Calbuco 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 ...

in southern

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 ...

administered by the Municipality of Calbuco. Administratively Calbuco belongs to the

Llanquihue Province Llanquihue Province ( es, Provincia de Llanquihue) is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Los Lagos (X). Its capital is Puerto Montt. Chile's second largest lake, Lake Llanquihue, is located in the province as well as four volcanoes: ...

Los Lagos Region Los Lagos Region ( es, Región de Los Lagos , ''Region of the Lakes'') is one of Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains ...

. The origin of the city was the Spanish Fort Calbuco founded in 1603, and became later an important fish market. The archaeological site of

Monte Verde Monte Verde is an archaeological site in the Llanquihue Province in southern Chile, located near Puerto Montt, Southern Chile, which has been dated to as early as 18,500 cal BP (16,500 BC). Previously, the widely accepted date for early occu ...

lies within the commune. Calbuco Island is part of the commune and contains the city of Calbuco. There are thirteen other islands in the commune: Huar, Puluqui, Chidhuapi, Tabón, Mayelhue, Lín, Quenu, Quihua, Huapi Abtao, Chaullín, Caicué o lagartija, Tautil and Queullín.

History

The settlement of Calbuco grew out of the fort ''Fuerte San Miguel de Calbuco'' which was founded in 1603 by Francisco Hernández Ortiz-Pizarro. Calbuco was the capital of Calbuco Department, Chiloé between 1834 and 1855, and of Carelmapu Department between 1855 and 1928. It was capital of Calbuco Department, Llanquihue between 1937 and 1975.

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 ...

, Calbuco spans an area of and has 31,070 inhabitants (15,906 men and 15,164 women). Of these, 12,165 (39.2%) 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 18,905 (60.8%) 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 15% (4,043 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Settlements

Besides the town of Calbuco, Calbuco Comuna is also home to the settlements of: Pargua, Puluqui Island, San Rafael and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. The town of San Rafael is across the estuary from the town of Calbuco. Texas was a refugee camp built after the 1960 earthquake on the outskirts of San Rafael; it has become semi-permanent. Pargua is the ferry port and gateway to the

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago ( es, Archipiélago de Chiloé, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and t ...

and the big island of Chiloé. Pargua was considered rural until the 2002 census, and the 800+ people on Puluqui Island are still denominated as "rural" although clustered around the bay where the daily barge docks.

Administrative divisions

Calbuco Comuna is divided into twenty districts. Calbuco is the most populous with the highest population density, while Río Tambor is the largest at and has the lowest density. Alfaro, Quenu, Puluqui, Challahue, Machildad, Chucahua, Quetrolauquén, Aguantao, Huayún and Río Tambor are more sparsely populated, further away from the towns of Calbuco and San Rafael.

Administration

As a

, Calbuco 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 alcalde is Rubén Cárdenas Gómez ( PRSD), and the council has the following members: * Pedro Yáñez Uribe ( PRI) * Juan Francisco Calbucoy Guerrero ( PS) * Oscar González Almonacid ( PS) * Sergio García Alvarez (Ind- UDI) * Iván Vásquez Gómez ( PRSD) * Manuel Oyarzo Barría ( PRO) Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Calbuco is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Marisol Turres ( UDI) and Patricio Vallespín ( PDC) as part of the 57th electoral district, together with Puerto Montt,

Cochamó Cochamó is a Chilean town and commune located in Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The capital of the commune is the town of ''Río Puelo'', which is named after the Puelo River. History This sprawling commune was established in 1979; its ...

and

Maullín Maullín is Chilean town and commune in Llanquihue Province which is part of Los Lagos Region. The commune is located in at the outflow of Maullín River. History In 1674, there was a group of soldiers Basques in the present position of the commu ...

. The commune is represented in the Senate by Camilo Escalona Medina ( PS) and Carlos Kuschel Silva ( RN) as part of the 17th senatorial constituency (Los Lagos Region).

References

External links

*
Municipality of Calbuco
{{Coord, 41, 46, S, 73, 08, W, display=title, region:CL_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1603 Port cities in Chile Populated places in Llanquihue Province 1603 establishments in the Spanish Empire