Pisagua is one of the most historic ports in northern Chile. Originally founded in 1611, it was moved to its current location in 1836 and became one of the most important ports in the region in the 19th century, mainly exporting guano and then nitrates from the nearby desert plains. Its fortunes declined dramatically with the end of the nitrate mining boom in the 1930s and by the 1950s it had been pretty much abandoned. Nowadays it has a population of only a few hundred.