lived in urban areas and 634 (2.6%) in rural areas. The population fell by 4.0% (999 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Tocopilla 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 2013-2016 alcalde is Fernando San Román Bascuñán (Ind./PRO). 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 ...

, Tocopilla 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 Marcos Espinosa ( PRSD) and Felipe Ward ( UDI) as part of the 3rd electoral district, (together with María Elena, Calama, Ollagüe and

San Pedro de Atacama San Pedro de Atacama is a Chilean town and commune in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region. It is located east of Antofagasta, some 106 km (60 mi) southeast of Calama and the Chuquicamata copper mine, overlooking the Licancabur volcan ...

). 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 ...

by Pedro Araya Guerrero ( Ind.) and Alejandro Guillier ( Ind.) as part of the 2nd senatorial constituency (Antofagasta Region).

Sport

The city has one association football team called Deportes Tocopilla who currently play in

Tercera B (Chile) Tercera División B de Chile (Third Division B of Chile), is the fifth tier of Chilean football (soccer) in the Chilean football league system, Liga Chilena de Fútbol, and is organized by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile and the Asociación Nac ...

. Former

Arsenal F.C. The Arsenal Football Club, commonly known as simply Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, North London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. In domestic football, Arsenal h ...

Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, t ...

forward Alexis was also born in Tocopilla and currently competes in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

for Udinese

Economy

This city generates electricity for the entire

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

and is therefore known as "the city of energy". When

exportation in Chile was at its highest point, Tocopilla was especially significant as an export point. Nowadays, even when the saltpeter is not so profitable, Tocopilla is still home of companies focused on its extraction. Its position along the coast allows it to have an active fishing activity, that along with the mining activity are the main resources. It is a fishing port, with fishmeal and canned fish factories. Through its port the copper from

Chuquicamata Chuquicamata ( ; referred to as Chuqui for short) is the largest open-pit mining, open pit copper Mining, mine in terms of excavated volume in the world. It is located in the north of Chile, just outside Calama, Chile, Calama, at above sea level. ...

and saltpeter from El Toco are exported. Tocopilla has metallurgic,

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

and nitrate treatment industries, along with the

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

. Due to these activities, Tocopilla is a dormitory city, since many people work outside the city. Two other important sports are volleyball, with relative success at school and federated level.

In media

'' The Dance of Reality'', a 2013 Chilean-French film by

, was filmed in Tocopilla. The city is mentioned in the

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian country music guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts betw ...

and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

song " I've Been Everywhere."

References

External links

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Municipality of Tocopilla
*
Tocopilla on line
*
Prensa Tocopilla
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Port cities in Chile Populated places established in 1843 Populated places in Tocopilla Province Capitals of Chilean provinces 1843 establishments in Chile Coasts of Antofagasta Region