Iquique could be considered to be an effigy for all Northern Chile. Founded as a Peruvian saltpetre mining town, it was seized by Chile in the War of the Pacific. To say it has historically been a place of poverty would not be telling a complete picture-- the term "poverty" simply does not cut it for the Iquique of yore.

It was no less than Charles Darwin who described it as a town "very much in want of everyday necessities, such as water and firewood