The Commune of Santiago is the central commune of the Santiago Province, located at the center of the

Santiago Metropolitan Region Santiago Metropolitan Region () is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago. Most commercial and administrative centers are loc ...

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 ...

's Central Zone. Locally, Santiago is usually abbreviated ''Stgo.'' It is also called as "Santiago Centro" ''(Central Santiago or Downtown Santiago)'' in order to differentiate it from Greater Santiago, a larger entity which includes Santiago Commune along with other 36 communes.

History

At the time of its founding in 1541, the territory corresponding to the city of Santiago was completely contained in what is now known as the commune of Santiago, so it is common to affirm that the founding date of the commune of Santiago is the same as that of the city, although the term "commune" began to be used many years later when the city far exceeded its original limits. Thus, the commune of Santiago shares its history with the first decades of the city of the same name, encompassing the oldest part of the city — that enclosed by old rail lines — including downtown, and houses all major government infrastructure, including the government palace

La Moneda Palacio de La Moneda (, ''Palace of the Mint''), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the president of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency, and General Sec ...

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, the commune has an area of and a population of 200,792 (99,155 men and 101,637 women), giving it a population density of . The population shrank by 13.1% (30,185 persons) in the ten years since the 1992 population of 230,977. In 2002, there were 17,514 households, each with an average income of US$38,648 in PPP terms in 2006. The commune is subdivided into 29 census districts.

Administration

As a commune, Santiago 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 a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

who is directly elected every four years. For the 2024-2028 term, the mayor is Mario Desbordes Jiménez ( RN), and the communal council has the following members: * Luis Mackenna Irarrázaval ( UDI) * Vicente Martínez Álvarez ( REP) * Carolina Prieto Núñez ( REP) * Dafne Concha Ferrando ( PCCh) * Camila Davagnino Reyes ( PCCh) * Ana Yáñez Varas ( FA) * Juan Mena Echeverría ( RN) * Santiago Mekis Arnolds ( RN) * María José Ramírez Calquin ( RN) * Claudia Ramírez Martínez ( PAVP) 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 ...

, Santiago 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 Gonzalo Winter ( CS), Lorena Fries ( Unir), Emilia Schneider ( COM), Alejandra Placencia ( PCCh), Helia Molina ( PPD), Jorge Alessandri Vergara ( UDI), María Luisa Cordero (Ind- RN) and Johannes Kaiser ( PLR) as part of the 10th electoral district. 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 Fabiola Campillai Rojas (

Ind Ind or IND may refer to: General * Independent (politician), a politician not affiliated to any political party * Independent station, used within television program listings and the television industry for a station that is not affiliated with ...

), Claudia Pascual ( PCCh), Luciano Cruz Coke ( EVO), Manuel José Ossandon ( RN) and Rojo Edwards ( PLR) as part of the 7th senatorial constituency (

References

External links

* *
Municipality of Santiago
*
ZIP Code Santiago
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Santiago, Chile Populated places in Santiago Province, Chile 1541 establishments in the Spanish Empire Populated places established in 1541