Concepción (; originally: ''Concepción de la Madre Santísima de la Luz'', "Conception of the Blessed Mother of Light") is a city and commune in south-central

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 ...

, and the geographical and demographic core of the Greater Concepción

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

, it is the second largest city in Chile by urban area and one of the three major conurbations in the country. It has a significant impact on domestic trade being part of the most heavily industrialized region in the country. It is the seat of the Concepción Province and the capital of the

Biobío Region The Biobío Region ( ) is one of Chile's sixteen regions (first-order administrative divisions). With a population of 1.5 million, thus being the third most populated region in Chile, it is divided into three provinces: Arauco, Biobío and C ...

. It sits about 500 km south of the nation's capital,

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. The city was first settled in the Bay of Concepción, in the zone that would later become the commune of Penco, now part of the Concepción conurbation. The city's demonym, , comes from the place of its original foundation. The city center and historic district is located in the Valle de la Mocha (La Mocha Valley), where it relocated after serious damage left by an earthquake in 1751. The origin of Concepción dates back to 1550, when it was founded by Pedro de Valdivia as part of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

, under the name of ''Concepción de María Purísima del Nuevo Extremo'', and was the capital of the Kingdom of Chile between 1565 and 1573, retaining the unofficial position of military capital for the rest of the colonial period. The city was an important site in the struggle for Chile's independence, with the Chilean declaration of Independence being held at Concepción's ''Plaza de la Independencia''. Until the election of

Manuel Montt Manuel Francisco Antonio Julián Montt Torres (; September 4, 1809 – September 21, 1880) was a Chilean statesman and scholar. He was twice elected President of Chile between 1851 and 1861. He was the first civilian to serve a full term as Presi ...

in 1851 as president, executive power in independent Chile was dominated by Concepción elites. The city is a known

college town A college town or university town is a town or city whose character is dominated by a college or university and their associated culture, often characterised by the student population making up 20 percent of the population of the community, bu ...

in Chile, as it is home to numerous educational institutions, including the University of Concepción, the University of the Bío Bío, and the Catholic University of the Most Holy Conception. The commune also contains various historical bridges, murals, parks and lakes, as well as important cultural venues such as the ''Teatro Biobío'', the '' Casa del Arte'', the local Natural History Museum, and the ''Teatro Universidad de Concepción''.

History

Concepción was founded by Don

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and the first royal governor of Chile. After having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...

in 1550 north of the Bío Bío River, at the site which is today known as Penco. At that time it was given the name ''Concepción de María Purísima del Nuevo Extremo'' (Mary Immaculate Conception of the New End). The new settlement of Concepción was just a few kilometers north of '' La Frontera'' (The Frontier), the boundary between Spanish territory and the land of the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

, an American Indian ethnic group that remained independent until the 1870s. The settlement was formally recognized by the Spanish authorities as a town two years later by a royal decree. It was given a coat-of-arms that is still in use today. At the time of the Spanish arrival to the Concepción area chronicler Jerónimo de Vivar noted local Mapuches wore gold and silver

bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, ...

s and "sort of crowns". This is interpreted either as

Incan The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilisation rose fr ...

gifts, war spoils from defeated Incas, or the adoption of Incan

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

. Although Concepción was a significant military settlement for the

Captaincy General of Chile The General Captaincy of Chile (''Capitanía General de Chile'' ), Governorate of Chile, or Kingdom of Chile, was a territory of the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1818 that was, initially, part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. It comprised most of mod ...

, it was overrun and destroyed by Mapuche armies in 1554, and once again after being refounded in 1555. Concepción was restored during the governorship of García Hurtado de Mendoza when he landed there and built a fort on the Alto de Pinto in 1557. The town was refounded once more on January 6, 1558, by captain Jerónimo de Villegas. It became the headquarters of the military forces engaged against the

in La Araucanía over the next two centuries, growing to a population of 10,000 despite a

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

in 1564 and other attacks by the Mapuche. Concepción was the home of the

Real Audiencia A ''Real Audiencia'' (), or simply an ''Audiencia'' (), was an appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as Royal Audience. The additional designation ''chancillería'' (or ''cancillería'', Catala ...

from 1565 to 1575.

