The Copiapó River Valley, Atacama Region (Chile)

Los Loros: p. 1 | p. 2

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Los Loros (means "the parrots") has about 1800 inhabitants and belongs to the commune Tierra Amarilla (Atacama region). It is located in the interior of the Copiapó Valley, 62 kilometers away from the capital of the Atacama Region, Copiapó.

Informative table:
Location: Los Loros, Region of Atacama
Comuna Tierra Amarilla, Province of Copiap
UTM: E390.775 / N69.21.021
Altitude: 956 m
Distance to Copiapó: 62,3 km (road)

According to Espinoza (1895) "Loros", as Los Loros used to be called, had 534 inhabitants this year. Los Loros in the beginning was the center of Mineras Lomas Bayas and Cerro Blanco. But with the increase in production at both mines, the roads to Los Loros were no longer in use. Cerro Blanco was connected by Yerbas Buenas / Carrizal Bajo and Lomas Bayas by the Quebrada Carrizalillo. To this day, the steep flanks of the Copiapó valley mark a morphological obstacle.
The Los Loros sector kept the agriculture and some small mining plants. Many historical publications highlight the high fertility of the sector. It is also mentioned that the railroad had an extremely agricultural use.
The historic role of the Copiapó Valley as a main road from and to Argentina must also be highlighted, there is a significant amount of traffic and towns such as Los Loros were places to rest or spend the night.