Andacollo () 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 de ...

and commune in the Elqui Province, Coquimbo Region,

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 eas ...

History

Andacollo is a copper and gold mining city located in the mountains of the Small North (El Norte Chico) in Chile. It was founded in 1891. Several legends are told about the name of the city. Some say that it comes from the

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

''Anta-Goya'' which means cobre-reina (copper queen). Others say that the name means "Hurry up, Collo" (''Anda, Co''llo). According to these legends, ''La Virgen del Rosario'', also known as ''la Virgen Morena'', or

Black Madonna The term ''Black Madonna'' or ''Black Virgin'' tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. The Black Madonna can be found bo ...

, appeared to an indigenous miner called "Collo" in the form of a small wooden statuette hidden in rocks. The statue told the newly converted Collo to build up a church at the place where Andacollo is located today. As many miracles are attributed to the Dark Lady (like stopping the

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) ce ...

epidemic of 1871) the city celebrates the Virgin every year on December 24 to 26.

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, Andacollo had 10,288 inhabitants (5,148 men and 5,140 women). Of these, 9,444 (91.8%) 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 844 (8.2%) 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 des ...

s. The population fell by 16% (1,958 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Andacollo is a third-level

administrative division of Chile The administrative division or territorial organization of Chile exemplifies characteristics of a unitary state. State administration is functionally and geographically decentralized, as appropriate for each authority in accordance with the law. ...

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 coun ...

, 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. Within the

electoral divisions of Chile Chile has two distinct electoral division systems: * To elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate, Chile is divided into several electoral divisions, namely electoral districts and senatorial constituencies. * To elect members of t ...

, Andacollo 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 ...

by Mr. Mario Bertolino ( RN) and Marcelo Díaz ( PS) as part of the 7th electoral district, (together with La Serena, La Higuera,

Vicuña The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the guanaco, which l ...

and Paiguano). The commune is represented in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

by Evelyn Matthei Fornet ( UDI) and Jorge Pizarro Soto (

PDC PDC may refer to: In science and technology Chemistry, biology and medicine * Phosducin, a human protein and gene in the retina * Pyridinium dichromate (Cornforth reagent), a chromium-based oxidant * Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, an enzyme ...

) as part of the 4th senatorial constituency (Coquimbo Region).

Gallery

Image:Andacollo_church.jpg, Basilica of Andacollo Image:Andacollo_City view.jpg, City view Image:Andacollo.jpg, City view Image:AndacolloVistaAerea.jpg, Aerial view of the city Image:Andacollo_Gold mine.jpg, Industrial gold mine Image:Andacollo_traditional Gold processing.jpg, Traditional gold processing Image:Andacollo_Mercury evaporation.jpg, Mercury evaporation to produce gold

References

External links

*
Municipality of Andacollo
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in Elqui Province 1891 establishments in Chile