San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, or just San Vicente, 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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

in Cachapoal Province,

O'Higgins Region The Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region ( es, Región del Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, ), often shortened to O'Higgins Region ( es, Región de O'Higgins), is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is subdi ...

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 ...

, San Vicente spans an area of and had 40,253 inhabitants (20,095 men and 20,158 women). Of these, 21,965 (54.6%) 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 18,288 (45.4%) 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 14.5% (5,086 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. The 2012 census reported 44,046 inhabitants, an increase of 9.4% from 2002 to 2012.Codigo 6117, San Vicente,

Administration

As a commune, San Vicente is a third-level

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

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. 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 ...

, San Vicente 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 Alejandra Sepúlveda ( PRI) and Javier Macaya (

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 34th electoral district, together with

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 ...

Chimbarongo Chimbarongo, Chile, is a city and commune located south of Santiago in the Colchagua Province of the O'Higgins Region. Many of the people of Chimbarongo make their living weaving wickerwork, ''mimbre'', baskets. Demographics According to the 2 ...

Peumo Peumo is a Chilean city and commune in Cachapoal Province, O'Higgins Region. It is believed that Peumo was named for the vast amount of Cryptocarya alba, or Peumo trees, that grow there. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the Nation ...

Pichidegua Pichidegua () is a Chilean commune and town in Cachapoal Province, O'Higgins Region. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Pichidegua spans an area of and has 17,756 inhabitants (9,208 men and 8,548 wo ...

and Las Cabras. 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 ...

by Andrés Chadwick Piñera (UDI) and Juan Pablo Letelier Morel ( PS) as part of the 9th senatorial constituency (O'Higgins Region).

Archaeology

Tagua-Tagua represents a very early Paleo-Indian archaeological site, and it is dated to 11,380 ±380 ¹⁴C yr BP (before present). This is an ancient

pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

site where humans butchered large animals that they hunted. The site was discovered in the 1860s. An upper, younger stratum is about 1 m below the surface. The older stratum is about 2.4 m below the surface, and contains chipped stone tools. Horse and mastodon remains are represented, as well as smaller animals.

Notes and references

External links

*
Municipality of San Vicente de Tagua Tagua
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in Cachapoal Province Pre-Clovis archaeological sites in the Americas