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 ...
of the
Ranco Province
El Ranco Province ( es, link=no, Provincia del Ranco) is one of two provinces of the southern Chilean region of Los Ríos. It is named after Ranco Lake shared by the communes (''comunas'') of Futrono and Lago Ranco. The lake is drained by the ...
in the
Los Ríos Region
The Los Ríos Region (Spanish: ''Región de Los Ríos'', , ''Region of the Rivers'') is one of Chile's 16 regions, the country's first-order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. It began to operate as a region on October 2, 2007, ...
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 ...
. It is situated approximately 40 km north of Osorno and 80 km southeast of
Valdivia
Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau R ...
. Covering an area of 2,136.7 km2, it has a population of 36,447, of which 25,615 are considered part of the urban population, according to the 2012 census. The commune derived its name from the confluence of the Llollelhue and Radimadi rivers.
La Unión was founded in 1821 during the government of
Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Althou ...
, to secure sovereignty over the Central Valley south of Valdivia. It is a major centre for milk production;
COLUN Colun or Colún may refer to:
* Cooperativa Agrícola y Lechera de La Unión Limitada (COLUN or Colún), a Chilean dairy cooperative company
* Colún Beach, in Chile
* Colún River, in Chile
*Colun, a village in Porumbacu de Jos
Porumbacu de Jos ( ...
is the main milk and dairy product producer in the zone. The commune is covered in forest to the west of the city and the east is dominated by agricultural landscapes spanning Los Llanos. Alerce Costero National Park lies in the western mountains.
The city served until 2001 as a
dormitory town
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
for the
coal mines
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
of
Catamutún Catamutún is a coal mine and locality in Los Ríos Region, Chile.Carbon . CNE. Accessed on September 10. 2012.
Demographics
According to the 2002 census 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 ...
, La Unión spans an area of and has 39,447 inhabitants (20,125 men and 19,322 women). Of these, 25,615 (64.9%) lived in urban areas and 13,832 (35.1%) in rural areas. The population grew by 1.8% (707 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.
Administration
As a commune, La Unión 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 2012-2016 alcalde is María Angelica Astudillo Mautz.
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 Unión 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 Mr. Enrique Jaramillo ( PDC) and Mr. Gastón Von Mühlenbrock (
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 54th electoral district, together with
Panguipulli
Panguipulli ( ; Mapudungun for "hill of the puma") is a city and commune in Valdivia Province, southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Panguipulli. It is located on the western edge of Panguipulli Lake, and is on a moraine in the Ch ...
Futrono
Futrono (from the Mapudungun: ''Futronhue'', meaning "place of smoke") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Futrono. It is located in Ranco Province in Los Ríos Re ...
Paillaco
Paillaco is a city and commune in southern Chile. It is located in Valdivia Province of Los Ríos Region, and is about 48 km southeast of Valdivia, Chile , Valdivia.
Demographics
According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute ...
. The commune is represented in the as part of the 16th senatorial constituency (Los Ríos Region).
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
(West Germany). 23 June 1965. Retrieved on 12 March 2016. p. 24/51.