Arica and Parinacota Region

See other Chilean regions
Capital	Arica
Provinces	Arica Parinacota
Area   - Total	Ranked 12th 16,873.3 km²
Population   - 2002 Census   - Density	Ranked 13 189,644 11.24 /km²

The region and its two provinces, Arica and Parinacota.

The XV Arica and Parinacota Region (Spanish: XV Región de Arica y Parinacota) is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Arica. It is also the country's newest region, becoming operational on October 8, 2007. It was created by subdividing the Tarapacá Region and consists of two provinces: Arica and Parinacota. Tarapacá was a former Peruvian province, which was annexed by Chile under the 1883 Treaty of Ancón at the close of the War of the Pacific.

[edit] Border dispute with Peru

On January 26, 2007, Peru’s government issued a protest against Chile’s demarcation of the coastal frontier the two countries share. According to the Peruvian Foreign Ministry, the Chilean legislatures had endorsed a plan regarding the Arica and Parinacota region which did not comply with the current established territorial demarcation. Moreover, it is alleged that the proposed Chilean law included an assertion of sovereignty over 19,000 sq. meters of land in Peru's Tacna Region. According to the Peruvian Foreign Ministry, Chile has defined a new region "without respecting the Concordia demarcation."^{[citation needed]}

The Chilean deputies and senators that approved the law said they didn't notice this error.^{[citation needed]} For its part, the Chilean government has asserted that the region in dispute is not a coastal site named Concordia, but instead refers to boundary stone No. 1, which is located to the northeast and 200 meters inland.^[1] A possible border dispute was averted when the Chilean Constitutional Court formally ruled on January 26, 2007 against the legislation. While agreeing with the court's ruling, the Chilean government reiterated its stance that the maritime borders between the two nations were not in question and have been formally recognized by the international community. [3]. The Peruvian government has stated that it might turn to the international court at The Hague to solve the dispute.^[2]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ley Nº 20.175 (Law creating the region, in Spanish)
• Constitutional Court sentence (in Spanish)

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Coordinates: 18°28′30″S 70°18′52″W / 18.475°S 70.31444°W / -18.475; -70.31444