Providencia (, Spanish: "providence") is a commune of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

located in Santiago City. It is bordered by the communes of Santiago to the west, Recoleta to the northwest, Las Condes and Vitacura to the northeast, La Reina to the east, and Ñuñoa to the south. It belongs to the Northeastern zone of Santiago de Chile. Providencia is home to a large upper middle to upper-class population and it holds the region's highest percentage of population over 60 (22%). It contains many high-rise apartment buildings as well as a significant portion of Santiago's commerce. It is notable for its large, old, and elegant houses, once inhabited by the Santiago elite and now mostly used as offices. The municipality is also home to many embassies, including Canada, Poland, Hungary, Italy, France, Egypt, Russia, Japan, China, and Uruguay. Providencia has one of the highest human development indexes of any city in Latin America.

Demographics

According to the 2017

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of the National Statistics Institute, Providencia spans an area of and has 142,079 inhabitants (65,710 men and 76,369 women), and the commune is an entirely

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

. The population grew by 17.54% (21,205 persons) between the 2002 and 2017 censuses.

Indicators

*Area: 14.4 km²Sistema de Información Regional
Ministry of Planning of Chile. *Population: 126,436 (2009 projection) *Average annual household income: US$53,767 ( PPP, 2006) *Population below poverty line: 3.5% (2006) *Regional quality of life index: 83.01, high, 5 out of 52 (2005) *

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...

: 0.911, 4 out of 341 (2003)

Notable residents

Patricio Aylwin Patricio Aylwin Azócar (; 26 November 1918 – 19 April 2016) was a Chilean politician from the Christian Democratic Party of Chile, Christian Democratic Party, lawyer, author, professor and former senator. He was the 30th president of Chil ...

, former president * Ricardo Lagos, former president * Gabriel Valdés, former senator

Administration

As a commune, Providencia 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, borough cou ...

, headed by an

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

who is directly elected every four years. The current alcaldesa is Jaime Bellolio Avaria ( UDI). The communal council has the following members: * María Eugenia Pino García ( FA) * Cristóbal Lagos González ( FA) * Isabel Labbé Martínez ( UDI) * María Carolina Plaza Guzmán (Ind/ UDI) * Valentina Alarcón Chávez ( Evópoli) * María Fernanda Maquieira Borgoño ( RN) * Mauricio Labbé Barría ( RN) * María Antonieta Saa Díaz ( PPD) * Rodrigo Valenzuela Báez ( REP) * Solange Wolleter Dávila ( REP) Providencia belongs to Electoral District No. 10, with

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, Ñuñoa, La Granja, Macul and San Joaquín, and to the 7th ( Senatorial) District ( Santiago Metropolitan Region). It 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 Bourb ...

of the National Congress by the deputies Gonzalo Winter ( CS), Jorge Alessandri Vergara ( UDI), Johannes Kaiser ( REP), María Luisa Cordero (IND), Lorena Fries (IND), Helia Molina ( PPD), Alejandra Placencia ( PC) and Emilia Schneider ( COM). The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has its headquarters in Providencia.Portada
." Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Retrieved on 12 April 2012. "Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil, DGAC : Miguel Claro 1314, Providencia, Santiago de Chile :: Clasificador 3, Correo 9"

Landmarks

Providencia is home to Barrio Bellavista, a bohemian neighborhood known for its vibrant community of artists and performers. Barrio Bellavista lies in the shadow of Cerro San Cristóbal, a prominent hill in the city topped by a 22m statue of The Virgin Mary. The northern part of Providencia serves as its financial and commercial hub, centered around Providencia and Nueva Providencia (formerly 11 de Septiembre) avenues, while the rest of the commune features high-end residential developments. Other notable areas of interest in Providencia include the Metropolitan Zoo; the Teleférico, an aerial gondola that transports passengers from Pedro de Valdivia Norte Street to the top of Cerro San Cristóbal; and the headquarters of several television networks and Radio Cooperativa.

References

External links

* *
Municipality of Providencia
{{Communes in Santiago Metropolitan Region Geography of Santiago, Chile Populated places in Santiago Province, Chile Communes of Chile Diplomatic districts Populated places established in 1897 1897 establishments in Chile