Antofagasta (help·info) (/antofa'γasta/) is a port city an episcopal see in northern Chile, about 700 miles (1,130 km) north of Santiago. It is the capital of both Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2002 census, it has a municipal population of 296,905 and an urban area population of 318,779. The city's name comes from either a Quechua or Aymara word for "town of the great saltpeter bed."