Puerto Octay 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

Osorno Province Osorno Province () is one of the four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Los Lagos (X). The province has an area of and a population of 221,496 distributed across seven communes ( Spanish: ''comunas''). The provincial capital is the c ...

located on the north shore of

Llanquihue Lake Llanquihue Lake is the second-largest lake in Chile with an area of about , after Lake General Carrera which is shared with Argentina. It is situated in the southern Los Lagos Region in the Llanquihue and Osorno provinces. The lake's fan-like ...

Los Lagos Region Los Lagos Region ( , 'Region of the Lakes') is one of regions of Chile, Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé Province, Chiloé, Llanquihue Province, Llanquihue, Osorno Provin ...

in the south of

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 ...

. It was settled by German colonists in 1852. Puerto Octay was an important port with regular traffic to

Puerto Varas Puerto Varas, also known as "La Ciudad De Las Rosas" or “The City Of Roses”, is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune located in the southern Chilean province of Llanquihue Province, Llanquihue, in the Los Lagos Region ...

before the railway opened in 1912.

Etymology

It is said that in 1860, a mill, a distillery and a big store owned by German settler Cristino Ochs were raised in the area. This venue offered all the products demanded by the very few denizens the region of Lake Llanquihue used to have in those days. Due to the good provision of the store, the slogan of the town was ''Donde Ochs hay'' (You can find it at Ochs’, literally Where there is Ochs), which gradually Hispanized into ”Octay”.

History

Its origin dates back to the German colonization in 1852 driven by Bernhard Philippi. Years later it became one of the major ports on Lake Llanquihue. On 22 December 1891 the municipality was established, under the Presidency of the Republic

Jorge Montt Jorge Montt Álvarez (; April 26, 1845 – October 8, 1922) was a vice admiral in the Chilean Navy and president of Chile from 1891 to 1896.L.S. Rowe, "Passing of a Great Figure in Chilean History." ''Bulletin Pan American Union'' 55 (1922): 4 ...

.Puerto Octay, Un Recodo Alemán

German heritage history

Puerto Octay currently has a rich and varied architecture, mostly built of wood, which is the historical reflection of the colonization process, driven by the State of Chile in the mid-nineteenth century, with families coming from Germany. Some prominent buildings are the House Niklitschek, Hotel Haase, Wulf House, the current Colegio San Vicente de Paul and Werner House. What is extraordinary about this city is that despite the lapse of more than 100 years, it is still possible to assess this type of buildings. In order to preserve this architectural heritage, Puerto Octay is currently in the process of being declared a Typical Zone. This will identify a representative area of identity and history, which will be legally protected by the State of Chile.

Flora and fauna

Birds:

thrush Thrush may refer to: Birds * Thrush (bird), any of the birds in the family Turdidae ** List of thrush species * Antthrushes, the Formicariidae family of birds * Dohrn's warbler, or Dohrn's thrush-babbler, a species ''Sylvia dohrni'' in the famil ...

dove Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

, parrot, rooster from the mountain (extinct),

kestrel The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover ...

heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...

, sparrows,

swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

Mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

nutria The nutria () or coypu () (''Myocastor coypus'') is a herbivore, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent from South America. Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, ''Myocastor'' has since been included within Echimy ...

, among others. Fish:

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

native (locally extinct),

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

Tourism

Referring to tourism in the district lake,

Lake Llanquihue Llanquihue Lake is the second-largest lake in Chile with an area of about , after Lake General Carrera which is shared with Argentina. It is situated in the southern Los Lagos Region in the Llanquihue and Osorno provinces. The lake's fan-like ...

has beautiful beaches for vacations, fishing and water sports. The most notable include Rupanco Islet, La Baja, Puerto Maitén and Fonck.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Puerto Octay spans an area of and has 10,236 inhabitants (5,391 men and 4,845 women). Of these, 3,403 (33.2%) lived in urban areas and 6,833 (66.8%) in rural areas. The population fell by 7.4% (815 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Puerto Octay 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. 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 ...

, Puerto Octay 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 Fidel Espinoza ( PS) and Carlos Recondo (

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 ...

) as part of the 56th electoral district, together with Puyehue, Río Negro,

Purranque Purranque is a city in the Chilean Los Lagos Region, which lies on the Pan-American Highway about north of Puerto Montt. It is part of the Osorno Province. History The first ethnically identifiable inhabitants of the area were Huilliches, an ind ...

, Fresia,

Frutillar Frutillar is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune located in southern Chile, Chilean Patagonia, in Llanquihue Province, within the Los Lagos Region, the lake district. The bay of Frutillar is placed on the banks of Lake L ...

, Llanquihue,

and

Los Muermos Los Muermos is a city and commune in Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region in southern Chile. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Los Muermos spans an area of and has 16,964 inhabitants (8,939 men an ...

. 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 Camilo Escalona Medina (PS) and Carlos Kuschel Silva ( RN) as part of the 17th senatorial constituency (Los Lagos Region).

References

External links

*
Municipality of Puerto OctayHotel HaaseMunicipality of Puerto OctayMunicipal Public Library Puerto OctayLagoLlanquihue.com Information Portal of the communities of the Lake
{{Communes in Los Lagos Region Llanquihue Province Communes of Chile Populated lakeshore places in Chile Populated places established in 1891 Populated places in Osorno Province 1891 establishments in Chile