Valparaíso Region

Valparaíso Region
V Región de Valparaíso
Region of Chile
Flag of Valparaíso Region
Flag
Coat of Arms of Valparaíso Region
Coat of arms

Map of Valparaíso Region
Country  Chile
Capital Valparaíso
Provinces Petorca, Los Andes, San Felipe de Aconcagua, Quillota, Quilpué, Valparaíso, San Antonio,  Isla de Pascua
Government
  Intendant Gabriel Aldoney (PS)
Area[1]
  Total 16,396.1 km2 (6,330.6 sq mi)
Area rank 13
Lowest elevation 0 m (0 ft)
Population (2012 census)[1]
  Total 1,697,581
  Rank 3
  Density 100/km2 (270/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code CL-VS
Website Official website (Spanish)
Hills in Valparaiso.
Valparaíso.
Viña del Mar.
Playa de Reñaca.
The Mohais of Easter Island.

The V Valparaíso Region (Spanish pronunciation: [balpaɾaˈiso], Spanish: V Región de Valparaíso) is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions.[FN 1] With the country's third highest population of 1,539,852 million in 2002 and third smallest area of 16,396.1 km2 (6,331 sq mi), the region is Chile's second most densely populated after the Santiago Metropolitan Region to the southeast.[1]

Its capital is the port city of Valparaíso, other important cities include Viña del Mar, Quillota, Quilpué and Villa Alemana.

Geography and natural features

The region is on the same latitude as the Santiago Metropolitan Region. Its capital is Valparaíso, which is the site for the National Congress of Chile and an important commercial port. Also in this region is the top resort city of Viña del Mar. Additionally, the Pacific islands of Easter Island (Isla de Pascua), Isla Salas y Gómez, the Juan Fernández Islands and the Desventuradas Islands fall under the Valparaíso Region's administration.

The Valparaíso Region is part of the very restricted range of the endangered Chilean Wine Palm, Jubaea chilensis; in prehistoric times this endemic Chilean tree had a significantly larger range.[FN 2]

Demographics

The Region of Valparaíso is populated by some 1.71 million inhabitants. The population density reached 94.1 inhabitants/km². 91.6% of the population lives in urban areas and only 8.4% of the population lives in rural areas.

The most populous municipalities in the region are Valparaíso, with 308,000 inhabitants Viña del Mar, with 287,000 inhabitants, which together with Villa Alemana, Quilpué and Concón form the Gran Valparaíso a continuum of 1.75 million people. There are also Quillota, with about 201,000 inhabitants and San Antonio with more than 200,000 inhabitants with estimates at 250,000 to be the region's second largest city . Soon will be added as a city with large population: the planned city of El Communa del Andes since they will be brought more than 40,000 miners required for the expansion of the mine Codelco Chile Andina Division on the foot of the Andes mountains.

Immigration and culture

Valparaíso developed as a trans-oceanic rest stop for fishing ships, sea cruise-liners and international naval ships. Therefore, a large proportion of residents have a variety of national origins, ethnic groups and cultures. The 16th-century foundation were by settlers of Andalusia, Asturia and León regions, and the most numerous Basque people of northern Spain. Large numbers came from other countries of Latin America from Mexico to Uruguay, esp. came during colonial rule in the 17th century. And in the late 18th–early 19th centuries came a small wave of Galician settlers from the Spanish region of Galiza.

It is thought the majority of Valparaíso's people have non-Spanish European background, such as: British and Irish, Australians and New Zealanders, North Americans (U.S. or Canadian), Croats and Bosnians, Dutch and Belgians, French, Germans, Greeks, Italians, Portuguese and Scandinavians. Also are the Middle Eastern peoples such as Lebanese, Syrians and a fairly large to its size a Palestinian community in the town of La Calera.

In racial terms, the plural majority of Valparaíso's people are mestizo but are commonly called castizos are largely white Caucasian who are distantly descendants of Mapuche, Inca, Aymara and North American Indian descent (transplanted Cherokees are reported to come in the late 19th century, though it could well be a myth). Smaller numbers of East Asians mostly Chinese, Japanese or Korean, minuscule Afro-Chileans, and Rapa Nui of Easter Island are included in a diverse yet melting pot as a common culture unites them as Chileans.

Economics and industry

The Valparaíso region is host of agricultural lands, wine producers, and industrial activity such as copper mining and cement. Chile's largest oil refinery is located in Concón (on the mouth of the Aconcagua River and about 20 km north of Valparaíso) and there are two important copper ore refineries: the state owned Ventanas (on the coast and north of Concón) and the private works in Chagres, about 55 miles (90 km) inland.

The region also is a hub for chemicals and gas storage near the port of Quintero. In the interior valleys there is a booming export industry mainly around the avocado (palta), chirimoyas and flowers as the most important products. The most striking recent development has been the cultivation of hill sides using high tech drip feed irrigation. This has allowed otherwise dry and unproductive land to bear high yields.

Provinces and communes

Region Province Commune Area
(km²)[2][3]
2002[2][3]
Population
Website[4]
Valparaíso
(V)
Isla de Pascua
Isla de Pascua 164 3,791 link
Los Andes
San Esteban 1,362 14,400 link
Rinconada 123 6,692 link
Los Andes 1,248 60,198 link
Calle Larga 322 10,393 link
Marga Marga
Villa Alemana 97 95,623 link
Quilpué 537 128,578 link
Limache 294 39,219 link
Petorca
Zapallar 288 5,659 link
Petorca 1,517 9,440 link
Papudo 166 4,608 link
La Ligua 1,163 31,987 link
Cabildo 1,455 18,916 link
Quillota
Quillota 302 75,916 link
Olmué 232 14,105 link
Nogales 405 21,633 link
La Cruz 78 12,851 link
La Calera 61 49,503 link
Hijuelas 267 16,014 link
San Antonio
Santo Domingo 536 7,418 link
San Antonio 405 87,205 link
El Tabo 99 7,028 link
El Quisco 51 9,467 link
Cartagena 346 16,875 link
Algarrobo 176 8,601 link
San Felipe
Santa María 166 12,813 link
San Felipe 186 64,126 link
Putaendo 1,474 14,649 link
Panquehue 122 6,567 link
Llaillay 349 21,644 link
Catemu 362 12,112 link
Valparaíso
Viña del Mar 122 286,931 link
Valparaíso 402 275,982 link
Quintero 148 21,174 link
Puchuncaví 300 12,954 link
Concón 76 32,273 link
Casablanca 953 21,874 link
Juan Fernández 148 633 link

References

Line notes

  1. Valparaíso Region, 2006
  2. C. Michael Hogan, 2008

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 "Valparaíso Region". Government of Chile Foreign Investment Committee. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  2. 1 2 "National Statistics Institute" (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 December 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Territorial division of Chile" (PDF). Retrieved 30 December 2010.
  4. "Asociacion Chilena de Municipalidades" (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 February 2011.

Coordinates: 33°3′47″S 71°38′22″W / 33.06306°S 71.63944°W / -33.06306; -71.63944

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.