Quintero is a Chilean

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 in Valparaíso Province, in the Valparaíso Region, 30 kilometers north of Valparaíso. The commune spans an area of . It was the first port in the country, created during the expedition of Diego de Almagro.

Fundición Ventanas Fundición Ventanas is a copper smelter plant in Quintero, Valparaíso Region, Chile. It is owned by Codelco. The plant produces a significant amount of sulfuric acid. Its emissions of sulfur dioxide, an atmospheric contaminant, is within the limit ...

and other heavy industries are located in the commune of Quintero.

History

The name of the city comes from Alonso Quintero, the Spanish navigator who discovered the bay in 1536 when he arrived on the ship ''Santiaguillo''. In the early years of 21st century, Quintero has become famous as a symbol of insufficient environmental policies. Since the beginnings of 20th century when an industrialization politics started, in the zone were built a thermoelectric coal plant by Chilectra (currently

Enel Américas Enel Americas is a conglomerate of electric energy companies operating in South America and Central America countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala. Through its affiliates it generates, transmits and distrib ...

) and the copper smelter Fundición Ventanas by

Codelco Codelco (''Corporación Nacional'' ''del'' ''Cobre de Chile'' or, in English, the National Copper Corporation of Chile) is a Chilean state-owned copper mining company. It was formed in 1976 from foreign-owned copper companies that were nationali ...

in the nearby town of the same

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...

; arriving to this date (2019) to be a zone informally known as Industrial Park Quintero-

Puchuncaví Puchuncaví is a town and commune in the Valparaíso Province of central Chile's fifth region of Valparaíso. It spans a coastal area of . History The history of Puchuncaví and its surroundings goes back over 500 years, being one of the oldest ...

, including oil industries, liquefied gas terminals, and chemical industries among others, which has caused the bay and surroundings to be considered a " sacrifice zone". Multiple protests about the gradual environmental destruction were unsuccessful, until a serious episode of mass poisoning in August 2018 put a spotlight on the city's situation and its surroundings in Quintero Bay causing investigations by the Senate of Chile. By October 2019, the situation remains unresolved.

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 ...

, Quintero had 21,174 inhabitants (10,390 men and 10,784 women). Of these, 18,719 (88.4%) lived in urban areas and 2,455 (11.6%) in rural areas. The population grew by 19% (3,378 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. The demonym for a man from Quintero is ''Quinterano'' and ''Quinterana'' for a woman.

Administration

As a commune, Quintero 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 communal council, 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 José Varas Zuñiga. 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 ...

, Quintero 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 Eduardo Cerda ( PDC) and

Andrea Molina Andrea Molina Oliva (born 28 March 1970) is a Chilean actress, businesswoman, and politician. Early in her acting career, she gained popularity for her starring role in ''Las historias de Sussi'', a TV series adapted from the film '' Sussi''. She ...

(

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 10th electoral district, together with La Ligua,

Petorca Petorca is a Chilean town and commune located in the Petorca Province, Valparaíso Region. The commune spans an area of . Since 2010 Petorca has been affected by a long-term drought aggravated by poor water administration that have allowed limit ...

, Cabildo, Papudo,

Zapallar The town and commune of Zapallar is in Chile's Petorca Province, which is part of the Valparaíso Region. The community covers 288 km2 (111 square miles) of land. A horseshoe bay protects the beach resort town of Zapallar, which was built alo ...

, Nogales, Calera, La Cruz, Quillota and

Hijuelas Hijuelas () is a city and commune in the Quillota Province of central Chile's fifth region of Valparaíso. Geography Hijuelas spans an area of in Chile's Zona Central. It is known as The Capital of the Flowers (Spanish: ''La Capital de los F ...

. 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 ...

Ignacio Walker Prieto Ignacio is a male Spanish and Galician name originating either from the Roman family name Egnatius, meaning born from the fire, of Etruscan origin, or from the Latin name "Ignatius" from the word "Ignis" meaning "fire". This was the name of sev ...

( PDC) and

Lily Pérez San Martín ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...

( RN) as part of the 5th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Cordillera).

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Quintero has a warm-summer mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Quintero, Chile
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References

External links

Municipality of Quintero
{{Communes in Valparaíso Region Populated places in Valparaíso Province Communes of Chile Port cities in Chile Populated places established in 1865 1865 establishments in Chile Coasts of Valparaíso Region