Curepto is a

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 ...

and commune in the

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 Province of Talca, located in the VII

Maule Region The Maule Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Talca. The region derives its name from the Maule River which, running westward from the Andes, bisects the region and spans a basin of about 20,6 ...

. The commune spans an area of .

Culture

The town has many examples of Chilean

rural 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 ...

colonial architecture. Its

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

is a quintessential example of a traditional religious building in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

style. The town itself exemplifies the works of the Chilean government in remote rural regions and the diversity of cultures that resulted from Spanish colonialism in the region. Known locally as ''El Festival de la Camelia'' and named for a flower common to areas south of Santiago, this annual festival has been an example of Curepto's outgoing influence in the country. It consists of a collective concert that usually includes many Chilean musicians, and receives national radio and television coverage. The Maule Activa initiative brought Curepto and the entire Maule Region improved internet connectivity.

Rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

is a popular sport the country, and during the summer months Curepto's rodeo arena is often open.

Demographics

According to data from 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 ...

by the National Statistics Institute, Curepto had 10,812 inhabitants; of these, 3,157 (29.2%) 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 7,655 (70.8%) 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. At that time, there were 5,784 men and 5,028 women. The population fell by 12.0% (1,473 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Curepto 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 communal council, 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 Luis Armando González Aguilar ( RN), and the

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 ...

has the following

councilor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or regio ...

s: * Juan Eduardo Valdés (

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 ...

) * Mario Gómez ( PDC) * Francisco Núñez Ramírez ( PRSD) * Dorys Sepúlveda Contreras ( PS) * Guillermo Reyes * Aníbal Muñoz Díaz 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 ...

, Curepto (along with Constitución, Empedrado,

Pencahue Pencahue () is a town and commune in Chile, located in Talca Province, in the seventh region of Maule. The commune spans and area of . Also there are another three places called Pencahue, near to San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Sexta Región, Chile ...

, Maule,

San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement" ) is a coastal city in southern Orange County, California, United States. It was named in 1925 after the Spanish colonial island (which was named after a Pope from the first century). Located in the O ...

, Pelarco,

Río Claro Río Claro is a commune of the Talca Province in Chile's Maule Region. The municipal seat is the town of Cumpeo. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Río Claro spans an area of and has 12,698 inhab ...

and San Rafael) 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 ...

as part of the 38th electoral district. 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 ...

as part of the 10th senatorial constituency (Maule-North).

''El Oriflama''

On approximately July 27, 1770 off the coast of the commune, the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

"Nuestra Señora del Buen Consejo y San Leopoldo" (Spanish for "Our Lady of the Good Council and San Leopoldo"), better known as " El Oriflama", sank off the cost of the commune near the beach named "La Trinchera" ("The Trench"). The ship was built by the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, captured by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, and eventually sold to

Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...

. It sailed from the port of Cadiz, bound the port of

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...

in 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 ...

, loaded with huge fortunes of silver and gold pieces, stamps, fine cutlery, glassware manufactured by the "Granja de San Ildefonso", and luxurious furniture decorated with gold, costume seeds and precious fabrics. The company
Oriflama S.A.
'' cordoned off the area where the ill-fated ship remains and made a search, but the ship has not been rescued and the company is in legal disputes with th
National Monuments Council

References

External links

*
Municipality of Curepto
*
Curepto On Line
*
Radio Poesía FM de Curepto
{{Communes in Maule Region Communes of Chile Populated places in Talca Province Populated places established in 1790 1790 establishments in the Spanish Empire