"¿Pertenece a Chile?". Civilización y desierto, rentismo y subordinación: La formación del territorio nacional en el extremo sur del Perú (Tarapacá 1827-1877)

We reviewed and analyzed the political project of the Peruvian State of making Tarapacá -the southernmost province of the country during the XIX century- an integral part of the National territory. Under this perspective, attention has been paid not only to the georeferencing and cultural categories of civilization and desert displayed by the expeditions of Bollaert and Raimondi (respectively ordered by the sub-prefect Ramón Castilla and the president José Rufino Echenique) but also to the characteristics of subordination and rentierism used by the political and administrative apparatus to asymmetrically articulate the State-Region relationship.