Talca () is a

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 ...

and commune in Chile located about south of

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 ...

, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile). As of the 2012 census, the city had a population of 201,142. The city is an important economic center, with agricultural (wheat) and manufacturing activities, as well as wine production. It is also the location of the

Universidad de Talca The University of Talca ( es, Universidad de Talca) is a Chilean university located in the cities of Talca, Curicó, Linares, Santa Cruz and Santiago. Its headquarters and largest campus are located in the city of Talca. It is part of the Chi ...

and the

Catholic University of Maule Catholic University of Maule ( es, Universidad Católica del Maule, UCM) is a university in Maule, Chile. It is a derivative university part of the Chilean Traditional Universities In Chile, universidades tradicionales ("traditional universities" ...

, among others. The Catholic Church of Talca has held a prominent role in the history of Chile. The inhabitants of Talca have a saying, ''Talca, Paris & London'', born from a hat shop which had placed a ribbon stating that it had branches in Paris and London. The shop was owned by a French immigrant named Jean-Pierre Lagarde.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Talca spans an area of and had, in that year, 201,797 inhabitants. Of these, in 2002, 193,755 (96%) lived in urban areas and 8,042 (4%) in rural areas. The city had about 233,339 inhabitants (111,796 men and 121,543 women), according to the 2015 census. The population grew by 15.63% (31,542 persons) between the 2002 and 2015 censuses.

History

The city was founded in 1692 by Tomás Marín de Poveda and refounded as Villa San Agustín de Talca in 1742 by

José Antonio Manso de Velasco José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

. The city played a role in Chile's independence. For example, the siege of Talca took place there on March 4, 1814, and the Battle of Cancha Rayada on March 29 and the

Second battle of Cancha Rayada The Battle of Cancha Rayada (March 16, 1818), (also known in Chile as the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada or Surprise of Cancha Rayada) was fought in Chile between South American patriots and Spanish royalists, during the Osorio's campaign in th ...

, on March 16. 1818. Also, on February 12, 1818,

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Alth ...

signed the Chilean declaration of independence. Talca Province was founded in 1833. This ended the dependency of Colchagua Province. Also, Talca was a focus of insurrection during the revolutions of 1851 and 1859. Talca was partially destroyed by the 1928 Talca earthquake and the 2010 Chile earthquake, being rebuilt both times. It sits near the epicenter of the 2010 8.8 magnitude earthquake and suffered severe shaking causing the collapse of much of the historic town centre.Images of earthquake including collapse of Talca historic centre
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Administration

As a commune, Talca 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 Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) ...

who is directly elected every four years. The 2008–2012 alcalde is Juan Castro Prieto (Independent Democratic Union, centre-right). Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Talca is represented in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

by Sergio Aguiló ( PS) and Germán Verdugo ( RN) as part of the 37th electoral district, which consists entirely of the Talca commune. The commune is represented in the Senate by Juan Antonio Coloma Correa (

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 ...

) and Andrés Zaldívar Larraín ( PDC) as part of the 10th senatorial constituency (Maule-North).

Geography and climate

The commune of Talca spans an area of . The city of Talca is located south of

, south of the confluence of the rivers Lircay and Claro, in the Central Valley. The city is bisected by the

Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...

. Talca has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

( Köppen: Csb) with dry summers and wet winters, though it is hotter in summer and cooler in winter than coastal cities like Valparaíso and Concepción.

Transportation

Talca has a public bus system managed by the municipal Department of Transportation. The routes are tracked through Moovit.

Gallery

Image:Talca plaza.JPG, A garden pavilion in Plaza de Armas (Armas Square) Image:Talca Museo.JPG, O'Higginian Historical Museum (Museo Histórico O'Higginiano) Image:Talca 1 sur.jpg, Calle Sur de Talca (Talca Southern Street) Image:28quake.jpg, Aftermath in damage at Talca Cathedral, by 1928 Talca earthquake

Demographics

History

Administration

Geography and climate

Transportation

Gallery

See also

References

External links