Cochamó is a

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 ...

an town and commune located in Llanquihue Province,

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 capital of the commune is the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of ''Río Puelo'', which is named after the Puelo River.

History

This sprawling commune was established in 1979; its capital is the Rio Puelo community. Settlement in the area dates back to prehispanic times. Later, the town emerged from stages of consolidating permanent occupation of Cochamó. Recently,

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

has become a constantly growing activity in the area. The population of Cochamó is mostly of Spanish origin, with small numbers of Germans and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

s and one young

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

couple.

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, Cochamó spans an area of and has 4,363 inhabitants (2,506 men and 1,857 women), making the commune an entirely

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 ...

. The population grew by 0% (2 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Cochamó 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 2008-2012 alcalde is Carlos Soto Sotomayor ( PRSD). 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 ...

, Cochamó 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 ...

, Maullín and Calbuco. 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).

Nearby Attractions

Nearby attractions include: * Cochamó Valley * Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park

References

External links

*
Municipality of CochamóCochamó Valley - La Junta information, logistics, accommodations, campingTrekking information, logistics for Valle Cochamó - La JuntaClimbing routes and topos for Valle Cochamó - La JuntaInformation and Tours in CochamóOrganizacion de Turismo, Propietarios y Amigos del Valle Cochamó
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochamo Communes of Chile Populated places in Llanquihue Province 1979 establishments in Chile Coasts of Los Lagos Region