Demography
Mining and agricultural activities account for the location of various places in the region, around the transverse valleys and mineral deposits. Originally this organization was structured according to the location of Indian villages of the Diaguitas. A high percentage (70-75%) of inhabitants are of Mestizo (Euro-Amerindian) background, higher than any other region in Chile. Other indigenous peoples include the Aymara, Atacameno, Mapuche and Quechua whom were immigrants themselves from Peru and Bolivia.
Some substantial immigration from Europe (a good number were Basques and Andalusians from Spain, with Croats, Greeks, Italians, and of Occitan-French and Galician/Portuguese descent), the Middle East (esp. Palestinians), other Latin American nations, North Americans (about tens of thousands claimed Cherokee ancestry from displaced persons from Indian Territory in the USA in the 1880s) and East Asians (mostly Chinese and Koreans) taken place in the Coquimbo region. In the late 19th and 20th century, a mass migration of Chileans from the Central Valley of Chile transformed the once culturally isolated and rural agrarian part of the country to fulfilled economic development goals.
Recent high population growth stresses the conurbation La Serena-Coquimbo (est. 300,000 or 297.253 inhab.), which concentrates half the regional population. In terms of population, major cities are (as of 2002 census): La Serena (148.815 inhab.) Coquimbo (148.438 inhab.) Ovalle (66.405 hab.) Illapel (21.826 hab.) Vicuña ( 12.910 hab.) Salamanca (11.615 hab.) and Los Vilos (10.966 hab.).
Read more about this topic: Coquimbo Region