Arauco is a

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 def ...

and

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

( es, comuna) in

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 east a ...

, located in

Arauco Province Arauco Province ( es, Provincia de Arauco) is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Bío Bío. It spans a coastal area of just south of the mouth of the Biobío River, the traditional demarcation between the nation's major natural reg ...

in the Bío Bío Region. The meaning of Arauco means Chalky Water in Mapudungun. The region was a

Moluche The Moluche ("people from where the sun sets" or "people from the west") or Nguluche are an indigenous people of Chile. Their language was a dialect of Mapudungun, a Mapuche language. At the beginning of the Conquest of Chile by the Spanish Empire ...

aillarehue Aillarehue or Ayllarehue (from the Mapudungun: ayllarewe/ayjarewe: "nine rehues"); a confederation of rehues or family-based units (lof) that dominated a region or province. It was the old administrative and territorial division of the Mapuche, H ...

. The Spanish settlements founded here during the

Conquest of Chile The Conquest of Chile is a period in Chilean historiography that starts with the arrival of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile in 1541 and ends with the death of Martín García Óñez de Loyola in the Battle of Curalaba in 1598, and the destruction of ...

were destroyed on numerous occasions by the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...

during the

Arauco War The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities and force Mapuche ...

History

Old Arauco

In 1552

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, wh ...

the first

governor of Chile The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General. There were 66 such governors or captains du ...

, founded a fort, named ''San Felipe de Rauco'' or ''de Araucan''. It was east of the location of the modern city of Arauco in the part of the valley immediately on the South or left bank of the

Carampangue River Carampangue River is a small river in Arauco Province, Bío Bío Region of Chile. It has its main source in the hill of la Piedra, South of the Heights of Purgatorio in the Nahuelbuta Range southwest of the town of Santa Juana, and it runs to the ...

at the point where on the opposite bank it receives the riachuelo of Conumo. Valdivia planned it to be the base for a city he planned to found. The Mapuche destroyed the fort in 1554, after killing Valdivia's insane

mother-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-la ...

. It was raised again after the

battle of Quiapo Battle of Quiapo in the Arauco War was the final battle in the campaign of García Hurtado de Mendoza against the Mapuche under the toqui known as Lemucaguin or Caupolicán the younger. It was fought in Quiapo, Arauco Province, Chile on Decem ...

, by

García Hurtado de Mendoza García or Garcia may refer to: People * García (surname) * Kings of Pamplona/Navarre ** García Íñiguez of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 851/2–882 ** García Sánchez I of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 931–970 ** García Sánchez II of Pam ...

in 1559. Destroyed again in 1563 it was rebuilt again in 1566 by

Rodrigo de Quiroga Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa (c. 1512 – February 20, 1580) was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He was twice the Royal Governor of Chile. Early life He was the son of Hernado Camba de Quiroga and of María López de Ulloa. In ...

and became a small town, that remained so without growing until being transferred to the current site of the city of Arauco.

Arauco

The population of old Araucan was moved in 1590 by Governor Don

Alonso de Sotomayor Alonso de Sotomayor y Valmediano (; 1545–1610) was a Spanish conquistador from Extremadura, and a Royal Governor of Chile. Early life He was born in Trujillo, in the province of Extremadura, the son of Gutiérrez de Sotomayor e Hinojosa a ...

to the seacoast, four kilometers to southwest of the mouth of the Carampangue River located between its beach on the Bay of Arauco and the hill on the southwestern side of the place called ''cerro de Colocólo''. The lands for the site were ceded by the cacique Colocólo, and it was named ''Villa de San Ildefonso de Arauco''. However, six years later,

Martín García Óñez de Loyola Don Martín García Óñez de Loyola (1549 in Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa – December 24, 1598 at Curalaba) was a Spanish Basque soldier and Royal Governor of the Captaincy General of Chile. Very likely Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of ...

transferred it to its present site, a fort raised on the slope of the Cerro Colocólo and gave it the name of ''Ciudad de San Felipe de Araucan''. In the great Mapuche Uprising of 1598, that followed the death of Governor Loyola, it was destroyed by the Mapuche once again. It was recovered by Governor

