After the Boundary Treaty of 1866 between the two nations the province was part Bolivia, and was known as the Atacama Department, or the Litoral.

[7] Bolivia still argues that this was a forced takeover of part of a country by a stronger nation.

The province spans an area of 67,813.5 km2 (26,183 sq mi)[2] in the Atacama Desert.

Its area is rich in saline and other mineral deposits with the important Caracoles silver mines about 90 miles (140 km) north-east of the Antofagasta.

As a province, Antofagasta is a second-level administrative division of Chile, which is further subdivided into four communes (comunas).