San Rosendo () 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 ...

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 to the west and south. On the opposite bank of the Laja River is the city of Laja, forming both an incipient conurbation.

History

San Rosendo was first a fort built by the Royal Governor

Martín García Óñez de Loyola Don Martín García Óñez de Loyola (1549 in Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa – December 24, 1598 at Curalaba) was a Spanish Basque soldier and Royal Governor of the Captaincy General of Chile. Very likely Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of ...

in 1593. It was destroyed and burned by 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 s ...

in 1655, it recovered later but did not survive the rising of the Mapuche in 1723. The current settlement grew up around the railroad station in the same location in the later 19th century. Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile, SEGUNDA EDICIÓN CORREGIDA Y AUMENTADA, NUEVA YORK, D. APPLETON Y COMPAÑÍA. 1899. Pg. 725 San Rosendo
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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 in ...

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 ...

, San Rosendo spans an area of and has 3,918 inhabitants (1,930 men and 1,988 women). Of these, 3,249 (82.9%) 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 ...

s and 669 (17.1%) 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 descr ...

s. The population fell by 10.4% (457 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, San Rosendo is a third-level administrative division of Chile 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 counc ...

, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Duverlis Valenzuela Martínez ( RN). Within the electoral divisions of Chile, San Rosendo is represented in the Chamber of Deputies 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 ...

, Nacimiento, Laja and Alto Bío Bío. The commune is represented in the Senate by Victor Pérez Varela (UDI) and Mariano Ruiz-Esquide Jara ( PDC) as part of the 13th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Coast).

References

External links

*
Municipality of San Rosendo
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in Bío Bío Province 1593 establishments in the Spanish Empire