Vallenar is a

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 Atacama Region,

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 is the capital of the

Huasco Province Huasco Province (, ) is one of three provinces of the northern Chilean region of Atacama (III). Vallenar is the capital city. Geography and demography According to the 2012 census by the National Statistics Institute, the province spans an area ...

and is located in the valley of the

Huasco River Huasco River is a river of Chile located in the Huasco Province, Atacama Region. Its headwaters in the upper catchments in high-altitude Andes glaciers are the Estrecho River, a tributary of El Tránsito River (catchment area 4,135 km2), and Po ...

. Vallenar has 52,000 inhabitants. Its main activities are farming and mining. It was founded as San Ambrosio de Ballenary by

Ambrose O'Higgins Ambrosio Bernardo O'Higgins y O'Higgins, 1st Marquess of Osorno (c. 1720 – 19 March 1801) born Ambrose Bernard O'Higgins (''Ambrós Bearnárd Ó hUiginn'', in Irish), was an Irish-Spanish colonial administrator and a member of the O'Higgins f ...

in 1789, after his birthplace in

Ballynary Ballynary () is a townland on the eastern shore of Lough Arrow in south County Sligo, Ireland. Ballynary was the ancestral seat of the O'Higgins family (or in Irish) for 700 years, until they were forced off their lands in 1654 by Oliver Crom ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Llanos de Challe National Park Llanos de Challe National Park is located on the Pacific coast of the Atacama Region, Chile. The nearly-rainless park's mountains are moistened by the Camanchaca, creating a fog and mist-fed ecosystem called lomas (Spanish for "hills"). The park ...

is located northwest of the city of Vallenar.

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 ...

by the National Statistics Institute, Vallenar had 48,040 inhabitants (23,284 men and 24,756 women). Of these, 43,750 (91.1%) 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 4,290 (8.9%) 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 1.7% (792 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Vallenar 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. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Cristian Tapia Ramos. 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 ...

, Vallenar 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 Mr. Alberto Robles ( PRSD) and Mr. Giovanni Calderón (

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 6th electoral district, (together with

Caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

, Tierra Amarilla,

Freirina Freirina is a Chilean commune and town in Huasco Province, Atacama Region. The commune spans an area of . Demographics According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute, Freirina had 5,666 inhabitants; of these, 3,469 (61.2%) ...

Huasco Huasco () is a Chilean city and commune, in the Huasco Province, Atacama Region. It is the central town of a mining district dominated by medium-scale mining. The port city of Huasco is located 50 km west of Vallenar and close to the tow ...

and

Alto del Carmen Alto del Carmen is a Chilean commune and village in Huasco Province, Atacama Region. The commune spans an area of . The commune has an economy based on agriculture, in particular grapes for pisco, and mining. The discovery of valuable black ...

). 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 ...

Isabel Allende Bussi María Isabel Allende Bussi (, , ; born 18 January 1945) is a Chilean politician. A member of the Socialist Party and the youngest daughter of former president of Chile Salvador Allende and Hortensia Bussi, Allende served as a deputy from 19 ...

( PS) and Baldo Prokurica Prokurica ( RN) as part of the 3rd senatorial constituency (Atacama Region).

Climate

Notable people

Yasna Provoste Yasna Provoste Campillay (born 16 December 1969) is a Chilean people, Chilean teacher and Christian Democrat Party of Chile, Christian Democrat politician of Diaguita descent who served as a minister (government), minister during the presidenci ...

* Ricardo Francisco Rojas

References

External links

*
Municipality of Vallenar
{{Authority control Capitals of Chilean provinces Communes of Chile Populated places in Huasco Province Atacama Desert Populated places established in 1789 1789 establishments in the Spanish Empire