Archaeological findings indicate that Arica was inhabited by different native groups dating back 10,000 years. These people are the first known culture to mummify their dead, predating the Egyptians by 2,000 years, and their mummies have been discovered as recently as 2004 and buried as shallow as <1 meter beneath the city's surface.
Colonial period Spaniards settled the land under captain Lucas Martinez de Begazo in 1541, and in 1570, the area was grandly retitled as "La Muy Ilustre y Real Ciudad San Marcos de Arica" (the very illustrious and royal city of San Marcos of Arica). At the time of the Spanish settlement the region around Arica was already multiethnic displaying a mix of local sedentary populations and
mitma settlers from the
Altiplano. The proportions of these are that the first made up about 66% of the population and the latter 25%.
Thomas Cavendish,
Richard Hawkins,
Joris van Spilbergen,
John Watling,
Baltazar de Cordes,
Bartholomew Sharp,
William Dampier, Others estimate that the population of Arica was less than 3,000 people and the death toll was around 300. It triggered a
tsunami, measurable across the Pacific in
Hawaii, Japan and New Zealand. As Arica lies very close to the
subduction zone known as the
Peru–Chile Trench where the
Nazca Plate dives beneath the
South American Plate, the city is subject to
megathrust earthquakes.
Chilenization period (1880–1929) , 7 June 1880 Chilean forces occupied the region following the
War of the Pacific. The
Treaty of Ancón in 1883 formally acceded the region to Chilean control. The 1929 Tacna-Arica compromise in the
Treaty of Lima subsequently restored
Tacna to Peru but Arica remained part of Chile.
Modern Arica (1929–present) In 1958, the Chilean Government established the "Junta de Adelanto de Arica" (Board of Development for Arica), which promulgated many tax incentives for the establishment of industries, such as vehicle assembly plants, a tax-free zone, and a casino, among others. Many car manufacturers opened plants in Arica, such as
Citroën,
Peugeot,
Volvo,
Ford and
General Motors, which produced the Chevrolet LUV pickup until 2008. In 1975, together with Chile's new open economy policies, the "Junta de Adelanto de Arica" was abolished. The Arica and Parinacota Region was created on October 8, 2007, under Law 20.175, promulgated on March 23, 2007, by President
Michelle Bachelet in the city of Arica.
Promel toxic waste dumpsite In 1984–1985, the Swedish metal company
Boliden Mineral AB paid a local mineral extracting company, Promel Ldta., 10 million SEK ($1.2 million, $3.15 million in 2021 dollars) to receive, treat and confine around 20,000 tonnes of smeltery sludge from Rönnskärsverken in
Skellefteå, containing among other things high levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and iron and smaller amounts of gold and silver. To earn additional income, Promel planned to extract various substances from the waste at its processing plant at Sitio F in the outskirts of Arica. The end products were mainly raw
arsenic and iron-silver-gold oxides. The first shipment arrived in Arica in August 1984 and the processing of 500 kg test batches in October 1984 gave positive results with oversight from an official from the Chilean Health Authority in
Santiago. After the sludge processing had begun at large scale and the third and last shipment of sludge arrived to Promel's plant in Arica in July 1985, contact between Boliden and Promel ceased. In the late 1980s, Promel ceased all activities at Sitio F for unknown reasons and abandoned the remaining 10,000 tons of the highly toxic smelting sludge out in the open exposed to the elements. The area surrounding the plant was later used by the local authorities to build state-sponsored
social housing aimed at low-income families. No physical barrier between the former plant and the residential area existed at the time. Residents of the new neighborhood had no knowledge about the contents of the sludge at the site, which became used as a playground by children. In the 1990s, many residents around the former plant began to show symptoms of lead and arsenic poisoning. In 1998, the Chilean authorities ordered Promel to move the toxic waste. Promel moved the sludge to a walled area on the other side of a nearby hill and covered the material with a plastic mat. It was supposed to be a temporary storage site, yet the material remains there to this day. Cleanup of the remaining parts of Sitio F finished as late as 2010. Even after the removal of the sludge, the health effects on the local population continue to be devastating. Almost 8,000 residents were tested for toxic substances in 2010. Of the 6600 people that got results back from the Chilean Health Authority, 12.9% showed arsenic in their
urine samples. Studies have found very high rates of arsenic related lung cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer and skin cancer in the local population. Other health effects include non-cancerous heart and lung diseases and fertility problems such as low birth weights and spontaneous
miscarriages. In 2013, 796 Arica residents, including human rights defenders, started legal action in Sweden against Boliden. The Court of Appeal for Northern Norrland held that the claims of the victims were time limited, and the Swedish Supreme Court declined to hear the case. ==Demography==