Los Andes, founded on July 31, 1791 as Santa Rosa de Los Andes, 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 the province of the same name, in

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 , ...

("Fifth Region" of Chile). It lies on the route between

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 ...

and Chile's primary border crossing with

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

by way of the summit of the

Uspallata Pass The Uspallata Pass, Bermejo Pass or Cumbre Pass, is an Andean pass which provides a route between the wine-growing region around the Argentine city of Mendoza, the Chilean city Los Andes and Santiago, the Chilean capital situated in the central ...

in 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 ...

mountain range.

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 ...

, Los Andes spans an area of and has 60,198 inhabitants (30,247 men and 29,951 women). Of these, 55,388 (92%) 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 4,810 (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 21% (10,451 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a municipality, Los Andes is a third-level administrative division of Chile governed 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 2008–2012 alcalde is Mauricio Navarro S.. The council has the following members: * Marta Yochum G. * Oscar Araya S. * Alejandro Tapia C. * Sergio Montenegro P. * Ivan Salinas S. * Julio Lobos L. Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Los Andes 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 Marco Antonio Núñez ( PDC) and Gaspar Rivas ( RN) as part of the 11th electoral district, together with San Esteban, Calle Larga,

Rinconada Rinconada () is a city and commune in the Los Andes Province of central Chile's Valparaíso Region. It was created on 18 January 1897 by Federico Errázuriz Echaurren. Since the shrine to house the remains of Saint Teresa of Los Andes was bu ...

, San Felipe, Putaendo, Santa María, Panquehue,

Llaillay Llay-Llay is a town and commune in the San Felipe de Aconcagua Province of central Chile's Valparaíso Region. History The commune was established on 6 April 1875 during the government of President Federico Errázuriz Zañartu, A railway station ...

and

Catemu Catemu is a city and commune in the San Felipe de Aconcagua Province of central Chile's Valparaíso Region. Geography Catemu spans an area of . Demographics According to data from the 2002 Census of Population and Housing, the Catemu commune h ...

. 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 Ignacio Walker Prieto ( PDC) and Lily Pérez San Martín ( RN) as part of the 5th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Cordillera).

Economy

Los Andes principal economy is based on mining and agriculture, with vineyards and grapes being the principal fruit export. Copper and other minor minerals production is handled by Codelco Chile. Until 2004, a Peugeot car plant assembled vehicles in Los Andes (Automotora Franco-Chilena). Peugeot's 404, 504, 505, 205 & 206 models were produced from French and Argentine components, being exported to other Latin American markets.

Transport

Los Andes stands at the beginning of the now derelict metre gauge

Transandine Railway The Transandine Railway ( es, Ferrocarril Trasandino) was a combined rack ( Abt system) and adhesion railway which operated from Mendoza in Argentina, across the Andes mountain range via the Uspallata Pass, to Santa Rosa de Los Andes in Chi ...

, opened in 1910, which once ran to Mendoza in

, providing a link between the broad gauge line from Valparaiso to Los Andes, operated by the Chilean State Railway, and the broad gauge line from Mendoza to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

operated by the

Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway The Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway (BA&P) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Buenos Aires al Pacífico) was one of the ''Big Four'' broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The original concession wa ...

. It is now being reconstructed. Due to the lack of concrete actions to restore this link, the most recent estimations are that the line could be restored around October, 2009. However, as of June 2011, there is no indication of any restorative work underway.Reconstruction
in Spanish

Notable people

* Laura Rodig (1901-1972), painter, sculptor, illustrator, educator

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Los Andes Province Communes of Chile Capitals of Chilean provinces Populated places established in 1791 1791 establishments in the Spanish Empire