Litoral Department

Department of the Litoral
Departamento del Litoral
Department of the Litoral Departamento del Litoral
Department of Bolivia
1825–1888
	Flag
	; The Litoral Department in 1894
Capital	Cobija (1867-1875); Antofagasta (1875-1879)
Demonym	Litorense
Area
• 1879	154,393 km2 (59,611 sq mi)
Population
• 1879	15,000
History
Historical era	19th Century
• Creation of the Atacama Department	29 January 1825
• Reorganized as the Litoral Province	1829
• Reorganized as the Litoral District	1839
• Reorganized as the Litoral Department	2 January 1867
• War of the Pacific	1888
• Creation of Antofagasta Province	1888
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Potosí Department
Antofagasta Province
Today part of	Chile

The Department of the Litoral, commonly known as the Bolivian coast, was the description of the extent of the Pacific coast of the Atacama Desert included in the territory of Bolivia from its inception in 1825 until 1879, when it was lost to Chile.

Background[]

When Bolivia emerged in 1825 as an independent state, these territories were part of the Bolivian Potosí Department. During the government of Andrés de Santa Cruz, the territories were established as the Department of the Litoral.

The main towns on the Pacific coast, from north to south, were Tocopilla, Cobija, Mejillones and Antofagasta.

The port of Paposo was taken from the colony as the capital of the coast Atacameño. After it consolidated its independence, Chile executed various acts of sovereignty on the northern desert coast. It established its territory throughout the coast to the mouth of the River Loa, forming a border with Peru. Chile would have expanded more, but this was prevented by Bolivia establishing the city of Cobija.

Treaties[]

Borders before the war

The treaty of 1866 established the border between the two States on the parallel 24°, creating an area of common interests between 23 and 25 degrees south latitude.^{[clarification needed]}

The treaty of 1874, which established the final boundary between the two nations the parallel 24°, provided that for a period of 25 years, new taxes shall not be imposed on the Chilean people and companies based in the area.^{[clarification needed]}

Chile was willing to move down the coast from the desert to allow Bolivia a sovereign outlet to the ocean, under the conditions seen before. This eliminated the area of common interest from the treaty of 1866.

Bolivia and Peru, bound by a secret treaty of defensive alliance since 1873 (one year before the border treaty with Chile), were defeated by Chile in the War of the Pacific which lasted until 1884, losing the Bolivian coast and Peruvian department Tarapacá. Though the coast was a valuable source of saltpeter, it was not the cause.^{[clarification needed]}

Claim[]

Since then, Bolivia retains the policy of a territorial claim of a sovereign outlet to the Pacific Ocean. As part of this policy, the national coat of arms shows 10 stars: the 9 current departments and the tenth representing the former Litoral Department.

The internal communications of the armed forces carried the slogan in the footnotes: "The sea is ours by right. To recover it is a duty." (in Spanish, "El mar es nuestro por derecho, recuperarlo es un deber").

Día del Mar is celebrated annually in Bolivia. During the week long event, Bolivia reasserts their claim to their lost territory; some of the celebrations contain Chilenophobic statements.

Notes[]

^ From the Mapa Elemental de Bolivia, 1894.

References[]

[1] From the Mapa Elemental de Bolivia, 1894.

[a]