area is located in the north of the city, where they have installed multiple operating centers of different companies, mainly along the "Pedro Aguirre Cerda Avenue." Trade is concentrated mainly in the center of Antofagasta, around the Plaza Colón, where there are installed within the last 2 decades several national retail chains. Moreover, in different parts of the city have set up large supermarket chains like "Líder", "Tottus", "Unimarc", "Santa Isabel" and "Jumbo". Recently in 2006, were also installed, the national chain " Mall Plaza" in the coastal area and the "Casino Enjoy Antofagasta" in the south of the city. Business Tourism Because of the important administrative position of Antofagasta in the region, the historical relationship with the mining sector, and the production of the 54% of copper at the national level. Events are held annually with the assistance of several mining countries of the world, and one of the most important is "EXPONOR" organized by the "Asociación de Industriales Antofagasta", guild formed by the major copper producers in the region. Exponor is a show that promotes the gestation of chains, new business and exchanging knowledge and experiences among entrepreneurs from different countries of the world. This important trade fair generated a portfolio of U.S. $41,291 million (63.48% world total), for the period 2007–2015. Cost of living This city is considered the most expensive to live in Chile, next to Santiago and Punta Arenas. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Antofagasta had 296,905 inhabitants spread over an area of , of which 143,685 are women and 153,220 were men. In the commune, 295,792 (99.6%) lived in urban areas and 1,113 (0.4%) in rural areas. The population grew by 30.0% (68,497 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. A 2009 population projection by the National Institute of Statistics of Chile says the city has an estimated population of 360,473 inhabitants. Experts have estimated that in the next 10 years the city will reach 500,000 inhabitants. Education The city has several public and private educational universities. Two major traditional universities, one that is public, University of Antofagasta, and other private, Catholic University of the North. Several private autonomous universities have been open since 2002. Previously, the now-defunct "University José Santos Ossa" was the only private autonomous university in Antofagasta. Although the public schools are distributed almost uniformly throughout the city, the private schools operate mainly in the