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Tongoy is a Chilean coastal town in the commune of Coquimbo in Elqui Province, Coquimbo Region. It is located to the south of Chile's second oldest city, La Serena, next to the spa of Guanaqueros, on a rocky promontory opposite the Pacific Ocean, between the beaches of ''Socos'' (4 km) and ''Grande'' (26 km), to the north of the Talinay Mountain range. Tongoy's geographical coordinates are and, according to a 2002 census conducted by the National Statistics Institute, has a population of 4,435 inhabitants. Tongoy's residential areas are divided into two areas: the ''Peninsula'', a zone of summer houses, called popularly "''La Isla''" ("''The Island''") and the ''Pueblo Bajo'' (''Low Village''), where the majority of permanent inhabitants reside. Tongoy's most famous former resident is the late poet Víctor Domingo Silva, referred to as "''el poeta nacional''" ("the national poet"). The house where he was born and lived is situated opposite the former local school. A large public park named after Silva, is located in the highest area of the peninsula. The park offers a good vantage point from which to view the bay and surrounding areas. ==History== The town's name comes from the word Tongoy which in Mapudungún means "hammer strikes". The first inhabitants of the Tongoy area were the Diaguitas and the Changos. Over many years the Diaguitas exploited the rich copper deposits of the region, mining, making tools and all manner of implements from the metal. They also were industrious farmers and developed agriculture throughout the territory. The Changos, by contrast, were a nomadic fishing culture making their living from the ocean in distinctive rafts made with sea lion leather stretched over a wooden platform, which could transport anywhere between one to four sailors. The Changos fished exclusively with bone harpoons which they moored to their bodies with leather cords. Until the mid-1970s it was possible to find arrowheads and other artifacts of indigenous pottery; specially in the contiguous dunes of ''Playa Grande'' ("Great Beach"), in the direction of Puerto Aldea ("Aldea Port"). During colonial times, the Bay of Tongoy was place of welcome for hundreds of small fishermen, whaling privateers and, a place to anchor before or after passing the port of Coquimbo. Historical documents record that in 1687 the area was host to a battle between La Serena's militia against a group of disembarked buccaneers who attempted to conquer the town. Legend has it that the area was a possible interment site of Francis Drake's mythical treasure. In 1835, the captain of the British Navy, Robert FitzRoy, commanding the H.M.S. Beagle, made a complete survey of the bay. Tongoy was an important port during the height of copper production from the mine of Tamaya, an ancient mine located 25 km to the north of the city of Ovalle, near the slopes of the Andes mountain range. On November 21, 1839, Chile's then President, José Joaquín Prieto Vial decreed the port a ''puerto habilitado'' (qualified port). The following year, in 1840, regular shipments of copper and other minerals from the cove began to the provinces of Combarbalá and Limarí. In 1850, under the auspices of Jose Tomás Urmeneta, a wealthy Chilean industrialist, Tongoy was provided with a railroad to bring mineral ore from outlying areas. During this same period, construction of a ships' wharf was initiated, as well as the construction of a large smelting oven by Enrique Barnes to extract copper from chalcopyrite ore. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tongoy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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