Peruvian Pisagua
Department of Moquegua to 1865
During pre-Hispanic times, the bay where it is located Pisagua was inhabited by Aboriginal people monkey , now extinct, who were nomadic gatherers.
Pisagua originated from a coastal settlement established by Peruvian mestizos from Arica and other locations in southern Peru, near the mouth of the Quebrada de Tana or Cami�a during the seventeenth century .
Riso Patron Francisco, says, in his Gazetteer of the Provinces of Tacna and Tarapaca , that the name corresponds to a Quechua word that means, place of scarce water : Pisi - sparse, gua - water.
A strong earthquake destroyed the town early on March 30, 1828 and led to the evacuation of the people to their current settlement.Today, that place is called Old Pisagua .
With the independence of Peru's domain Spain on July 28 of 1821 , the region formed the Department of Arequipa , then the Department of Moquegua in 1857 , finally incorporated as a district of the new Department of Tarapac� in 1878.
During the first half of the nineteenth century, its people were attracted by its deposits of guano , which were exploited Chinese labor, also called coolies . By then, Pisagua had become an important town in southern Peru, despite the strong tsunami 5 of August 13, 1868, that destroyed the town, in June the same way that affected the Peruvian port of Arica.
When the War of the Pacific, its main economic activity was mining, embarking nitrate and iodine outside. For this, by decree of June 20, 1870, had been declared a major port by the Government of Peru. 7
Nitrate was exploited in so-called saltpeter , located about 60 km. rail, in the desert plains of the interior, which had begun to be populated with the development of the industry. For this, he had built a railway line of 56 km., Linking them to the coast. 8
It is pertinent to note that it was in the Peruvian Pisagua District where he started
