ATACAMA, a district of South America, extending along the W. coast from 21° to 25° S. lat., partly belonging to Chili, and partly to Bolivia,—the 24th parallel, according to the treaty of 1866, being recognised as the line of demarcation. (1.) The Chilian province has an area of about 38,000 square miles, with a population of 82,300. It is bounded S. by the province of Coquimbo, W. by the Pacific, and E. by the Argentine Republic. It is one of the richest copper and silver districts in the world, nearly 1000 mines being worked for the former metal, and about 250 for the latter. The silver ore was first discovered in 1832, by a shepherd, Juan Godoy, at a place which has since been occupied by a village that bears his name. The ores of lead and zinc are frequently found, and sulphur, alum, and salt are all of them abundant, the deposit of the last article alone covering about 50 square miles at the Laguna Salada. Gold likewise occurs in sufficient quantity to be mentioned in the list of exports. The capital of the province is Copiapo, with 13,380 inhabitants, and the population is principally clustered in the valleys of Copiapo and Huasco, and in the neighbourhood of the various mines. Caldera is the principal port, and is connected with the capital and the eastern districts by the first railway constructed in South America. The value of the mineral exports through this and the adjacent ports was in 1871 estimated at 6,218,275 dollars. (2.) The Bolivian department has an area of about 70,000 square miles, with a population of about 8000, which is rapidly increasing. It also owes its prosperity almost solely to its wealth in copper and silver. The mines of Caracoles, recently discovered, are said to be the most productive silver mines in the world. In other products it ...