Curanilahue () 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 eas ...

an commune 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 Arauco Province,

Biobío Region The Biobío Region ( es, Región del Biobío ), is one of Chile's sixteen regions (first-order administrative divisions). With a population of 1.5 million, thus being the third most populated region in Chile, it is divided into three provinces ...

. Its name comes from Mapundungun "Cura", meaning "Stone", and "Nilahue" meaning "Ford".

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 inc ...

of the National Statistics Institute, Curanilahue spans an area of and has 31,943 inhabitants (16,115 men and 15,828 women). Of these, 30,126 (94.3%) 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 1,817 (5.7%) 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. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population fell by 5% (1,688 persons).

Administration

As a commune, Curanilahue 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 counc ...

, 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) ...

who is directly elected every four years. The current alcalde (as of 2021) is Alejandra Burgos Bizama. 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 t ...

, Curanilahue 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 Manuel Monsalve ( PS) and Iván Norambuena (

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 46th electoral district, together with

Lota Lota may refer to: Places * Lota (crater), a crater on Mars * Lota, Chile, a city and commune in Chile * Lota, Punjab, village in Pakistan *Lota, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia **Lota railway station, a station on the Cleveland line * ...

, Lebu, Arauco, Los Álamos, Cañete,

Contulmo Contulmo (Mapudungun: "place of transit") is a Chilean town and commune in Arauco Province, Biobío Region. Colonized by Germans of Berlin since 1884. Geography Contulmo spans an area of It is bordered by the commune of Cañete to the north ...

and

Tirúa Tirúa () is a Chilean commune and town in Arauco Province, Biobío Region. The 2010 Chile earthquake led to a permanent uplift of Tirúa of about 180 cm above sea level, the highest recorded uplift related to the earthquake. This caused a large i ...

. 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 Victor Pérez Varela (UDI) and Mariano Ruiz-Esquide Jara (PDC) as part of the 13th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Coast).

References

External links

*
Municipality of Curanilahue
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in Arauco Province