Santa Cruz 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 Colchagua valley, in the O'Higgins Region, located on the southern shore of the Tinguiririca river, 110 miles from

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 ...

, Chile's capital city, and 27 miles from

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

History

There is no exact data about the founding of the city, although there is an official date when the city became a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the year 1891, the same year that Pichilemu did. From its beginnings, the town was a center of handcrafted artifacts and agricultural development, with wheat, tomatoes, and wine being the main products of the area. Because of the relation with countryside traditions from its beginning, Santa Cruz offers an authentic look at the rural traditions of Chilean culture expressed in the wine, the food, and the traditional sports such as the rodeo. The city of Santa Cruz was among those affected by the

2010 Chile earthquake The 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami ( es, Terremoto del 27F) occurred off the coast of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February at 03:34 local time (06:34 UTC), having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale, with intense shaking la ...

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 ...

, Santa Cruz spans an area of and has 32,387 inhabitants (16,160 men and 16,227 women). Of these, 18,603 (57.4%) 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 13,784 (42.6%) 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 grew by 10.7% (3,129 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Tourist attractions

Santa Cruz has very well preserved colonial architecture. The most famous tourist attractions of the city are located in the Plaza de Armas. These include the historic Santa Cruz church, Santa Cruz Hotel, and Carillon Clock, the latter of which was constructed by order of mayor Carlos Cardoen Decoene in 1970, and which is used today as an interactive tourist information center. Other noteworthy attractions include the Museum of Colchagua, the Casino of Colchagua, and the Wine Train vineyard tour.

Economy

In the last two decades, rural tourism has become an important source of revenue for the city. The development of this industry was due especially because of the vineyards placed in the valley joint in a project called "Wine Route",http://www.rutadelvino.cl Ruta del vino/ that offers several tours in the area

Climate

Temperate warm climate, with rains between June and November.

Administration

As a commune, Santa Cruz 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 2021-2024 alcalde is William Arévalo.

Towns and villages

Isla de Yáquil Isla de Yáquil (Spanish for ''Island of Yáquil''; also known as La Isla) is a Chilean town located in Santa Cruz, Colchagua Province, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region. In 1899 it was described in Francisco Solano Astaburuaga y Cien ...

Paniahue Paniahue ( arn, proper place to take the glare) is a Chilean village located north of Santa Cruz, Chile, Santa Cruz, Colchagua Province, O'Higgins Region. In 1899, it had 1,055 inhabitants, its own post office and a free public school. It currentl ...

References

External links

*
Municipality of Santa Cruz
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in Colchagua Province