Nacimiento (, en, Birth) 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 ...

situated in the Bío Bío Province, Bío Bío Region, 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 ...

, and from the closest major city in the region, Concepción. It was first used as a fort for the Spanish army to advance and control the territory, and it was officially baptised on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

of December 1603 with the name of ''Nacimiento de Nuestro Señor'' ( Nativity of Our Lord). Destroyed in the later risings of the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

and repaired in 1665, 1724 and for the last time in 1739, it was transferred with its inhabitants in 1749 to the site of the current town. For a long time it was considered the last frontier of Chile, but after the arrival of foreign investors and developers it became a very prosperous city. The Palacio Gleisner is testament to that early prosperity. Among the rivers that surround the city include the Bío Bío and the Vergara rivers. Industrial practices of

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

companies such as Mininco, Inforsa and Santa Fé (among others) have caused

contaminants Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that spoils, corrupts, infects, makes unfit, or makes inferior a material, physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination Wi ...

to pollute the waters of the Vergara River, which was the life source of local agricultural cultivation.

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 ...

, Nacimiento spans an area of and has 25,971 inhabitants (13,090 men and 12,881 women). Of these, 20,884 (80.4%) 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 5,087 (19.6%) 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 fell by 0.1% (23 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. The town of Nacimiento comprises about 1.4% of the total population of the region.

Administration

As a commune, Nacimiento 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 2008-2012 alcalde is Gerardo Montes Cisternas ( PS). 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 ...

, Nacimiento 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 Juan Lobos (

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 ...

) and José Pérez ( PRSD) as part of the 47th electoral district, together with Los Ángeles,

Tucapel Tucapel is a town and commune in the Bío Bío Province, Bío Bío Region, Chile. It was once a region of Araucanía named for the Tucapel River. The name of the region derived from the rehue and aillarehue of the Moluche people of the area b ...

, Antuco, Quilleco, Santa Bárbara, Quilaco,

Mulchén Mulchén is a city and commune in Bío Bío Province of Bío Bío Region, Chile. It was first settled in 1871 by soldiers during the so-called Pacification of Araucania. In 1875 Mulchén was officially founded. The city is surrounded by a meand ...

Negrete Negrete () is a Chilean town and commune in Bío Bío Province, Bío Bío Region. It is bordered by the commune of Los Ángeles to the north, Renaico to the south, Mulchén to the east and Nacimiento to the west. The town oNegreteis located ...

San Rosendo San Rosendo () is a Chilean city and commune in Bío Bío Province, Bío Bío Region. The city of San Rosendo lies on the gentle slopes of a hill overlooking the confluence of the rivers Bío Bío and Laja, which respectively bound the city ...

, Laja and

Alto Bío Bío The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Wikt:alto#Italian, Italian (Latin: ''Wikt:altus, altus''), historically refers to the counterpoint, contrapuntal Part (music), part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In SATB, 4-part voi ...

. 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 Victor Pérez Varela (

) and Mariano Ruiz-Esquide Jara ( PDC) as part of the 13th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Coast).

References

External links

*
Municipality of Nacimiento
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1603 Populated places in Bío Bío Province 1603 establishments in the Spanish Empire