Lago Verde 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 ...

located at the headwaters of the

Cisnes River The Cisnes River (Spanish for '' swan'') is a river located in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region of the Chilean Patagonia. It runs in east-west direction from the mountains near the border to Argentina and empties into the P ...

Coyhaique Province Coyhaique Province ( es, Provincia de Coyhaique) is one of four provinces of the southern Chilean region of Aisen (XI). Its capital city is Coyhaique. It is the most populous of provinces in the Aysén Region. Administration As a province, Coy ...

Aisén Region Aisén or Aysén may refer to: *Aisén (name), an African name for a boy or a girl Places *Aysén, Chile, a commune in Aysén Province *Aysén Region The Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region ( es, Región de Aysén, , '), often ...

. The commune is administered by the municipality of Lago Verde, the principal settlement.

History

At the time of European arrival, the indigenous people in the area were the Tehuelche, who were nomadic

hunter gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

s, however, the area has been occupied since at least 2,800 BP, and likely back as far as the end of the last ice age (11,400 BP). Some Europeans settled in the area in the early twentieth century, beginning in 1914 there were settlers in the upper reaches of the

. The grant for the

estancia An estancia is a large, private plot of land used for farming or raising cattle or sheep. Estancias in the southern South American grasslands, the ''pampas'', have historically been estates used to raise livestock, such as cattle or sheep. In Pu ...

"Sociedad Ganadera Cisnes" of over was made in the early 1920s. It encompassed almost all of what is now the La Tapera district. Nonetheless, the area was not formally organized until the establishment of a settlement, Villa La Tapera, on 26 December 1926. In 1936 land for the establishment of the town of Lago Verde was set aside. In 1950, a young Frenchman, Edward Simon. purchased several hectares in the town and established a hotel, the "Cacique Blanco", with the ranching and farming activities to support it. In 1966 Villa La Tapera achieved town status. In 1979 the commune of Lago Verde was created. In 1981 Lago Verde became a municipality. And in 1982 Villa Amengual was founded. In 1992 the road to

La Junta La Junta is a home rule municipality in , the county seat of, and the most populous municipality of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,322 at the 2020 United States Census. La Junta is located on the Arkansas Ri ...

was completed with a bridge over the Rosselot River. This increased communications within the region.

Demographics

According to the 2012

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 ...

, Lago Verde has 869 inhabitants, with an area of which makes the commune an entirely

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 ...

. The population of the commune has been declining; it was 1,062 in the 2002 census, and 1,168 in the 1992 census.

Administration

As a commune, Lago Verde 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 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. The 2012-2016 alcalde is Nelson Opazo López. The previous governor was Gaspar Aldea Cadagán. 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 ...

, Lago Verde 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 René Alinco ( PDC) and David Sandoval (

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 59th electoral district, which includes the entire

. 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 Antonio Horvath Kiss (RN) and Patricio Walker Prieto (PDC) as part of the 18th senatorial constituency (Aisén Region).

Notes and references

External links

*
Municipality of Lago Verde
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1926 Populated places in Coyhaique Province 1926 establishments in Chile