Calbuco is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and commune in southern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

administered by the Municipality of Calbuco. Administratively Calbuco belongs to the Llanquihue Province of

Los Lagos Region Los Lagos Region ( , 'Region of the Lakes') is one of regions of Chile, Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé Province, Chiloé, Llanquihue Province, Llanquihue, Osorno Provin ...

. The origin of the city was the Spanish Fort Calbuco founded in 1603, and became later an important fish market. The archaeological site of

Monte Verde Monte Verde is a Paleolithic archaeological site in the Llanquihue Province in southern Chile, located near Puerto Montt, Los Lagos Region. The site is primarily known for Monte Verde II, dating to approximately 14,550–14,500 calibrated years ...

lies within the commune. Calbuco Island is part of the commune and contains the city of Calbuco. There are thirteen other islands in the commune: Huar, Puluqui, Chidhuapi, Tabón, Mayelhue, Lín, Quenu, Quihua, Huapi Abtao, Chaullín, Caicué o lagartija, Tautil and Queullín.

History

The settlement of Calbuco grew out of the fort ''Fuerte San Miguel de Calbuco'' which was founded in 1603 by Francisco Hernández Ortiz-Pizarro. Calbuco was the capital of Calbuco Department, Chiloé between 1834 and 1855, and of Carelmapu Department between 1855 and 1928. It was capital of Calbuco Department, Llanquihue between 1937 and 1975.

Demographics

According to the 2002

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of the National Statistics Institute, Calbuco spans an area of and has 31,070 inhabitants (15,906 men and 15,164 women). Of these, 12,165 (39.2%) lived in

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

s and 18,905 (60.8%) 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 are typically desc ...

s. The population grew by 15% (4,043 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Settlements

Besides the town of Calbuco, Calbuco Comuna is also home to the settlements of: Pargua, Puluqui Island, San Rafael and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The town of San Rafael is across the estuary from the town of Calbuco. Texas was a refugee camp built after the 1960 earthquake on the outskirts of San Rafael; it has become semi-permanent. Pargua is the ferry port and gateway to the

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago (, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and the Gulf of Corcovado in the s ...

and the big island of Chiloé. Pargua was considered rural until the 2002 census, and the 800+ people on Puluqui Island are still denominated as "rural" although clustered around the bay where the daily barge docks.

Administrative divisions

Calbuco Comuna is divided into twenty districts. Calbuco is the most populous with the highest population density, while Río Tambor is the largest at and has the lowest density. Alfaro, Quenu, Puluqui, Challahue, Machildad, Chucahua, Quetrolauquén, Aguantao, Huayún and Río Tambor are more sparsely populated, further away from the towns of Calbuco and San Rafael.

Administration

As a commune, Calbuco 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, borough cou ...

, headed by an

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

who is directly elected every four years. The alcalde is Rubén Cárdenas Gómez ( PRSD), and the council has the following members: * Pedro Yáñez Uribe ( PRI) * Juan Francisco Calbucoy Guerrero ( PS) * Oscar González Almonacid ( PS) * Sergio García Alvarez (Ind- UDI) * Iván Vásquez Gómez ( PRSD) * Manuel Oyarzo Barría (

PRO Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof might also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African ret ...

) Within the

electoral divisions of Chile This article covers the electoral division of Chile, which involves two distinct systems: # Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chamber of Deputies and Senate of Chile, Senate: Chile is divided into electoral districts and senatorial constituencies for ...

, Calbuco 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 Bourb ...

by Marisol Turres ( UDI) and Patricio Vallespín ( PDC) as part of the 57th electoral district, together with

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

, Cochamó and Maullín. 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 el ...

by Camilo Escalona Medina ( PS) and Carlos Kuschel Silva ( RN) as part of the 17th senatorial constituency (Los Lagos Region).

References

External links

*
Municipality of Calbuco
{{Coord, 41, 46, S, 73, 08, W, display=title, region:CL_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1603 Port cities in Chile Populated places in Llanquihue Province 1603 establishments in the Spanish Empire