[3] In July 1835, Charles Darwin, during his voyage on the Beagle, traveled to Iquique and described it as a town "very much in want of everyday necessities, such as water and firewood".

In subsequent years the further exportation of Chilean saltpetre (mainly to European countries) significantly helped in the development of the city, attracting foreigners and rapidly expanding housing projects.

The folk group Quilapayún recorded an album in remembrance of the event (Cantata Santa María de Iquique) in 1970.

[4] Prior to becoming Chilean territory, Iquique was home to some of the greatest Peruvian heroes, namely Alfonso Ugarte (who was elected mayor in 1876), Ramón Zavala, a rich saltpetre entrepreneur; Guillermo Billinghurst, later President of Peru (who after being overthrown in 1914 came to Iquique – then already under Chilean rule – to live out his last years), and Ramón Castilla, thrice president of Peru, who was born in San Lorenzo de Tarapacá and died in the Desert of Tiviliche, Tarapacá, who lived in Iquique during his mandate as Governor of Tarapacá in 1825.

As a commune, Iquique is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years.

Copper mining, mainly in Quebrada Blanca, Cerro Colorado, and Doña Inés de Collahuasí, is also an important industry in Iquique.

According to the 2002 census of National Statistics Institute (INE), the commune of Iquique had an area of 2,835.3 km2 (1,095 sq mi)[2] and 216,419 inhabitants (108,897 men and 107,522 women).

The largest communities are Croatian, Italian, Greek, Chinese, Arabic nationalities, Peruvians and Bolivians, British peoples (i.e. Scots), and the French.

[6] Iquique has an unusually mild to warm desert climate (Köppen: BWh) with low extremes of temperatures all year round and almost no rainfall.

Due to its abundant cloudiness and coastal location, the climate is often abbreviated to BWn, as opposed to the usual BWh or BWk.

[7] It is common for this place to have completely dry years without any precipitation day, making it one of the driest cities in the world, along with Arica.