Atacama DesertAtacama Desert, Chile.(more)2 of 2Learn about how the fog in the Atacama Desert of Chile irrigates Chañaral provinceIn the Atacama Desert of Chile, fresh water is extracted from fog and used to irrigate crops of Aloe vera in Chañaral province.(more)See all videos for this articleThe Atacama Desert forms part of the arid Pacific fringe of . Dry subsidence created by the South Pacific high-pressure cell makes the desert one of the driest regions in the world. Along the coast the aridity is also a consequence of the , which is characterized by upwelling (the upward movement of cold water from the depths of the ); the resulting cold water at the surface causes a thermal inversion—cold air at and stable warmer air higher up. This condition produces and stratus clouds but no rain. Rains fall in or only when powerful southern fronts break into the subsidence area. Temperatures in the desert are relatively low compared with those in similar latitudes elsewhere. The average summer temperature at Iquique is only 66 °F (19 °C) and at 65 °F (18 °C).The original inhabitants of the region were , an extinct Indian culture, different from the Aymara to the north and the Diaguita to the south. For much of the 19th century, the desert was the object of conflicts among Chile, Bolivia, and Peru because of its resources, particularly deposits located northeast of Antofagasta and inland from Iquique. Much of the area originally belonged to Bolivia and Peru, but the mining industry was controlled by Chilean and British interests, which were strongly supported by the Chilean government. From the (1879–83), Chile emerged victorious. The (1883) gave Chile permanent ownership of sectors previously controlled by Peru and Bolivia, the latter losing its whole Pacific coastline.The area proved to be one of the chief sources of Chile’s wealth until . Nitrate deposits in the central depression and in several basins of the coastal range were systematically mined after the mid-19th century. Ports were built at Iquique, Caldera, Antofagasta, Taltal, Tocopilla, Mejillones, and, farther north, Pisagua, and penetrated the mountain barriers to the interior. Prior to World War I, Chile had a world on nitrate; in some years 3,000,000 tons were extracted, and the taxes on its export amounted to half the government’s revenues. The development of synthetic methods of have since reduced the market to a regional one. Some is still mined in the high Cordillera. The region’s chief source of revenue, however, is mining at in the basin., The Atacama Desert (Spanish: Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau located on the Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile., Squished between the Pacific Ocean and Andes Mountains in northern Chile, the Atacama Desert is one of South America’s most beguiling landscapes..