Longaví (in

Mapudungun Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

: ''snake's head'') 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 ...

located in Linares Province, one of the four

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

s that make up the

Maule Region The Maule Region ( es, Región del Maule, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Talca. The region derives its name from the Maule River which, running westward from the Andes, bisects the region and spans a ...

, in the geographical center of Chile.

Geography

The commune has a surface of and is bordered by Linares in the north, Retiro and Parral in the south, San Javier in the west and

Colbún Colbún (Mapudungun: "Cleaning of the land") is a Chilean List of towns in Chile, town and Communes of Chile, commune in Linares Province, Maule Region. The commune has a population of over 17,000 inhabitants and covers an area of , making it the ...

in the east. The Achibueno River separates Longaví from Linares while the Longaví River separates it from Retiro. The city of Longaví lies on the left margin of the Liguay River, in the fertile central plain, and is located to the south of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, the nation's capital, and to the south of Linares, the provincial

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

. Longaví is linked with the rest of the country by the

Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...

('' Ruta 5 Sur''). The

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

occupy the eastern part of the commune. The terrain there is mountainous and hilly, with beautiful landscapes, a well-developed hydrographic network and dense woods on the hills. Among the snow-covered mountains, the mountain Longaví (

Nevado de Longaví Nevado de Longaví is a volcano in the Andes of central Chile. The high volcano lies in the Linares Province, which is part of the Maule Region. It features a summit crater and several parasitic vents. The volcano is constructed principally from ...

), a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

, stands for its beauty and characteristic conical shape. It is a scenic spot seen from virtually every point of the central plain of the province and its neighboring ones.

Demography

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 ...

, the Longaví commune has 28,161 inhabitants (14,649 men and 13,512 women). Of these, 21,955 (78.0%) lived in

rural 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 describ ...

areas, while the city of Longaví had a population of 6,206 (22.0%). Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 0.5% (143 persons).

Notable people born in Longaví

Arturo Alessandri Palma Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma (; December 20, 1868 – August 24, 1950) was a Chilean political figure and reformer who served thrice as president of Chile, first from 1920 to 1924, then from March to October 1925, and finally from 1932 to ...

: politician, statesman and twice the President of Chile

History

Most of what is today the commune of Longaví occupies what was formerly a vast

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

estate, The land had been granted to the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

in 1639. After the Jesuits' expulsion from South America in 1767, the estate passed to the hands of Mateo Sotomayor. In 1904, the village of Longaví was officially created and the commune was founded in 1937.

Economy

Agriculture, in particular the cultivation of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

and other

cereal A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...

s, constitutes the main economic activity of Longaví.

Administration

As a commune, Longaví 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 Mario Briones Araice ( PPD).The municipal council has the following members: * Matusalen Villar Morales( DC) * Manuel San Martín Romero ( RN) * Robín Araya Acevedo (

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 ...

) * Luis Briones Araice ( PRSD) * Gonzalo Jara Reyes ( PPD) * Lisandro Villalobos Tapia (

) 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 ...

, Longaví 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 ...

Guillermo Ceroni Guillermo Arturo Ceroni Fuentes (born 30 July 1946) is a Chilean politician who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, representing District 40 of the Maule Region. He served as Provisional President of the Chamber of Deputies follo ...

( PPD) and

Ignacio Urrutia Ignacio Urrutia Bonilla (born 16 September 1957) is a Chilean people, Chilean politician who has served in the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chamber of Deputies since 2002. Urrutia is a supporter of Augusto Pinochet. In 2021, he campaigned and v ...

(

) as part of the 40th electoral district, together with Retiro, Parral,

Cauquenes Cauquenes, a city and commune in Chile, is the capital of the Cauquenes Province and is located in the Maule Region. History According to the historical records of Alonso de Ercilla, Cauquenes was originally inhabited by an indigenous community o ...

Pelluhue Pelluhue (in Mapudungun: ''land of clams'') is a town and commune in the Cauquenes Province of central Chile's seventh region of Maule. Geography The commune of Pelluhue has an area of and is bordered on the north by Chanco, on the south by C ...

and Chanco. 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 ...

Hernán Larraín Hernán Larraín Fernández (born September 21, 1947) is a conservative Chilean lawyer, university lecturer, and politician; he served as the Chilean Minister of Justice and Human rights, appointed by president Sebastián Piñera, between 2018 ...

and Manuel Matta ( PDC) as part of the 11th senatorial constituency (Maule-South).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longavi Populated places in Linares Province Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1937 1937 establishments in Chile