The Atacama desert is the most arid territory of Chile, bounded by the Pacific ocean to the West and the Andes on the East. This desert area of approximately 106,000 sq km, is located on the territory of the regions of Arica and parinacota volcano, Tarapaca, Antofagasta and the Northern part of the Atacama desert.

The Atacama desert is rich in salt lakes, hot springs and geysers, and mineral resources such as copper (28% of world reserves of copper, zinc, gold and silver, and there are also large deposits of boron, nitrate salts of sodium and potassium. There are also many stocks bischofite is a mineral obtained from the salt lakes of Salar de Atacama, used in construction and farmacologie. Development and production of these minerals on the territory of the Atacama desert are mining companies such as Codelco and Lomas Bayas" (the largest company in the world in copper mining), "Soquimich" (the largest company in Chile for the processing of salt, iodine and lithium).

Three million years ago this area was part of the ocean floor. The main cause of the Atacama desert is a global climatic phenomenon that creates deserts of the Western coasts of all continents of the southern hemisphere at this latitude. High atmospheric pressure in this zone form the "Pacific cyclone", which periodically is moving along the coast to the East, creating a storm.
In addition, oceanic Humboldt current carries cold water from Antarctica to the North along the Chilean and Peruvian coasts, while cooling sea breezes from the West, reducing evaporation and preventing the formation of large rain clouds. With all the moisture condenses along the steep slopes of the Cordillera de La Costa, giving the local ecosystem, consisting of cacti, succulents and other endemic species of local flora.

In the Atacama desert rain can pass for a 15 - 40 years. In this area the registered frames to 400 years without rain. At night the temperature can drop to -25°C, and daytime temperatures can rise up to +50°C in the shade. In the desert there are seasons tornadoes and strong winds, the speed of which reaches 100 km/h.

The Atacama desert has been inhabited since the beginning of American colonization. During the pre-Hispanic period, there lived representatives of the chinchorro culture around the time of 5000 -1700 years ago.

The name of the Atacama desert has received after the Spanish-American war for independence, and because of the inaccuracy of the documents, this area became formally belong to Bolivia. Despite the signed contract, bordering States are unable to resolve disputes, and in 1879 the territory began to treat the region of Antofagasta Chile, initiating military action against Bolivia. In 1873, an agreement was signed defensive Union of Peru and Bolivia, thus was officially declared the war in the Pacific in 1879, which ended in 1884 with the victory of Chile and the signing of the peace Treaty of ancón.

The Atacama desert is considered one of the best places in the world to observe the sky. Due to this, more than a dozen observatories located in the Atacama desert: Paranal (VLT), astronomical complex of ALMA, the largest astronomical project in the world La Silla and others. Chile owns 40% astronomical observations of the world.

In the Atacama desert hosts a rally for off-road vehicles such as Rally Baja Atacama, Baja Rally Chile, Rally Patagonia Atacama. The dunes of this desert are ideal for this sport. In the Atacama desert are races cars solar Atacama Solar Race.