Penco (

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 ...

: See (''Pen''), Water (''Ko'')), 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 ...

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 ...

and commune in Concepción Province, Bío Bío Region on the Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo ('beginning of the new extreme') on February 12, 1550 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 ...

, it is the third oldest city in Chile, after 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 ...

founded first in 1541 and La Serena second in 1544. As there may be confusion between the

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

of the inhabitants of Concepción and Penco. Due to the previous location of Concepción, inhabitants of that city are called ''penquistas'' while inhabitants of Penco are known as ''pencones''.

History

In previous centuries, in the current location of Penco, was the first location where the city of Concepción was established, which is now the capital of the Bíobío Region. It was destroyed by

Lautaro Lautaro (Anglicized as 'Levtaru') ( " swift hawk") (; 1534 – April 29, 1557) was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would continue to be empl ...

in 1554, and rebuilt and destroyed again by Lautaro in 1555. * It was reestablished in 1557 during the governorship of marquess García Hurtado de Mendoza when he landed there and built a fort on the Alto de Pinto. The city was reestablished January 6, 1558, by capitán Jerónimo de Villegas. * It became the headquarters of the military forces engaged against the native

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 ...

in Araucanía over the next two centuries, growing to a population of 10,000 despite suffering 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 Mapuche tribals. * In 1603 the last bishop of the suppressed Diocese of La Imperial was transferred there as first bishop of the successor see Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Concepción. * Due to

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 city in

1570 __NOTOC__ 1570 ( MDLXX) was a common year starting on Sunday in the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 8 – Ivan the Terrible begins the Massacre of Novgorod. * January 23 – The assassination of Scottish r ...

, 1657, 1687, 1730 and another on May 25, 1751, the colonial authorities ultimately decided to move the city to its current location to the Valle de la Mocha, alongside the Bío Bío River and prohibited the occupation of the old location, which remained unpopulated until March 29, 1842, when the present city of Penco was founded.

Statistics

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, Penco spans an area of and has 46,016 inhabitants (22,366 men and 23,650 women). Of these, 45,361 (98.6%) 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 655 (1.4%) 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. The population grew by 14% (5,657 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Penco 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 2012-2016 alcalde is Víctor Hugo Figueroa (ILE). 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 ...

, Penco 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 Sergio Bobadilla ( UDI) and Clemira Pacheco ( PS) as part of the 45th electoral district, (together with Tomé,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, Hualqui, Coronel and Santa Juana). 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 Hosain Sabag Castillo ( PDC) as part of the 12th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Cordillera).

Places

In addition to the main town of Penco, the commune administers the following villages: * Cerro Verde, * Cosmito, * El Rosal, * Lirquén, * Tucapel, .

Notable people

* Patricio Renán

References

*
Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, ''Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile'', SEGUNDA EDICIÓN CORREGIDA Y AUMENTADA, NUEVA YORK, D. APPLETON Y COMPAÑÍA. 1899.
Pg. 533-535, Penco.

Sources and external links

*
Municipality of Penco
*
David Marley, ''Historic Cities of the Americas: An Illustrated Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, 2005
*
Concepcion *
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1842 Geography of Biobío Region Populated places in Concepción Province 1842 establishments in Chile Coasts of Biobío Region Port cities in Chile