Atacama Desert

Atacama Desert

The Atacama Desert is an astonishing rainless plateau in South America, covering a 966 km (600 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast of South America, west of the Andes mountains. It is the driest desert in the world (the average rainfall in the Chilean region of Antofagasta is just 1 mm per year) with spectacular landscapes of many ochre colors from white, yellow to orange or red...

You will be impressed by The Moon Valley that is a formation of stone and sand. Declared Sanctuary of the Nature it make part of Los Flamencos National Reserve. The valley receives this name due to the great similarity of the place to the mole landscapes. And by the Death Valley in the salt Mountain range which offers admirable natural sculptures.

The rain shadow on the leeward side of the Andes keeps this over 20 million-year-old desert, 50 times drier than California's Death Valley ! The Atacama occupies 181,300 square kilometers (70,000 mi²) in northern Chile, composed mostly of salt basins (salares), sand, and lava flows. It is virtually sterile because it is blocked from moisture on both sides by the Andes mountains and by the Chilean Coast Range. The cold Humboldt Current and the anticyclone of the Pacific are essential to keep the dry climate of the Atacama.

Salar de Atacama is the largest salt flat in Chile. It is surrounded by mountains and has no drainage outlets. To the east is enclosed by the main chain of the Andes, while to the west lies a secondary mountain range of the Andes called Cordillera de Domeyko. Large volcanoes dominate the landscape, including the Licancabur, Acamarachi, Aguas Calientes and the Láscar. The latter is one of the most active volcanoes in Chile.

Because of its high altitude, nearly non-existent cloud cover, and lack of light pollution and radio interference from the very widely spaced cities, the desert is one of the best places in the world to conduct astronomical observations. You can see the most wonderfull starry sky !
And due to its otherworldly appearance, the Atacama has been used as a location for filming Mars scenes, most notably in the television series Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets and recently the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace had several scenes filmed in the desert.

History and more

The Atacama is sparsely populated. In an oasis, in the middle of the desert, at about 2000 meters elevation, lies the village of San Pedro de Atacama. Its church was built by the Spanish in 1577. In pre-Hispanic times, before the Inca empire, the extremely arid interior was inhabited mainly by the Atacameño tribe (also called Lickan-antay).

The most ancient people of the Atacama desert were nomadic hunters that followed herds of wild camelids. Later, the existence of vast herds of camelids and the better knowledge of primitive agricultural methods contributed to the development of a semi-sedentary lifestyle with seasonal movements.

Around 2000-1000 B.C., Atacameño people fully adopted the sedentary culture. At this stage, they had an economy mainly based on llama breeding and maize agriculture. Between 400 B.C and 100 A.D., Atacameño farming reaches a peak in its development, mainly in the oases of Lasana, Chiu-Chiu, Calama, San Pedro de Atacama, Peine, Tilomonte, Toconao. They were noted for the construction of fortified towns called pucara (one of which can be seen a few kilometers from San Pedro de Atacama).

During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries under the Spanish Empire, towns grew along the coast as shipping ports for silver produced in Potosí and other mines.

During the 19th century the desert came under control of Bolivia, Chile and Peru and soon became a zone of conflict due to unclear borders and the discovery of nitrate there. After the War of the Pacific, in which Chile annexed most of the desert, cities along the coast developed into international ports, and many Chilean workers migrated there.

The Escondida Mine and Chuquicamata are also located within the Atacama Desert.

Atacama Desert Maps