Melipilla (

Mapudungun Mapuche ( , ; from 'land' and 'people', meaning 'the people of the land') or Mapudungun (from 'land' and 'speak, speech', meaning 'the speech of the land'; also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu) is either a language isolate or member of the s ...

for "four Pillans") 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 commune and capital

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 ...

of the province of the same name. It is part of the

Santiago Metropolitan Region Santiago Metropolitan Region () is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago. Most commercial and administrative centers are loc ...

and is a significant satellite city of the Chilean capital. The Melipilla commune borders 10 other communes, María Pinto, and a portion of

Curacaví Curacaví () is a city and commune in the Melipilla Province of central Chile's Santiago Metropolitan Region. Its climate is temperate Mediterranean with a long dry season, experiencing high temperatures in summer and low temperatures in winter ...

to the north; San Pedro and Alhué to the south; Isla de Maipo, El Monte, Peñaflor, Padre Hurtado in the Talagante Province, and Paine in the

Maipo Province Maipo Province () is one of six Provinces of Chile, provinces in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of central Chile. Its capital is San Bernardo, Chile, San Bernardo. Administration As a province, Maipo is a second-level administrative divisions of ...

to the east; and

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

in the Valparaíso Region. It has an area of . According to the 2017 census, the commune alone has 123,627 residents and is projected to have 141,612 residents by 2020.

Climate

History

The area has been inhabited since the last

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...

(approx. 11,000 BC). From there, groups of hunters and gatherers belonging to the Archaic Period made their way into the valleys. Subsequently, in relation to the early pottery period, other traces can be found that are continued by the Bato and Llolleo cultures. In the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...

, it came into contact with the Inca culture and established a mitimae in Talagante governed by Prince Tala Canta Ilabe. Shortly after the Incas arrived, they were followed by the Spanish, whom the locals called wingka in Mapudungun. The Mapuches who lived in this area were called picones or promaucaes. The most prominent ethnic center of the picones seems to have been located in the town of Pico, located near Melipilla. Precisely, seventy indigenous picones were entrusted to Bishop Rodrigo González Marmolejo by

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...

.CDIHCh, la., XI: 319 y 356; 444-446. Later, the

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish Labour (human activity), labour system that rewarded Conquistador, conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including mil ...

was enjoyed by Antonio González Montero, the bishop's nephew. In the

18th century The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to ch ...

, the town of Pico was located near Pomaire, on the hacienda of the same name, about 8 km northwest of Melipilla. Probably, Pico was a head of relief, since a

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

with that name appeared among the "exalted heads" of the Kingdom, in Valdivia's time.

Founding

Melipilla was officially founded on 11 October 1742 by José Manso de Velasco. The governor, at the request of the residents of the district, ordered the establishment of a town where families who lived scattered in the district could gather. Manso de Velasco stopped in the Melipilla valley after visiting Valparaíso's fortifications and, after recognizing the location, decreed the establishment of a town on a spacious and pleasant plain located about half a league from the north bank of the Maipo River. The town was named Logroño de San José and the district governor was charged with implementing the establishment according to the instructions that were followed in such cases.

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, it has 108,540 inhabitants. An approximate population of 116,680 inhabitants is estimated in 2015. Melipilla spans an area of . Of these, 60,898 (64.4%) 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 33,642 (35.6%) 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 ...

Administration

As a commune, Melipilla 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 alcalde is Ivan Campos. The council has the following members: * Darío Jeréz Jeréz (PPD) * Juan Manuel González Alarcón (PDC) * José Guerra Silva (PPD) * Javier Ramírez González (UDI) * Daniel Domínguez (PDC) * Claudio Martínez Medina (PS) * Fernando Pérez Aguirre (UDI) * Alexander Henríquez Armijo (RN) 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 ...

, Melipilla 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 Raúl Leiva (PS), Marisela Santibáñez (PC), Juan Antonio Coloma (UDI), Jaime Bellolio (UDI), Leonardo Soto (PS) and Renato Garín (RD) as part of the 14st 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 ...

by Guido Girardi Lavín (PPD) and Andrés Allamand (RN).

Economy

In 2018, there were 2,804 registered businesses in Melipilla. The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) in the same year was 1.23, and the economic activities with the highest Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index were Cheese Processing (162.89), Wholesale Sale of Live Animals (98.76), and Chicken Farming for Meat Production (88.96).

Transport

Melitrén, a

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 ...

line linking Melipilla with

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 ...

is currently being planned.

References

External links

*
Municipality of Melipilla
{{Communes in Santiago Metropolitan Region Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1742 Populated places in Melipilla Province Capitals of Chilean provinces 1742 establishments in the Spanish Empire