Penco (
Mapudungun: See (''Pen''), Water (''Ko'')), 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 ...
an
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
Concepción Province,
Bío Bío Region on the
Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo ('beginning of the new extreme') on February 12, 1550 by
Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, wh ...
, it is the third oldest city in Chile, after capital
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...
founded first in 1541 and
La Serena second in 1544.
As there may be confusion between the
demonyms
A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
of the inhabitants of Concepción and Penco. Due to the previous location of Concepción, inhabitants of that city are called ''penquistas'' while inhabitants of Penco are known as ''pencones''.
History
In previous centuries, in the current location of Penco, was the first location where the city of
Concepción was established, which is now the capital of the Bíobío Region. It was destroyed by
Lautaro
Lautaro (Anglicized as 'Levtaru') ( arn, Lef-Traru " swift hawk") (; 1534? – April 29, 1557) was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would conti ...
in 1554, and rebuilt and destroyed again by Lautaro in 1555.
* It was reestablished in 1557 during the governorship of marquess
García Hurtado de Mendoza when he landed there and built a fort on the Alto de Pinto. The city was reestablished January 6, 1558, by capitán Jerónimo de Villegas.
* It became the headquarters of the military forces engaged against the native
Mapuche
The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...
in
Araucanía over the next two centuries, growing to a population of 10,000 despite suffering a
siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...
in 1564 and other attacks by Mapuche tribals.
* In 1603 the last bishop of the suppressed
Diocese of La Imperial was transferred there as first bishop of the successor see
.
* Due to
earthquakes and
tsunamis
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater expl ...
, which razed the city in
1570
__NOTOC__
Year 1570 ( MDLXX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 8 – Ivan the Terrible begins the Massacre of Novgorod.
* Janua ...
, 1657, 1687, 1730 and another on
May 25, 1751, the colonial authorities ultimately decided to move the city to its current location to the
Valle de la Mocha, alongside the
Bío Bío River and prohibited the occupation of the old location, which remained unpopulated until March 29, 1842, when the present city of Penco was founded.
Statistics
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 ...
, Penco spans an area of and has 46,016 inhabitants (22,366 men and 23,650 women). Of these, 45,361 (98.6%) 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 655 (1.4%) 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 14% (5,657 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.
Administration
As a commune, Penco 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 2012-2016 alcalde is Víctor Hugo Figueroa (ILE).
Within the
electoral divisions of Chile, Penco is represented in the
Chamber of Deputies by Sergio Bobadilla (
UDI) and Clemira Pacheco (
PS) as part of the 45th electoral district, (together with
Tomé
Tomé () is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is bordered by Coelemu to the north, Ránquil and Florida to the east, Penco to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The local economy is based mainly on textile ma ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
,
Hualqui
Hualqui () is a Chilean city and commune in the Concepción Province, Biobio Region. It is also part of the Greater Concepcion conurbation, although it maintains a rural profile. It had a population of 24,333 inhabitants according to the 201 ...
,
Coronel and
Santa Juana). The commune is represented in the
Senate by Alejandro Navarro Brain (
MAS) and Hosain Sabag Castillo (
PDC) as part of the 12th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Cordillera).
Places
In addition to the main town of Penco, the commune administers the following villages:
* Cerro Verde,
* Cosmito,
* El Rosal,
* Lirquén,
* Tucapel, .
Notable people
*
Patricio Renán
References
*
Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, ''Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile'', SEGUNDA EDICIÓN CORREGIDA Y AUMENTADA, NUEVA YORK, D. APPLETON Y COMPAÑÍA. 1899. Pg. 533-535, Penco.
Sources and external links
*
Municipality of Penco*
David Marley, ''Historic Cities of the Americas: An Illustrated Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, 2005
*
Concepcion *
{{Authority control
Communes of Chile
Populated places established in 1842
Geography of Biobío Region
Populated places in Concepción Province
1842 establishments in Chile
Coasts of Biobío Region
Port cities in Chile