Pelluhue (in

Mapudungun Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

: ''land of clams'') is a town and commune in the Cauquenes Province of central Chile's seventh region of Maule.

Geography

The commune of Pelluhue has an area of and is bordered on the north by

Chanco Chanco is a name traditionally assigned to a Native American who is said to have warned a Jamestown colonist, Richard Pace, about an impending Powhatan attack in 1622. This article discusses how the Native American came to be known as Chanco. ...

, on the south by Cobquecura ( Ñuble Region), on the east by Cauquenes and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Its

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

is the town of

Curanipe Curanipe (in mapudungun: "plum tree that grows in the rock") is a town and seat of the municipality of Pelluhue, Province of Cauquenes, in VII Maule Region of Chile. A popular and charming coastal resort, Curanipe used to be a well-known an ...

Demography

Although

is the municipal seat, Pelluhue has a greater population, both permanent and seasonal. 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 ...

, Pelluhue spans an area of and has 6,414 inhabitants (3,408 men and 3,006 women). Of these, 3,877 (60.4%) lived in urban areas and 2,537 (39.6%) in rural areas. Because of its appeal as a tourism and retirement center, Pelluhue has been steadily growing over the last two decades. Its population increase rate has been one of the highest in the

Maule Region The Maule Region ( es, Región del Maule, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Talca. The region derives its name from the Maule River which, running westward from the Andes, bisects the region and spans a ...

, growing by 17.2% (943 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

History

Both towns, Pelluhue and Curanipe, are nowadays popular coastal

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

s. Pelluhue evolved from a humble fishermen's cove to a crowded summer resort in less than 50 years. The town's population swells to over several thousand in the summer week-ends when vacationers from the '' hinterland'' ( Cauquenes, Linares, Talca, Parral) visit the seaside. Curanipe has a more " patrician" past, having been already a well-known and secluded coastal resort for the Cauquenes elite and a proud "minor port", in the mid- and late 19th century and early 20th century. Both Pelluhue and Curanipe were part of the municipality of

until 1979. The municipality and commune ( Spanish:'' comuna'') of Pelluhue was officially created on October 26, 1979, when both towns, together with their adjacent

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

, formed a new municipality. The Curanipe parish church of Santo Toribio is a preserved religious building overlooking the town. From the

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor