Santa Juana is 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 ...

of the Concepción Province in the Bío Bío Region of

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 ...

. It lies south and west of the Biobío River in the valley of

Catirai Catirai or Catiray is the region of the Moluche Aillarehue of Catiray in old Araucanía. It is now the Santa Juana commune of the Concepción Province and the Nacimiento commune of the Bío Bío Province of the Bío Bío Region, of Chile. It ...

and is 48 kilometers from Concepción, Chile.

History

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 ...

originally named the valley where Santa Juana is now located the ''Valley of

'', and the inhabitants ''Catirayen''.Montero de Tortora, Lo que fue Catirai y es Santa Juana de Guadalcazar. pg. 6,7 This town originated with a fort established in March 1626 by Governor Luis Fernández de Córdoba y Arce and was named ''Santa Juana de Guadalcázar'' in memory of the wife of the

viceroy of Peru The viceroys of Peru ruled the Viceroyalty of Peru from 1544 to 1824 in the name of the monarch of Spain. The territories under ''de jure'' rule by the viceroys included in the 16th and 17th century almost all of South America except eastern Braz ...

, Diego Fernández de Córdoba, Marquis of Guadalcázar. Evacuated in 1641, it was repaired and expanded in 1648 by the governor Martín de Mujica y Buitrón. It was destroyed by the Mapuches in 1722, but restored two years later. In 1739 the Governor José Antonio Manso de Velasco made important adjustments, improving and properly supplying the fortress and constructing between the river and the small Laguna de Rayenantú behind it, deep ditches, that turned the enclosure into an island, and increasing its population to serve as its garrison for the defense of the region and the wooded valleys of the southern mountainous area. Governor

Antonio de Guill y Gonzaga Antonio de Guill y Gonzaga (died August 24, 1768) was a Spanish colonial administrator who served as Royal Governor of Panama and Royal Governor of Chile. Arauco War Governor Guill y Gonzaga celebrated the " Parliament of Nacimiento" with the Ma ...

obtained the title of "Villa" for the town in 1765,I. Municipalidad de Santa Juana, 2007. Antecedentes Históricos. Estudios realizados por la Universidad de Concepción en los empalzamientos del Fuerte Santa Juana de Gualdalcázar. Disponible en http://www.santajuana.cl/Fuerte%20Historico.asp but the wars with the Indians did not allow it to make any progress even though it constituted the refuge of the extinguished towns of Coya, Monterey and San Jerónimo. It was also one of the towns that was burned in 1821 at the order of

Vicente Benavides Vicente Benavides Llanos (Quirihue, 1777 – Santiago, Chile, February 23, 1822) was a Chilean soldier who fought in the Chilean War of Independence. He is best known for leading Royalists guerrillas in La Frontera during the last years of t ...

the rebellious royalist guerrilla. It was later ruined in the

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

of February 20, 1835. As a result of this last disaster the town was six years later moved to its present more suitable location. Santa Juana was head of the Department of Lautaro between 1841I. Municipalidad de Santa Juana, 2007. Anexos: Datos Históricos de Nuestra Comuna. Disponible en and 1865.I. Municipalidad de Coronel, 2007. Historia de Coronel. Coronel: Su desarrollo urbano y poblacional. Disponible e

/ref> On May 30, 1865, Coronel, Chile, Coronel became the new capital of the department. With the Law of Independent Communes, December 22, 1891, the Decree of Creation of Municipalities was promulgated, with which created the Municipality of Santa Juana, in which Santa Juana administers Santa Juana, Santo Domingo and San Jerónimo, whose boundaries were determined by the decrees of November 13, 1885, March 29 and December 1, 1886.

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 ...

, Santa Juana spans an area of and has 12,713 inhabitants (6,357 men and 6,356 women). Of these, 7,095 (55.8%) 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 5,618 (44.2%) 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 grew by 6.3% (756 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Santa Juana 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 Angel Castro Medina ( PDC). Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Santa Juana is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Sergio Bobadilla ( UDI) and Clemira Pacheco ( PS) as part of the 45th electoral district, (together with

Tomé Tomé () is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is bordered by Coelemu to the north, Ránquil and Florida to the east, Penco to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The local economy is based mainly on textile ma ...

Penco Penco ( Mapudungun: See (''Pen''), Water (''Ko'')), is a Chilean city and commune in Concepción Province, Bío Bío Region on the Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo ('beginning of the new extreme') on Febr ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Hualqui Hualqui () is a Chilean city and commune in the Concepción Province, Biobio Region. It is also part of the Greater Concepcion conurbation, although it maintains a rural profile. It had a population of 24,333 inhabitants according to the 201 ...

, Coronel, Chile, Coronel). The commune is represented in the Senate by Alejandro Navarro Brain ( MAS) and Hosain Sabag Castillo (PDC) as part of the 12th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Cordillera).

References

Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile, D. Appleton y Compania, Nueva York, 1899
pg. 742 * Montero, Elsa; Lo que fue Catirai y es Santa Juana de Guadalcázar. Santiago: Editorial Universitaria, 1967. 24 p., Ubicación: Sección Chilena 10;(1010–26), N° sistema: 603103

External links

Municipality of Santa Juana
{{Authority control Geography of Biobío Region 1626 establishments in the Spanish Empire