Tarata Department (Chile)

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Tarata Departament Departamento de Tarata
Department of Chile
Flag
Tarata Department within Tacna Province
Capital	Tarata
Area
• Coordinates	17°28′28.67″S 70°1′57″W / 17.4746306°S 70.03250°W / -17.4746306; -70.03250
History
Historical era	Aftermath of the War of the Pacific
• Treaty of Ancón	20 October 1883
• Established	1911
• Abolished	1921
• Return to Peru	1 September 1925
Subdivisions
• Type	Communes
• Units	Tarata
Preceded by Succeeded by Tacna Department Tacna Department
Today part of	Peru

The Tarata Department was a territorial division of Chile that existed between 1911 and 1921. Its territory comprised some controversial territory east of Sama River.

History[]

In 1885, Chile integrated Tarata into the Tacna Department of Tacna Province, becoming in 1911 the Tarata Department, as the Chilean government argued the town was to the east of the Sama river. Peru, however, did not recognize this annexation on the grounds that the territory was completely unaffected by the Treaty of Ancón.^[1][2][3][4] Around this time, raids by Peruvian smugglers as well as soldiers took place in the region,^{[5][6][7][8][9]} and there were also claims of military escalation, including claims of Peruvian troops mobilizing near the Chilean border, which were denied by the Peruvian government.^[10][11][12] In 1921, however, Chile abolished the department, and in 1925 gave back the city to Peru^[13][14] under the mediation of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, who enforced the limits agreed upon on the north, which did not include the city. Coolidge showed himself to be in favor of the Peruvian claims on several occasions during the duration of the dispute, more so than other heads of state.^[15] Around the same time, a commission, headed by U.S. General John J. Pershing arrived to assist with the planned Tacna-Arica plebiscite, which eventually would never take place.^[16][17]

Administration[]

The Municipality of Tacna oversaw the administration of the department of Tacna, including Tarata, with its headquarters located in Tacna, where the Departmental Government, and the Provincial Intendancy were located.

With the Decree of Creation of Municipalities of December 22, 1891, the following municipalities were created with their headquarters and whose territories are the sub-delegations detailed below:

See also[]

• Treaty of Ancón
• Tacna Province (Chile)

References[]