Earthquakes An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they c ...

and

tsunamis A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, la ...

, which razed the town in 1570, 1657, 1687, 1730 and 1751, led the authorities to move the town to its current site in the Valle de la Mocha, alongside the Bío Bío River; the old site lay empty until March 29, 1842, when the present town of Penco was founded. The new site for the town of Concepción became the main town of the Intendancy of Concepción, whose jurisdiction extended from the Maule River to La Frontera. The first Intendant of Concepción was the Irishman Ambrose O'Higgins, Marquis of Osorno, who later became

Royal Governor of Chile The royal governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonial administrative district called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the royal governor also held the title of a captain general. There w ...

and Viceroy of Peru. When the First National Government Board met in

on September 18, 1810, citizens of Concepción joined up. Concepción was used as the point of entry by the Spanish Army in the attempt by the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

to re-conquer Chile. Concepción politicians and soldiers became a significant political force in the newly independent country. On January 1, 1818, Ambrose O'Higgins's son,

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; 20 August 1778 – 24 October 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 people, Basque-Spanish people, Spani ...

, proclaimed and took the oath of the

Chilean War of Independence The Chilean War of Independence (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Guerra de la Independencia de Chile'', 'War of Independence of Chile') was a military and political event that allowed the emancipation of Chile from the Spanish Empire, Spanish Mona ...

in the main square of Concepción, which since then has been known as "Plaza de la Independencia". Until the moment of independence, the city had been the scene of various engagements in its old and new settlements. On February 20, 1835, the town again was largely destroyed by an earthquake and had to be rebuilt. By 1875, a key British community and German colony existed within the province. By 1895, there was an even larger Spanish presence. The Universidad de Concepción, founded in 1919, became the first secular private university in Chile. The neighboring harbor of Talcahuano is the site of the largest naval base in Chile. On February 27, 2010, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Concepción, killing more than 521 people and injuring thousands nationwide. Following the earthquake, geologists relying on global positioning satellite (GPS) data concluded that the city had been displaced roughly to the west as a result of the event. The tsunami that followed missed the city. After the

2010 Chile earthquake The 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami () occurred off the coast of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February at 03:34:12 local time (06:34:12 UTC), having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale, with intense shaking lasting for about ...

, a prison riot began in Concepción's El Manzano prison following a failed escape attempt by the inmates. Different parts of the prison were set on fire and the riot was controlled only after the guards shot into the air and received help from military units. As of March 5, 2010, a Peruvian field hospital has been deployed to the city.UKPA
"Foreign hospitals help out Chile"
''March 6, 2010'' (accessed March 6, 2010)

Seismology

Like most of the Chilean territory, the Concepción region is seismically active, with much of Concepción destroyed by a violent earthquake in 1939. An earthquake in 1953 damaged 15% of the town's buildings. Another major earthquake in 1960 had a nearby epicenter. On February 27, 2010, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck at 35.846°S, 72.719°W, NNE of the city. The United States Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 0334 GMT on Saturday at a depth of . The effects were felt as far away as

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil— away.

Education

Concepción is known as "the university city" thanks to the numerous universities within the urban agglomeration, such as the Universidad de Concepción, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción and

Universidad del Biobío Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

. This city also has numerous headquarters for many other universities. In addition, this metropolis has a large educational offer, focused on institutes, centers of technical formation and the universities aforementioned. Campanil udec

