Mining, economic crises and migratory flows in southern Atacama: Taltal (Chile), 1870-1950

Abstract

The article examines the relationship between economic crises and migratory flows in Taltal and its hinterland in the period of boom and bust in mining production in the district. Emphasis is placed on the economic crises of the 1920s and their impact on the saltpetre industry, especially in the 1929 crisis, by
analysing the population in its interregional and intraregional dimensions, under the hypothesis that this period was terminal, meaning the population decline of the department of Taltal, the depopulation of the pampa and the closure or dismantling of 13 offices after 1930, remaining in operation 3 to 4 of
sporadic form and great interruptions, that implied the sale and later gradual dismantling of the extensive network of The Taltal Railway Company.