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 Valparaíso Province () is one of eight provinces of the central Chilean region of Valparaíso (V). Its capital is the coastal city of Valparaíso (pop. 275,982). Administration As a province, Valparaíso is a second-level administrative division ...

, in the

Valparaíso Region The Valparaíso Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 Regions of Chile, first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , the region is Chile's sec ...

, 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 Diego de Almagro (; – July 8, 1538), also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador known for his exploits in western South America. He participated with Francisco Pizarro in the Spanish conquest of Peru. While subduing ...

Fundición Ventanas Fundición Ventanas is a copper smelter plant in Quintero, Valparaíso Region, Chile. It is owned by Codelco. The plant produces a significant amount of sulfuric acid. Its emissions of sulfur dioxide, an atmospheric contaminant, is within the limits ...

and other heavy industries are located in the commune of Quintero.

History

The name of the city comes from Alonso Quintero, the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

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 The National Copper Corporation of Chile (), abbreviated as Codelco, is a Chilean state-owned mining company and the largest copper mining company in the world. It was formed in 1976 from foreign-owned copper companies that were nationalised in 1 ...

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 Puchuncaví is a town and commune in the Valparaíso Province of central Chile's fifth region of Valparaíso. It spans a coastal area of . History The history of Puchuncaví and its surroundings goes back over 500 years, being one of the oldest ...

, including oil industries, liquefied gas terminals, and chemical industries among others, which has caused the bay and surroundings to be considered a "

sacrifice zone A sacrifice zone or sacrifice area (often termed a national sacrifice zone or national sacrifice area) is a geographic area that has been permanently changed by heavy environmental alterations (usually to a negative degree) or economic disinvestme ...

". 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 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''. S ...

(

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 10th electoral district, together with

La Ligua La Ligua () is a city and commune that is the capital of Petorca Province in the Valparaíso Region. It is known for its textile manufacturing and traditional Chilean pastries. Demographics According to data from the 2002 Census of Population an ...

Petorca Petorca is a Chilean town and commune located in the Petorca Province, Valparaíso Region. The commune spans an area of . Since 2010 Petorca has been affected by a long-term drought aggravated by poor water administration that have allowed lim ...

, Cabildo,

Papudo Papudo is a Chilean commune located in the Petorca Province, Valparaíso Region. Most of its permanent residents live in the small town of the same name, whereas primarily new development for the affluent population of Santiago concentrates in t ...

Zapallar Zapallar is a commune and a town located in Chile's Petorca Province, a part of the Valparaíso Region. It covers 288 km2 (111 square miles) of land. Zapallar is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean approximately 125 km (78 miles) mil ...

, Nogales, Calera, La Cruz,

Quillota Quillota is a city located in the valley of the Aconcagua River in Valparaíso Region, Chile. It is the capital and largest city of Quillota Province. It is surrounded by the localities of San Isidro, La Palma, Pocochay, and San Pedro. It is ...

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 ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world ...

( 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