The province of Tarata is one of the four that make up the department of Tacna in southern Peru. It limits to the North with the province of Candarave and the province of El Collao, to the East with Bolivia, to the South and to the West with the province of Tacna. Its capital is the city of Tarata. Its pre-Hispanic history is linked to the peoples of the Collao plateau. In its republican stage the province was occupied by the Chilean army during the War of the Pacific and remained under Chilean administration until September 1,1925 when it was returned to Peru thanks to the award of Calvin Coolidge, president of the United States.
The inter-Andean valleys, the puna and the Barroso mountain range of volcanic origin stand out in its geography. The most widespread traditional festivities in the province are the carnivals and the Fiesta de las Cruces, as well as the patron saint festivities of each district. The customs in the province can be mestizas and indigenous, in this last case the mythology and the Aymara rites mixed with the catholic iconography predominate.