Coquimbo is a port

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 ...

, commune and capital of the

Elqui Province Elqui Province () is a province in the Chilean region of Coquimbo (IV). The provincial capital is the city of Coquimbo. Geography and demography According to the 2012 census by the National Statistics Institute (''INE''), the province spans a ...

, located on the

Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway is a vast network of roads that stretches about 30,000 kilometers (about 19,000 miles) from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the northernmost part of North America to Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America. I ...

, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, with which it forms

Greater La Serena Greater La Serena is a Chilean conurbation that includes Coquimbo and La Serena communes in the Coquimbo Region. It has a population of 412,845, according to the 2012 census, and thus is the fourth largest metropolitan area in Chile, after San ...

with more than 400,000 inhabitants. The commune spans an area around the harbor of . The average temperature in the city lies around , and precipitation is low.

History

The area was originally occupied by indigenous people, who used it as a settlement and for fishing purposes. The natural harbor in Coquimbo was taken over by

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 ...

from Spain in 1550. In 1879 it was recognized as a town. The city was on the main path of totality of the Solar eclipse of July 2, 2019.

English settlement

Coquimbo was first mentioned in the English speaking world when

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

visited during his voyage on

HMS Beagle HMS ''Beagle'' was a 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803, was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. Later reports say ...

, stopping in the town on 14 May 1835 describing the town as "remarkable for nothing but its extreme quietness." Starting in the mid 1800s tens of thousands of Englishmen moved to Coquimbo establishing a distinct English architectural and culinary legacy. English settlement was fueled by the gold and copper industry in the region which peaked in 1860, the same time as the construction of a large English cemetery.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Coquimbo had 163,036 inhabitants (79,428 men and 83,608 women). Of these, 154,316 (94.7%) lived in urban areas and 8,720 (5.3%) in rural areas. The population grew by 32.8% (40,270 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Coquimbo is a fourth-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 2012-2016 alcalde was Cristian Galleguillos Vega. 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 ...

, Coquimbo 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 Pedro Velásquez ( Ind.) and Matías Walker ( PDC) as part of the 8th electoral district, (together with

Ovalle Ovalle is a city in the Coquimbo Region of Chile, founded in 1831 as a settlement. It has a population of more than 113,000 people. The name Ovalle was chosen to honor to Chile's vice-president, José Tomás Ovalle. Ovalle is the capital of th ...

and Río Hurtado). 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 Gonzalo Uriarte (

UDI Udi may refer to: Places * Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria * Udi Hills, Enugu State, Nigeria * Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India People Given name * Udi Aloni (born 1959), Israeli-American film ...

) and Jorge Pizarro Soto ( PDC), as part of the 4th senatorial constituency (Coquimbo Region).

Economy

The city is an industrial and shipping center. It is growing quickly, registering a 32.8% growth rate from 1992 to 2002. Tourism has started to develop. It is an access point for beach towns to the south, such as

Guanaqueros Guanaqueros is a Chilean town in the Communes of Chile, commune of Coquimbo, Elqui Province, Coquimbo Region. It is located in Guanaqueros Bay, 12 kilometers northeast from Tongoy. It is a fishermen's cove, which spreads along the eastern rim of th ...

and

Tongoy Tongoy is a Chilean coastal town in the commune of Coquimbo in Elqui Province, Coquimbo Region. It is located to the south of Chile's second oldest city, La Serena, next to Guanaqueros beach, on a rocky promontory opposite the Pacific Ocean, ...

. The port is still important for shipping, especially fruit and copper from mines in the region. Wine is also produced in the area.

Sports

The city has a football team called

Coquimbo Unido Coquimbo Unido is a Chilean football club based in the city of Coquimbo. The club was founded in 1958 and has played in the Chilean Primera División since being promoted in 2022. Their home games are played at the Estadio Municipal Francisco Sán ...

which plays in the

Chilean Primera División B Campeonato Primera B () is the second tier in the Chilean football league system, and is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional. It was established in 1952 as ''Segunda División'', and later renamed in 1996 to the current nam ...

. Their home games are played at the Francisco Sánchez Rumoroso Municipal Stadium, which has a capacity of 17,750 seats. They are nicknamed "Los Piratas", because of the tradition of

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

s that arrived to the coasts of Coquimbo. Their biggest rival is

Club de Deportes La Serena Club de Deportes La Serena S.A.D.P., is a Chilean football club based in the city of La Serena, Coquimbo Region. The club was founded 9 December 1955 and plays in the second division of the Chilean football league. Their home games are play ...

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Coquimbo is twinned with: *

Elbląg Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the ol ...

, Poland

Gallery

File:Coquimbo.JPG, Aerial view File:Estadio Francisco Sanchez Rumoroso1.jpg,

Estadio Municipal Francisco Sánchez Rumoroso Estadio Bicentenario Francisco Sánchez Rumoroso is a multi-purpose stadium in Coquimbo, Chile. Currently, it is mostly used for football matches. It is the home stadium of Coquimbo Unido. The former stadium was inaugurated on July 1, 1970 and ...

File:Casino coquimbo.JPG, Casino of Coquimbo File:Coquimbo por la noche.JPG, Coquimbo at night File:CAM 0202.JPG, Coquimbo at night File:Mezquita de Coquimbo5.jpg, Mohammed VI Mosque File:Plaza de Coquimbo.JPG, Plaza de Coquimbo

References

External links

Municipality of Coquimbo

Travel Coquimbo

Photo of Coquimbo

Arriendo a Turistas

Arriendos en Coquimbo
Official website {{Authority control Communes of Chile Port cities in Chile 1879 establishments in Chile Capitals of Chilean provinces Populated places in Elqui Province Coasts of Coquimbo Region Port cities and towns