Coyhaique (), also spelled Coihaique in

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

, is the capital

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of both the Coyhaique Province and the

Aysén Region The Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region ( es, Región de Aysén, , '), often shortened to Aysén Region or Aisén,Examples of name usage1, official regional government site refers to the region as "Región de Aysén"., Chile's of ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Founded by settlers in 1929, it is a young city. Until the twentieth century, Chile showed little interest in exploiting the remote Aisén region. The

Carretera Austral The Carretera Austral (CH-7, ''in English: Southern Way'') is the name given to Chile's Route 7. The highway runs south for about from Puerto Montt to Villa O'Higgins, passing through rural Patagonia. Carretera Austral provides road access ...

southern highway opened in the 1980s.

Geography and climate

The commune of Coyhaique spans an area of . It is surrounded by rivers (Simpson and Coyhaique) and by mountains. The mountains may be snow-covered throughout the year, thus Coihaique is sometimes called the city of eternal snow. Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Coyhaique has an oceanic climate (''Cfb''), though it is considerably less wet than coastal settlements like Puerto Montt or

Puerto Aysén Puerto Aysén is a city of Chile located in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region, above the head of Aisén Fjord in the country's extreme south. Puerto Aisén, which is the capital city of both the Aysén Province and the co ...

since the coastal mountains provide considerable shielding from the westerly winds. Temperatures are moderate during the months of November through April, while from May until October, temperatures are chilly and accompanied by the possibility of snowfall.

Demographics

According to the 2002

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of the

National Statistics Institute National Institute of Statistics may refer to: *National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia *National Institute of Statistics of Cambodia *National Institute of Statistics and Census of Costa Rica *National Institute of Statistics and Census of Nica ...

, Coyhaique has 50,041 inhabitants (25,453 men and 24,588 women). Of these, 44,850 (89.6%) lived in

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

s and 5,191 (10.4%) in

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descr ...

s. The population grew by 15.6% (6,744 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Coyhaique is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2012-2016 alcalde is Alejandro Huala Canumán ( PS). He was preceded by Omar Muñoz Sierra (

UDI Udi may refer to: Places * Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria * Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India People * Udi Gal (born 1979), Israeli Olympic sailor * Udi Vaks (born 1979), Israeli Olympic judoka ...

) from 2008 to 2012 and David Sandoval Plaza (also UDI), who served from 2000 to 2008. Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Coyhaique is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by René Alinco ( PDC) and the former mayor David Sandoval as part of the 59th electoral district, which includes the entire

. The commune is represented in the Senate by Antonio Horvath Kiss ( RN) and Patricio Walker Prieto (PDC) as part of the 18th senatorial constituency (Aysén Region).

Society and culture

The town square is laid out in the shape of a pentagon in honor of the ''Carabineros'', the national police force. A ''Carabinero'' general was one of the town's founders. Novelist and poet, Ivonne Coñuecar, is from Coyhaique and was awarded the Santiago Municipal Literature Award in 2019.

Transport and tourism

Travellers arrive by air through the local airport, by sea through ships that dock at

Puerto Chacabuco Puerto Chacabuco is a Chilean town in Aisén commune. Administratively it belongs to Aysén Province in Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region and is located at the head of Aisén Fjord. It is the main port of the region, a port of ...

(near

, about one hour to the west of Coyhaique), and by road. Two border crossings near Coyhaique allow entry into Argentina. Fly fishing is popular along its rivers and lakes. LAN has three daily flights from

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

to Balmaceda Airport, located from Coyhaique. Other airlines also provide services. Connections from Balmaceda airport to points further south in Chile will often require a connection in Puerto Montt. Its sole ski resort, ''El Fraile'', provides two ski lifts and a couple of tracks but no on-site lodging. ;Hotspots * Simpson and Coyhaique Rivers, well known for fly fishing * Piedra del Indio, an Indian-shaped rock besides the Simpson River * Happy Stone, a large rock in the middle of a plain where young people go to party

Pollution

A 2018 study by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

(WHO) looking at 4,357 cities in 108 countries worldwide showed Coyhaique to have the worst air quality in the Americas and ranked it 139th unhealthiest in the world. This is mostly due to wood smoke from fires the residents light for warmth in the winter months of June and July. Because the city is located between two mountainous ridges, the smoke cannot be dispersed down the valley and away and heat inversion compresses it into a dense cloud of smoke. In May 2016, the Chilean government also declared Coyhaique “saturated” by harmful fine particles (PM2.5) which are linked to cardiopulmonary diseases and lung cancer.

References

External links

Coyhaique's city hall website

Patagonia House
Bed and Breakfast
Salvaje Corazon
Tour Guides {{Authority control Ski areas and resorts in Chile Communes of Chile Capitals of Chilean regions Capitals of Chilean provinces Populated places established in 1929 Populated places in Coyhaique Province 1929 establishments in Chile