Chile’s 15th Region Inland from Arica

There is not much to write about in the 15th Region of Chile (called Region de Arica y Parinacota) outside of Arica, other than scenery: Allane Canyon and the Tacora volcano, desert routes (both of these image-filled entires should be read along with this present one) are both spectacular, along with Lago Chungará and other flamingo-filled lakes, geysers and altiplano wildlife, and some Indian (Aymara) villages. Outside of the Arica area, there is not much population. The next largest town, mainly made up of indigenous people, Putre, has only 1,462 inhabitants. San Miguel de Azapa, which is basically part of the Arica “metropolitan” area, has 862. Other “significant” Indian towns in teh 15th Region, printed on some maps with misleadingly large or bold letters, have very few people. Visviri boasts of only 265 inhabitants, all the villages around Tacora sum to 104, Codpa has 159, Cuya has 64, Chapiquiña has 56, Belén has 51, Caleta de Camarones has 46, Camarones