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TACNA

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 347 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TACNA , a See also:

northern See also:province of See also:Chile, in dispute with See also:Peru from 1893 onwards, bounded N. by Peru, E. by See also:Bolivia, S. by See also:Tarapaca, and W. by the Pacific. See also:Area, 9251 sq. m. Pop. (1895) 24,160. It belongs to the See also:desert region of the Pacific See also:coast, and is valuable because of its deposits of nitrate of soda and some undeveloped See also:mineral resources. There are a few fertile spots near the mountains, where See also:mountain streams afford See also:irrigation and potable See also:water, and support small populations, but in See also:general Tacna is occupied for See also:mining purposes only. None of its streams crosses the entire width of the province; they are all lost in its desert sands. The See also:climate is hot, and earthquakes are frequent and sometimes violent. There is one railway in the province, See also:running from the See also:city of Tacna to See also:Arica (q.v.), and in 1910 another from Arica to La Paz, Bolivia, was under construction by the Chilean See also:government. The province consists of two departments, Tacna and Arica, which once formed See also:part of the Peruvian See also:department of See also:Moquegua. Its See also:capital is Tacna (pop. 1895, 9418; 1902, estimated 11,504), a small inland See also:town 48 m. by See also:rail from Arica, in a fertile valley among the foothills of the See also:Andes.

Existence is made possible in this See also:

oasis by a small mountain stream, also called Tacna, which supports a scanty vegetation. The town owes its existence to the Bolivian See also:trade from La Paz and See also:Oruro, and is the See also:residence of a number of See also:foreign merchants. Tacna was captured by a Chilean force under General Baquedano on the 27th of May 1880. At the See also:close of the See also:war between Chile and Peru (1879-1883), the terms of the treaty of See also:Ancon (signed by representatives of the two countries on the loth of See also:October 1883) were practically dictated by Chile, and by one of the provisions the Peruvian provinces of Tacna and Arica were to be occupied and exploited by Chile for a See also:period of ten years, when a See also:plebiscite should be taken of their inhabitants to determine whether they would remain with Chile or return to Peru, the See also:country acquiring the two provinces in this manner to pay the other $1o,000,000. At the termination of the period Peru wished the plebiscite to be See also:left to the See also:original See also:population, while Chile wanted it to include the large number of Chilean labourers sent into the province. Chile refused to submit the dispute to See also:arbitration, and it remained unsettled. Meanwhile Chile expelled the Peruvian priests, and treated the province more like a conquered territory than a temporary See also:pledge.

End of Article: TACNA

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