Quintero is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

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 Enel Americas is a conglomerate of electric energy companies operating in South America and Central America countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala. Through its affiliates it generates, transmits and distrib ...

) and the copper smelter Fundición Ventanas by Codelco in the nearby town of the same name; 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-th ...

. By October 2019, the situation remains unresolved.

Demographics

According to the 2002

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

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, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...

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 typically are des ...

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 administered by a communal council, headed by an

alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) ...

who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is José Varas Zuñiga. Within the electoral divisions of Chile, 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 Bourbon ...

by Eduardo Cerda (

PDC PDC may refer to: In science and technology Chemistry, biology and medicine * Phosducin, a human protein and gene in the retina * Pyridinium dichromate (Cornforth reagent), a chromium-based oxidant * Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, an enzyme ...

) and

Andrea Molina Andrea Molina Oliva (born 28 March 1970) is a Chilean actress, businesswoman, and politician. Early in her acting career, she gained popularity for her starring role in ''Las historias de Sussi'', a TV series adapted from the film '' Sussi''. She ...

( UDI) as part of the 10th electoral district, together with La Ligua, Petorca, Cabildo, Papudo, Zapallar, Puchuncaví, Nogales, Calera, La Cruz, Quillota and Hijuelas. 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 e ...

Ignacio Walker Prieto Ignacio is a male Spanish and Galician name originating either from the Roman family name Egnatius, meaning born from the fire, of Etruscan origin, or from the Latin name "Ignatius" from the word "Ignis" meaning "fire". This was the name of sev ...

(

) and

Lily Pérez San Martín ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...

( RN) as part of the 5th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Cordillera).

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

system, Quintero has a

warm-summer mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

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