Iquique is in the North of Chile. City home to the duty free zone called "Zofri" and a growing number of high rise resort hotels along its beaches. Slightly more expensive and polluted than neighboring population centers, such as Arica, but a convenient place to stock up on duty free perfumes and laptop computers.
Iquique 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.
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 (then part of Peruvian territory). 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 overthrown in 1914 came to Iquique - then already under Chilean rule - to live out his last years), and Ramon Castilla, three times president of Peru, who was born in San Lorenzo de Tarapaca and died in the Desert of Tiviliche, Tarapaca, who lived in Iquique during his mandate as Governor of Tarapaca in 1825.
PLACE TO VISIT
Baquedano Street is a cobbled, old-Western style street with plentiful tourist and artisan activities. Buildings around constructed during the 19th century offer interesting architecture mainly in Georgian and Victorian Styles adapted to the coastal desertic climate.
Historic sites can be found along the city and nearby the coast and desert, most of them related to the Pacific War against the coalition of Perú and Bolivia during the 19th century and with the the massacre by the government against miner workforce demanding social and economical rights, known as "the Santa Maria School massacre".
Iquique's 19th century architecture can be visited mainly downtown. Its origins are linked with the mining activities during that century, when European entrepreneurs became rich with the extraction of saltpetre and established their homes in the city. Many of them constructed big houses in different styles that predominated during the period and grouped in colonies with their respective buildings, with special stylistic, material and constructive adaptations to the climate of Iquique. The most emblematic house is The Astoreca Palace, that actually belongs to Arturo Prat University as an extension centre. Other important examples are The Spanish Casino, The Croatian Casino, The Chinese Club and The Municipal Theatre, one of the most important nationwide.
HOW TO REACH
Buses pull in on different locations. The 'main terminal' north of the centre serves most destinations, but quite a few buses from Arica pull in close to the central mercado in the cross between Calle Barros Arana and Thomson. 'Tur-bus' have their own terminal on Calle Esmeralda. Several daily arrivals from Arica, Antofagasta and Santiago. Also buses from La Paz, Oruro and Cochabamba in Bolivia.
Many flights from Iquique's Diego Aracena Intrnational Airport (IATA: IQQ) connect daily with Santiago and other main cities in the country. International flights are offered to Bolivia and Argentina.
