La Ligua () is a

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 ...

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 ...

, capital of the

Petorca Province Petorca Province ( es, Provincia de Petorca) is one of eight provinces of the central Chilean region of Valparaíso (V). Its capital is the city of La Ligua. Administration As a province, Petorca is a second-level administrative division, governe ...

Valparaíso Region The Valparaíso Region ( es, Región de Valparaíso, links=no, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , ...

. The city is known for its

textile manufacturing Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

and traditional Chilean pastry production.

Demographics

According to data from the 2002 Census of Population and Housing, La Ligua had 31,987 inhabitants; of these, 24,214 (75.7%) 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 7,773 (24.3%) 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 16,079 men and 15,908 women.

Administration

As a

, La Ligua 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 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 2008-2012 alcalde was Rodrigo Sánchez Villalobos. The communal council has the following members: * Hugo Díaz Tapia * Ana Ardiles Saavedra * María Teresa Cerda García * Marisol Leiva Cortés * Juan Yáñez Peña * Ernesto Molina Miranda 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 ...

, La Ligua belongs to the 10th electoral district and 5th senatorial constituency.

References

External links

*
Municipality of La Ligua
Populated places in Petorca Province Capitals of Chilean provinces Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1754 1750s establishments in the Captaincy General of Chile 1754 establishments in the Viceroyalty of Peru {{Valparaíso-geo-stub