Quintero 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 Valparaíso Province, in the Valparaíso Region, 30 kilometers north of Valparaíso. The commune spans an area of . It was the first port in the country, created during the expedition of Diego de Almagro. Fundición Ventanas and other heavy industries are located in the commune of Quintero.

History

The name of the city comes from Alonso Quintero, the Spanish navigator who discovered the bay in 1536 when he arrived on the ship ''Santiaguillo''. In the early years of 21st century, Quintero has become famous as a symbol of insufficient environmental policies. Since the beginnings of 20th century when an industrialization politics started, in the zone were built a thermoelectric coal plant by Chilectra (currently Enel Américas) and the copper smelter Fundición Ventanas by Codelco in the nearby town of the same

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

; arriving to this date (2019) to be a zone informally known as Industrial Park Quintero- Puchuncaví, including oil industries, liquefied gas terminals, and chemical industries among others, which has caused the bay and surroundings to be considered a " sacrifice zone". Multiple protests about the gradual environmental destruction were unsuccessful, until a serious episode of mass poisoning in August 2018 put a spotlight on the city's situation and its surroundings in Quintero Bay causing investigations by the

Senate of Chile The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile. Composition According to the present Constitution of Chile, the Senate is composed of forty ...

. By October 2019, the situation remains unresolved.

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, Quintero had 21,174 inhabitants (10,390 men and 10,784 women). Of these, 18,719 (88.4%) 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 2,455 (11.6%) 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 ...

s. The population grew by 19% (3,378 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. The demonym for a man from Quintero is ''Quinterano'' and ''Quinterana'' for a woman.

Administration

As a commune, Quintero 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 José Varas Zuñiga. 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 ...

, Quintero 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 Eduardo Cerda ( PDC) and Andrea Molina ( UDI) as part of the 10th electoral district, together with La Ligua, Petorca, Cabildo, Papudo, Zapallar, Puchuncaví, Nogales, Calera, La Cruz, Quillota and

Hijuelas Hijuelas () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in the Quillota Province of central Chile's fifth Regions of Chile, region of Valparaíso Region, Valparaíso. Geography Hijuelas spans an area of in Chile's Zona C ...

. 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 Ignacio Walker Prieto ( PDC) and Lily Pérez San Martín ( RN) as part of the 5th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Cordillera).

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Quintero has a

warm-summer mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Quintero, Chile
/ref>

References

External links

Municipality of Quintero
{{Communes in Valparaíso Region Populated places in Valparaíso Province Communes of Chile Port cities in Chile Populated places established in 1865 1865 establishments in Chile Coasts of Valparaíso Region