Natales ( Spanish for "births") is a commune of the

Última Esperanza Province Última Esperanza ( es, Provincia de Última Esperanza, meaning "Last Hope Province") is one of four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena. The capital is Puerto Natales and it is named after Última Espera ...

in the

Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region The Magallanes Region (), officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region ( es, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena), is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and second lea ...

of extreme southern Chile. Its

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

and only port

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 ...

is Puerto Natales.

Geography

The commune's area spans , making it one of the largest communes in Chile, after only Antártica (which is, however, 25 times Natales' size), and larger than eleven of the country's 16 political regions. The

Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument is a Natural Monument located in the Chilean Patagonia, northwest of Puerto Natales and north of Punta Arenas. The monument is situated along the flanks of Cerro Benitez. It comprises several caves a ...

lies northwest of Puerto Natales.

Demography

Parroquia Maria Auxiliadora Puerto Natales

Its capital and only city, Puerto Natales (2002 population: 16,978), is one of the southernmost settlements in the world. According to the 2002 census 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 ...

, the Natales commune has 19,116 inhabitants (10,068 men and 9,048 women). Of these, 16,978 (88.8%) lived in urban area of the city and 2,138 (11.2%) in rural areas. The population grew by 10.7% (1,841 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. The commune comprises 96.3% of the total provincial population of 19,855. Its population density is only .

Administration

Puerto Natales serves as capital of both the Natales commune and the Última Esperanza Province. As a commune, Natales 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, 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 2012-2016 alcalde is Fernando Paredes Mansilla (

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 ...

). The regional governor, since 14 July 2021, is Jorge Flies Añón. * Herminio Fernández García (UDI) * Ana Mayorga Bahamonde (UDI) * Tolentino Soto Ríos (

PDC PDC may refer to: In science and technology Chemistry, biology and medicine * Phosducin, a human protein and gene in the retina * Pyridinium dichromate (Cornforth reagent), a chromium-based oxidant * Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, an enzyme ...

) * José Cuyul Rogel ( PS) * Alfonso Coñoecar Millalonco ( PC) * Felipe Muñoz Muñoz ( Ind.). 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 ...

, Natales 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 Juan Morano Cornejo (PDC) and Gabriel Boric Font ( Ind.) as part of the 60th electoral district, which includes the entire Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica Region. 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 Carolina Goic Boroevic (PDC) and Carlos Bianchi Chelech (Ind.) as part of the 19th senatorial constituency (Magallanes Region).

References

External links

*
Municipality of Natales
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in Última Esperanza Province