Universities

The University Pencopolitana whose name was Pontificia Universidad Pencopolitana de La Concepción (Pontifical Pencopolitana University of The Conception) was an old university founded through a decree of the Bishop of Concepción, delivered to the administration of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

which functioned between the years 1724 and 1767. On May 24, 1751, an

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

followed by a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

, ravaged the city causing serious damage, including the destruction of the library of the university and all of its funds. As a product of the fury of the waters, a rich collection of texts of the governance of southern Chile were lost, which resulted in a disaster for the culture and collective memory of the city. Due to the natural disasters, it was decided to relocate the city to the called Valle de la Mocha, location where it is currently situated. Slowly the seminary was revived in the new location, in a period of decline in academic activity in Chilean monastic universities after the creation of the Universidad de San Felipe, yet some degrees continued to be granted before the

Suppression of the Society of Jesus The suppression of the Society of Jesus was the removal of all members of the Jesuits from most of Western Europe and their respective colonies beginning in 1759 along with the abolition of the order by the Holy See in 1773; the papacy acceded ...

in 1767. The aforementioned University is considered to be the natural and legitimate predecessor of the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción (UCSC), erected by the Archbishop of Concepción in 1991, from the

Talcahuano Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile. ...

Regional Headquarters of the

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical unive ...

. The image of the Pontifical University of Concepción Pencopolitana, is still valid, for His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain in his 1990 speech on the occasion of his inauguration as Doctor Honoris Causa in the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, in Santiago de Chile, said: "The work of the Pontifical University Pencopolitana should not be ignored, even before the creation of the University of San Felipe" (Juan Carlos's account fails to acknowledge the existence of San Felipe's predecessor, the Dominican Universidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino, from the sixteenth century in Santiago). Meanwhile, the University of Chile allowed schools in the city to teach courses in law which allowed men to obtain a law degree. Among its students was Henry Urrutia Manzano, who decades later became president of the Supreme Court of Chile. The Universidad de Concepción was created in 1919 by a group of citizens including Enrique Molina Garmendia, its first rector. Eventually, the university began to receive state support, becoming part of the traditional universities, becoming one of the three most important universities in the country, and the most important at the regional level.

Traditional universities

* Universidad de Concepción * Universidad del Bío-Bío * Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción * Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María

Private universities

* Universidad del Desarrollo * Universidad Andrés Bello * Universidad Arcis * Universidad San Sebastián * Universidad Santo Tomás * University of the Pacific (Chile) * Universidad de Las Américas * Universidad Bolivariana * Universidad Pedro de Valdivia * Universidad La República * Universidad de Aconcagua * Universidad Tecnológica de Chile INACAP

Professional institutes

* Instituto Profesional DuocUC, of the

Primary and secondary schools

The city has a French international school, the '' Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle'' and a German school, the Colegio Alemán de Concepción, and two British schools, the Saint John's School and the Wessex School. The French school is located in the city downtown, the Wessex in Concepcion (nearer to Penco) and the German school and the Saint John's both in the San Pedro de la Paz area. The defunct Concepción College was a parochial girls' day school and boarding school, established in 1878 by the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

. * Liceo Comercial Femenino Concepción

Transportation

The city is served by Carriel Sur International Airport in Talcahuano. The metro area's public transportation comprises a number of bus lines that run through several avenues and streets of the communes belonging to the agglomeration, as well as the

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

system known as Biotrén.

Climate

The climate of Concepción is classified as Köppen: '' Csb, warm summer mediterranean'', with a dry mild summer. The cool waters of the Pacific Ocean help to maintain mild temperatures throughout the year. Temperatures rarely exceed or fall below . In the six-month period between May and October, the city receives approximately 83% of its total annual precipitation, which totals . The wettest month since records began in 1912 was June 2000 with , whilst all months from November to April have been rainless on occasions. As might be expected for such a large urban area heavily dependent on wood-burning for heat and diesel for transport, the air in Concepción is third-most polluted in Chile, after Santiago and

Temuco Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The cit ...

