Coquimbo

Coquimbo exists because the sky is clear. Located approximately 400 kilometers north of Santiago, this region's mountainous terrain and absence of light pollution created the conditions for humanity to see the universe more clearly than anywhere else on Earth. ESO's La Silla Observatory inaugurated in the 1960s was just the beginning—now AURA Observatory operates over 20 telescopes with a $150 million annual budget, 80% of workers in Coquimbo Region. The Vera C. Rubin telescope currently under construction on Cerro Pachón will house the world's largest digital camera. ESO alone invests 23 billion Chilean pesos annually, with 60% of their 280+ workers in Coquimbo and Antofagasta. But astronomy is layered onto older extraction: the El Romeral iron mine near La Serena ships through the port of Guayacán, and historically this region produced all of Chile's manganese until 2009. The controversial Dominga iron-copper project threatens the region's ecology while promising jobs—the eternal mining dilemma. Between observatories, Coquimbo has become Chile's astrotourism capital: hotels, restaurants, and guide services have exploded around viewing sites. The region demonstrates niche stacking: mining (iron, cobalt), agriculture (La Serena is known for white-sand beaches and mild climate), and increasingly knowledge-based astronomy employment occupying the same territory for different resources. By 2026, Coquimbo will host telescopes that see the beginning of time while mining companies extract minerals formed at Earth's beginning—parallel extraction of the universe's past.