Iquique

Iquique is a port city in northern Chile, capital of the Tarapacá region, set on the Pacific coast at the edge of the Atacama Desert, with a mild desert climate and almost no rain. It belonged to Peru until the War of the Pacific and grew with the 19th-century saltpetre boom, whose memory is kept alive by the Humberstone and Santa Laura saltpetre works, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005, some 48 kilometres to the east. With close to 200,000 inhabitants, it lives from the trade of its Free Trade Zone (ZOFRI), from the port and from tourism on Cavancha beach. In sport, Deportes Iquique, founded in 1978 and winner of three Copa Chile titles, plays at the municipal Tierra de Campeones stadium, and the city will host the 6th South American Beach Games in March 2027. Iquique has been designated American City of Sport 2027, the first Chilean city to bid for this ACES America recognition.