Demographics

According to data collected in 2002 in the Census of the National Institute of Statistics, the township has an area of and a population of 216,061 inhabitants, of whom 103,860 are men and 112,201 are women. As a commune, Concepcion is home to 14.35% of the total population of the region. 1.88% (4,058 persons) is for the rural population and 98.12% (212,003) for the urban population. Moreover, 5.5% of the country's population lives in the Greater Concepción metro area. Between 1970 and 1982 there is a large increase in the population. One reason is the inclusion of San Pedro, segregated from the municipality of Coronel. The Concepción commune population sharply declined in 1996 as its territory was divided, creating Chiguayante and San Pedro de la Paz. The number of people living in these communes has grown quickly since they have become bedroom communities of ''Concepción'', i.e. residential cities that do not have a center with many shops, as is the case of Concepcion. There is a significant percentage of foreign residents in the city, the most numerous are the Spanish, Italian and US expatriate communities. There are also smaller segments of German, French, British, Dutch,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, Portuguese, Croatian, Scandinavian,

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

and Australian descendants in a city settled by waves of immigration.

Cultural life

To an outsider, there may be confusion between the

demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...

s of the inhabitants of Concepción and the nearby city of Penco. Due to the previous location of Concepción being where Penco currently stands, inhabitants of Concepción are called ''penquistas'' while inhabitants of Penco are known as ''pencones''. Additionally, the unofficial term ''pencopolitano'' has been coined to refer to locals of any commune belonging to the

metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

or, in a wider definition, to the Concepción province, although the term penquista can technically be used in this case as well. REC_2020

In 2014, the ''Rock en Conce'' festival began to take shape. It would be held outdoors, in the city's ''Parque Bicentenario'' (Bicentennial Park), and access to it would be free. The aim of the festival would be to restore the musical spotlight that the city embodied and that earned it the reputation of being the ''cradle of Chilean rock'' and, at the same time, to establish itself as a major tourist attraction for the city. Its first edition took place on Saturday, March 7, 2015, and since then it has been held with great success every year at the end of each summer, bringing together emerging local bands with major and renowned artists from the national and international scene. Lostres

Music

Concepción has been described as the "Chilean capital of rock", since numerous bands of this

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

have started their careers in the city, such as Los Tres, Los Bunkers, Emociones Clandestinas, Santos Dumont, De Saloon, Machuca and Julius Popper, among others. Numerous bands have played their first major concerts in the city, such as

Los Prisioneros Los Prisioneros ("The Prisoners") was a Chilean rock band formed in San Miguel, Chile, San Miguel, Santiago Province, Chile, Santiago, in 1982. Considered one of the most influential Latin-American bands of all time, they've been evaluated as pio ...

. The city's music venues are a main feature of the tourist route, ''La Ruta de la Música'', a project driven by the National Service of Tourism (SERNATUR), where besides the rock scene, the local jazz and folk scenes are also shown.

Sports

Concepción was one of the host cities of the official 1959 Basketball World Cup, where

won the bronze medal. Today, Concepción is home to three professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams: * Club Deportivo Universidad de Concepción, currently in the Primera División * Club Deportivo Ferroviario Almirante Arturo Fernández Vial, currently, in the Chilean second division * Club de Deportes Concepción, currently in the Chilean third division. The most notable professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team is: *

C.D. Universidad de Concepción Club Deportivo Universidad de Concepción, also known as Universidad de Concepción, are a Chilean Association football, football club based in Concepción, Chile, Concepción, that is a current member of the Primera B de Chile, Primera B. The c ...

, currently in the

Liga Nacional de Básquetbol de Chile The Liga Nacional de Básquetbol de Chile, also known as the LNB Chile, is the top national basketball leagues in Chile, it is a professional league, organized by the Federación de Básquetbol de Chile. The league was created in 2010 and the old ...

Economy

Historically characterized by a strong manufacturing industry, Concepción has also been a major center for distribution and services and the financial basis of the regional economy.

