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San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina
April 2, 2023
San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina, population: about 300,000. Jujuy is located in the far northwest of the country.
This area was inhabited by a group called Jujuí. Then around 1420, the Incas conquered them. The Jujuíes put up strong fights against the Incas but eventually the Incas won. Then in the 16th century, the Spanish came into the area and fought the Incas. After three battles between the Incas and the Spaniards, the Spaniards finally won. In 1810, the War of Independence started and Jujuy was right in the center. In 1812, a general led all the citizens of Jujuy out of town just before the Spanish attacked, this became known as the Jujeño Exodus. From the late 1800s into the early 1900s the city saw a huge influx of people which led to overcrowding in the city.
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San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
March 31, 2023
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile: population: about 11,000.
The town is supported by tourism and that is very obvious when you visit. I heard people talking in many languages, and it appears most are in their late 20s or 30s. I spoke to one, a man from Ireland, and he said he's met at least five people from the US on his journey. I realized today that my journey of South America starting in Colombia and going south is the opposite of what most people are doing. And there's this - everyone I have met and talked to in the past 4 months has been heading north. I have yet to meet anyone else going south. Anyway, San Pedro is very small, something like 12,000 people. There is one supermarket, and one or two gas stations out on the highway. But, there are many, many, many shops catering to tourists.
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Calama, Chile
March 30, 2023
Calama, Chile: population: about 195,000. That population number includes several mining communities and other villages out in the desert in this general area. Calama's main source of economic support is copper mining. There is one very large open pit mine that has been in operation for more than 100 years. It is in the process of changing to underground mining.
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Tocopilla, Chile
March 29, 2023
Tocopilla, Chile: population: about 28,000. The city was founded in 1843 as a cove, I guess that means it was even less than a town or village. In 1870, the cove shipped out its first shipments of saltpeter. In 1890, the railroad was expanded to allow for more shipping of saltpeter.
1915 saw the starting-up of a thermoelectric power plant. This helped to increase the production of copper. Starting in the 1930s the nitrate (saltpeter) mining started to taper off, then after that, the fishing industry started to collapse due to over-fishing, with these there were mass lay-offs and people started to leave town en masse. In fact, Tocopilla lost around 10,000 people who moved to Antofagasta, to the south.
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Iquique, Chile
March 28, 2023
Iquique, Chile: population: about 190,000. Back in the early 1880s, there was a war between Chile and Perú, and Iquique and the regions north of it were taken by Chile.
The history dates back to something like 7000 years BC. Iquique and other towns of northern Perú owe their existence to saltpeter mining. In 1835, Charles Darwin visited Iquique and apparently wasn't very impressed with what he saw, he said, Iquique is a town "very much in want of everyday necessities, such as water and firewood". The city's economy now relies on commercial and port activities as well as tourism.
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