Calbuco 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 ...

in southern

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 ...

administered by the Municipality of Calbuco. Administratively Calbuco belongs to the

Llanquihue Province Llanquihue Province ( es, Provincia de Llanquihue) is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Los Lagos (X). Its capital is Puerto Montt. Chile's second largest lake, Lake Llanquihue, is located in the province as well as four volcanoes: ...

Los Lagos Region Los Lagos Region ( es, Región de Los Lagos , ''Region of the Lakes'') is one of Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains ...

. The origin of the city was the Spanish Fort Calbuco founded in 1603, and became later an important fish market. The archaeological site of

Monte Verde Monte Verde is an archaeological site in the Llanquihue Province in southern Chile, located near Puerto Montt, Southern Chile, which has been dated to as early as 18,500 cal BP (16,500 BC). Previously, the widely accepted date for early occup ...

lies within the commune.

Calbuco Island Calbuco Island (also Caicaén Island) is an island in the commune of Calbuco, Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost ...

is part of the commune and contains the city of Calbuco. There are thirteen other islands in the commune: Huar, Puluqui, Chidhuapi, Tabón, Mayelhue, Lín, Quenu, Quihua, Huapi Abtao, Chaullín, Caicué o lagartija, Tautil and Queullín.

History

The settlement of Calbuco grew out of the fort ''Fuerte San Miguel de Calbuco'' which was founded in 1603 by

Francisco Hernández Ortiz-Pizarro Francisco Hernández Ortiz-Pizarro (1555–1613) was the founder of Fort Calbuco. He was born in Villacastín, Spain. Having survived the Destruction of the Seven Cities he led a group of loyal Huilliches to the area of Chacao Channel The Cha ...

. Calbuco was the capital of

Calbuco Department, Chiloé Calbuco Department was a Department of Chile. History * Before 4 July 1834: The territory was the Delegation of Calbuco, which was part of the Province of Chiloé, which was established on 30 August 1826. * 4 July 1834: Created, as part of Chiloé ...

between 1834 and 1855, and of Carelmapu Department between 1855 and 1928. It was capital of

Calbuco Department, Llanquihue Calbuco Department was a Department of Chile. History * Before 4 July 1834: The territory was the Delegation of Calbuco, which was part of the Province of Chiloé, which was established on 30 August 1826. * 4 July 1834: Created, as part of Chiloé ...

between 1937 and 1975.

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 the

National Statistics Institute National Institute of Statistics may refer to: *National Institute of Statistics of Bolivia *National Institute of Statistics of Cambodia *National Institute of Statistics and Census of Costa Rica *National Institute of Statistics and Census of Nica ...

, Calbuco spans an area of and has 31,070 inhabitants (15,906 men and 15,164 women). Of these, 12,165 (39.2%) 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, t ...

s and 18,905 (60.8%) 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. The population grew by 15% (4,043 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Settlements

Besides the town of Calbuco, Calbuco Comuna is also home to the settlements of:

Pargua Pargua is a village in Calbuco Comuna, in Los Lagos Region of Chile. It is located on the northeast side of the Chacao Channel. Pargua is on Route 5 (''Ruta 5 Sur'') and a ferry connects the village with the village of Chacao, Ancud Comuna at t ...

, Puluqui Island, San Rafael and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The town of San Rafael is across the estuary from the town of Calbuco. Texas was a refugee camp built after the 1960 earthquake on the outskirts of San Rafael; it has become semi-permanent. Pargua is the ferry port and gateway to the

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago ( es, Archipiélago de Chiloé, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and t ...

and the big island of Chiloé. Pargua was considered rural until the 2002 census, and the 800+ people on Puluqui Island are still denominated as "rural" although clustered around the bay where the daily barge docks.

Administrative divisions

Calbuco Comuna is divided into twenty districts. Calbuco is the most populous with the highest population density, while Río Tambor is the largest at and has the lowest density. Alfaro, Quenu, Puluqui, Challahue, Machildad, Chucahua, Quetrolauquén, Aguantao, Huayún and Río Tambor are more sparsely populated, further away from the towns of Calbuco and San Rafael.

Administration

As a

, Calbuco 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, rural counci ...

, 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) a ...

who is directly elected every four years. The alcalde is Rubén Cárdenas Gómez ( PRSD), and the council has the following members: * Pedro Yáñez Uribe ( PRI) * Juan Francisco Calbucoy Guerrero ( PS) * Oscar González Almonacid ( PS) * Sergio García Alvarez (Ind-

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 ...

) * Iván Vásquez Gómez ( PRSD) * Manuel Oyarzo Barría (

PRO Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...

) Within the

electoral divisions of Chile Chile has two distinct electoral division systems: * To elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate, Chile is divided into several electoral divisions, namely electoral districts and senatorial constituencies. * To elect members of ...

, Calbuco 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 R ...

by Marisol Turres (

) and Patricio Vallespín ( PDC) as part of the 57th electoral district, together with

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune spa ...

Cochamó Cochamó is a Chilean town and commune located in Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The capital of the commune is the town of ''Río Puelo'', which is named after the Puelo River. History This sprawling commune was established in 1979; its ...

and

Maullín Maullín is Chilean town and commune in Llanquihue Province which is part of Los Lagos Region. The commune is located in at the outflow of Maullín River. History In 1674, there was a group of soldiers Basques in the present position of the commu ...

. 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 Camilo Escalona Medina ( PS) and Carlos Kuschel Silva ( RN) as part of the 17th senatorial constituency (Los Lagos Region).

References

External links

*
Municipality of Calbuco
{{Coord, 41, 46, S, 73, 08, W, display=title, region:CL_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1603 Port cities in Chile Populated places in Llanquihue Province 1603 establishments in the Spanish Empire