Tacna

Capital of Tacna department, southern Peru, 42 km/26 mi from the Chilean border, 1,290 km/800 mi south of Lima and Peru's most southerly city; population (2005) 230,100. Situated on the Pan-American Highway, it is linked with the port of Arica in northern Chile by railway. Products include tobacco, cotton, sugar cane and sulphur; irrigation projects help maintain olive groves and vineyards.

In 1880 Chile defeated a combined Peruvian–Bolivian army nearby in the War of the Pacific, and occupied Tacna until 1929. It has a cathedral designed by Eiffel.

Tacna

Department in the far south of Peru, in the angle between the Pacific coast and the Chilean frontier; area 16,076 sq km/6,207 sq mi; population (1996) 246,076. The capital is the city of Tacna. Cotton, vines, fruit, maize, and potatoes are grown here. The great copper mine of Toquepala is located near the border with the department of Moquegua.

Topographically, Tacna is extremely varied; the coastal part of the department is desert, interspersed with irrigated valleys, while the high Andean province of Tarata is a cold plateau region composed of grassland. The area is watered by the Sama and Locumba rivers. The waters of Lake Aricota, 80 km/50 mi to the north, are also now being tapped for irrigation and hydroelectric power for industry.

After being annexed in the Pacific War of 1879–83, Tacna was under Chilean control until 1929.