Sources for the Study of the Italian Immigration in Tarapacá, 1860-1940

Abstract

In this article we will examine certain sources for the study of Italian immigration in the Province of Tarapaca, according to Peruvian and Chilean census records, and the parish and civil registers of the Province of Tarapaca. Additionally we also examine the vice-consular registers and the manuscript sources of the Italian societies founded in the harbour of Iquique. We will discuss also the possibilities and problems that these sources present, proposing certain methods and concepts of anthropology and sociology which will help to explain certain activities ands behaviours of these immigrants.