The War of the Pacific

70,000

estimated total dead

Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.

Military Dead

55,000 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.

Chile — 15,000 military dead

Peru & Bolivia — 40,000 military dead

Civilian Dead

15,000 civilians killed — from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.

Civilian dead — 15,000

Deadliest Engagements

Battle of Chorrillos13,000

incl. 2,000 civilians

Battle of Tacna7,000

Battle of Miraflores7,000

incl. 1,000 civilians

Battle of Arica3,000

Battle of San Francisco2,500

Battle of Tarapacá1,500

Battle of Huamachuco1,500

Battle of Pisagua1,300

incl. 100 civilians

For Perspective

How War of the Pacific's dead compare to other conflicts and events.

War of the Pacific — total dead70,000

Combined dead/wounded at Chorrillos11,000

Allied casualties at Tacna7,000

Miles of coastline lost by Bolivia400

Total military dead, all sides (est.)55,000

Milestones of Loss

7,000 dead

Tacna's defeat effectively ended Bolivia's participation in the war — after it, Bolivia never again put an army in the field.

11,000 dead

Chorrillos was the war's bloodiest battle; the sack and burning of the town afterward killed civilians and left lasting bitterness between Chile and Peru.

55,000 dead

Casualty figures for the war are uncertain estimates; many deaths came from disease and the brutal conditions of desert and high-altitude campaigning as much as from combat.

All figures are historical estimates and vary across sources. The true human cost of war is impossible to fully quantify — these numbers represent the best scholarly consensus. Each number was a person with a name, a family, and a life unlived.