Alonso de Ribera Alonso de Ribera y Zambrano (; 1560 – March 9, 1617) was a Spanish soldier and twice Spanish royal governor of Chile (1601–1605 and 1612–1617). Early life Born in Úbeda, he was the illegitimate son of Hidalgo and Captain Jorge de Ribera Za ...

in 1603, it continued to be harassed by the Mapuche until its inhabitants were forced to leave it in another great rising in 1655. Governor

Ángel de Peredo Ángel de Peredo (born 1623 in Queveda, Cantabria, Spain) was a Knight of the Order of Santiago. He was the President of the Real Audiencia of Chile and then temporary Royal Governor of Chile from May 1662 to February 1664. During his government ...

recovered it in 1662 and Governor

Francisco de Meneses Brito Francisco de Meneses Brito (died 1672) was Royal Governor of Chile between 1664 and 1667. Biography Born in Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that ma ...

in 1665. Under the government of Don Juan Henríquez de Villalobos its fort was reconstructed in 1673, and served as the defense of the town until it was destroyed almost completely by the

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

of February 20, 1835. It still suffered from the hostilities of the Mapuche in their uprisings of

1723 Events January–March * January 25 – British pirate Edward Low intercepts the Portuguese ship ''Nostra Signiora de Victoria''. After the Portuguese captain throws his treasure of 11,000 gold coins into the sea rather than s ...

and 1766 and during the

war of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List o ...

in the assault that they made on it on June 4, 1817, with their royalist allies. Population began to gather around this fort and it became the city of Araucan (later Arauco) on December 7, 1852. Later it became the capital of the department of Araucan and now Commune of Arauco in the

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 incl ...

of Population and Housing by the National Statistics Institute (''Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas'' or INE) the commune of Arauco spans an area of had 34,873 inhabitants; of these, 24,269 (69.6%) 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 10,604 (30.4%) 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 descri ...

s. At that time, there were 17,603 men and 17,270 women. The population grew by 17.6% (5,216 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Arauco is a third-level administrative division of Chile 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, rural counc ...

, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Mauricio Alarcón Guzmán (ILE). Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Arauco is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Manuel Monsalve ( PS) and Iván Norambuena (

UDI Udi may refer to: Places * Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria * Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India People * Udi Gal (born 1979), Israeli Olympic sailor * Udi Vaks (born 1979), Israeli Olympic judoka ...

) as part of the 46th electoral district, together with Lota, Lebu,

Curanilahue Curanilahue () is a Chilean commune and city in Arauco Province, Biobío Region. Its name comes from Mapundungun "Cura", meaning "Stone", and "Nilahue" meaning "Ford". Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Instit ...

Los Álamos Los Álamos is a Chilean commune and city in Arauco Province, Biobío Region. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Los Álamos spans an area of and has 18,632 inhabitants (9,456 men and 9,176 women). Of ...

, Cañete,

Contulmo Contulmo ( Mapudungun: "place of transit") is a Chilean town and commune in Arauco Province, Biobío Region. Colonized by Germans of Berlin since 1884. Geography Contulmo spans an area of It is bordered by the commune of Cañete to the north a ...

and

Tirúa Tirúa () is a Chilean commune and town in Arauco Province, Biobío Region. The 2010 Chile earthquake led to a permanent uplift of Tirúa of about 180 cm above sea level, the highest recorded uplift related to the earthquake. This caused a large i ...

. The commune is represented in the Senate by Victor Pérez Varela (UDI) and Mariano Ruiz-Esquide Jara ( PDC) as part of the 13th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Coast).

References

Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile, D. Appleton y Compania, Nueva York, 1899
*
Arauco (Ciudad de), pg. 47-49
*
Arauco Viejo, pg. 50

External links

*
Municipality of Arauco
{{Communes in Bío Bío Region Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1552 Geography of Biobío Region Destroyed cities Populated places in Arauco Province 1552 establishments in the Spanish Empire Colonial fortifications in Chile Coasts of Biobío Region Port cities in Chile