Arica
[key], city, N Chile, on the Pacific Ocean, just south of the Peruvian border and at the
northern limit of the Atacama Desert. Peru ceded Arica to
Chile after the War of the Pacific (see Pacific, War of the). With the
settlement of the Tacna-Arica Controversy in 1929, Chile retained sovereignty
over the city but was required to furnish complete port facilities to Peru. The district of
Arica is now a free zone where both Chile and Peru maintain customshouses. The city is a
resort and a port through which the mineral exports (chiefly copper, tin, and sulfur) of both
countries are shipped. Like much of Chile, Arica is subject to powerful earthquakes;
particularly devastating earthquakes and tsunamis occurred in 1868 and 1877.
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