Well attestedNamed for a product of the place
Chile saltpeter
noun · first attested 19th century
A desert where it almost never rains once held the world's nitrate supply.
Naturally occurring sodium nitrate, used as fertilizer and in explosives.
Record
- Relationship
- Named for a product of the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 19th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Chile
- In English
Chile saltpeter
The Atacama nitrate fields made Chile rich, drew British capital, and helped set off the War of the Pacific against Peru and Bolivia in 1879. Synthetic ammonia from the Haber-Bosch process collapsed the trade within a generation, leaving ghost towns strung across the desert.
Also pinned to Chile
1 more from the same place
Chile
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