North Chile Highlights
Norte Grande features the Pacific Ocean, the starkly desolate but unique Atacama Desert with its deeply incised canyons, and the Andean altiplano (steppe) with its volcanic summits. The region's great mineral wealth has given it a special role in Chilean history; most cities in the Atacama, such as Iquique and Antofagasta, owe their existence to nitrates and copper.
The Atacama is the most "perfect" of deserts; some coastal stations have never recorded measurable rainfall, although infrequent "El Niño" events can bring brief but phenomenal downpours in other places.
Plan Your Trip
Top North Chile Attractions
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Visiting Chile’s El Tatio Geysers
March 2013
February 2012
December 2011