Commerce

Trade in the city is concentrated in the ''Plaza Independencia'' (Independence Square), the pedestrian street ''Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga'' (built in 1981), and along the major avenues. One such avenue is the ''Diego Barros Arana'' street which has developed into the commercial center of the city and the region was until 1907 even known as "''calle Comercio''" ("Commerce Street"). New commercial centers are being developed around the old central station and the new civic district as a part of the Chilean bicentennial (September 18, 2010). A considerable percentage of local trade is taking place in settlements around the city, in communes such as Hualpén,

and San Pedro de la Paz, where there are bustling shopping centers, such as Mall Plaza del Trébol, and where there is a constant commercial development. Other commercial spots, related to food, are the Vega Monumental and Mercado Central de Concepción (Central Market of Concepción) places offering various services and agricultural and livestock products.

Administration

As a commune, Concepción 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 2016–2020 mayor was Álvaro Ortiz Vera ( Christian Democratic Party), who was first elected in 2012. The communal council has 10 seats, which are currently occupied (2016–2020) by three for Christian Democratic Party, two for National Renewal, two for Independent Democrat Union, one for Communist Party, one for

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, and one for Radical Party. The following members are: 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 ...

, Concepción 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 Gaston Saavedra ( PS), José Miguel Ortiz ( PDC), Jaime Toha (PS), Felix Gonzalez (

PEV PEV or PeV may refer to: * Ecologist Party "The Greens" (), a Portuguese eco-socialist political party * Green Ecologist Party (Chile), a Chilean eco-leftist political party * Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland (), a Protestant Christian- ...

), Enrique Van Rysselberghe (UDI), Sergio Bobadilla (UDI), Francesca Muñoz (RN) and Leonidas Romero (RN), as part of the 21st electoral district ( Concepción Province without Lota). 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 Alejandro Navarro Brain ( MAS) and Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe (UDI) as part of the 12th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Costa).

Notable citizens

Gallery

Arco de Medicina UdeC.jpg, Arch of the Faculty of Medicine University of Concepción Moderno Edificio en Concepción.jpg, Caja Los Andes Building in downtown Concepción Hotel El Araucano.JPG, The hotel Araucano of Concepción in the center of the city Parque Ecuador.jpg, View of Ecuador Park, on the slopes of Cerro Caracol Casa-central.jpg, The Concepción Cathedral from the Plaza de la Independencia Edificio de los Tribunales de Justicia de Concepcion.JPG, Palace of the Court of Appeals of Concepción Concepcion1.jpg, The avenue O'Higgins Casa de Pedro del Rio Castellon.JPG, Casa de Pedro del Río Concepcion, edificios (15400894209).jpg, Buildings in Concepción Centro Español de Concepción.jpg, Spanish Center Centro Cívico Concepción.JPG, Civic center Mural panoramico.JPG, '' Presencia de América Latina'', mural declared national monument of Chile

Notable events

A 23 year old Chilean forestry student named Jorge Matute disappeared mysteriously in a discotheque that was located close to Concepción on 20 November 1999. In February 2004 on a road in Santa Juana, Matute's remains were found and identified.

Twin towns – sister cities

Concepción's

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

are: *

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

, Palestine (2006) *

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in São Paulo (state), São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's popul ...

, Brasil (1979) *

Cascavel Cascavel is a city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. It is the fifth most populous city in the state with 364.104 inhabitants, according to IBGE 2024 estimate. The distance to Curitiba, the state capital, is 491 kilometers b ...

, Brazil (2006) *

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

, Ecuador (2006) *

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

, Colombia (1998) *

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

, Mexico (1997) *

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, China (2018) *

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...

, Argentina (1993) *

San Miguel de Tucumán San Miguel de Tucumán (), usually called simply Tucumán, is the capital and largest city of Tucumán Province, located in northern Argentina from Buenos Aires. It is the fifth-largest city of Argentina after Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Argentin ...

, Argentina (2013) *

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

, China (2014)

External links

* El Surbr>''El Sur'', newspaper of Concepción

''Viveconce'', Event schedule of Concepción

Source about Concepción – Encyclopædia Britannica

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Concepcion, Chile Communes of Chile Capitals of Chilean regions Capitals of Chilean provinces Populated places established in 1550 Geography of Biobío Region Populated places in Concepción Province 1550 establishments in the Spanish Empire 1550 establishments in South America