A very commercially active city, it is located only 35 km (22 mi) north of the border with Arica y Parinacota Region from Chile, inland from the Pacific Ocean and in the valley of the Caplina River.

The city has gained a reputation for its patriotism, with many monuments and streets named after heroes of Peru's struggle for independence (1821–1824) and the War of the Pacific (1879–1883).

[6][5] During the war, the Tacna—as well as neighbouring Arica—was administered by the Chilean Army and incorporated as a commune that served as the seat of the eponymous department and province.

Under the terms of the treaty, Chile was to administer the provinces of Tacna and Arica for ten years, taking control of valuable mineral deposits, after which a plebiscite was to be held to determine the region's sovereignty.

But when the ten years had elapsed, the two sides could not agree whether to include a large number of imported Chilean laborers in the vote.

8,583 published that 28 January under the government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, the commune of Tacna was composed of three subdelegations: Intendencia, Comercio and Pocollay.

[10] In 1929, the Treaty of Lima was signed in which Chile kept Arica, whilst Peru reacquired Tacna and received a $6 million indemnity and other concessions.

The commune ceased to exist when the treaty became effective on 28 August,[11] in a ceremony held at the home of the prefect Federico Fernandini, in which an agreement was signed between the interim mayor of the Chilean province of Tacna, Gonzalo Robles, and a delegation of Peru headed by Foreign Minister Pedro José Rada y Gamio.

Other monuments include a neo-renaissance Cathedral, the Courthouse, the Alameda Bolognesi and the caves of Toquepala, where archaeologists have found some of the oldest human remains in Peru.