Pitrufquén () is a Chilean

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 ...

Cautín Province Cautín Province ( es, Provincia de Cautín) is one of two provinces in the southern Chilean region of La Araucanía (IX), bounded on the north by Arauco and Malleco provinces, on the east by Argentina, on the south by Valdivia Province, and on ...

Araucanía Region The Araucanía ( ), La Araucanía Region ( es, Región de La Araucanía ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions, and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south. Its capital and largest city is Te ...

. The city is located 30 km south of

Temuco Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The city ...

and lies immediately south of the

Toltén River Toltén River is a river located in the La Araucanía Region of Chile. It rises at Villarrica Lake, close to the city of the same name. Its major tributary is the Allipén River. From its confluence with the Allipén, the river follows a braided ...

, along

Chile Highway 5 Chile Highway 5 or Route 5 known locally as ''Ruta 5'' is Chile's longest route, . It is part of the Pan-American Highway. Stretch It runs from the Peruvian border connecting with Peru Highway 1 north of Arica to Puerto Montt where it connects ...

History

Pitrufquén was initially founded as ''Lisperguer'', name that honors the creator of the plane of the urban area, the French engineer Lisperguer.

Demographics

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 ...

, Pitrufquén spans an area of and has 21,988 inhabitants (10,902 men and 11,086 women). Of these, 13,420 (61%) lived in urban areas and 8,568 (39%) in rural areas. Pitrufquén's population is characterized as varied because its members have different culture backgrounds, highlighting the historical legacy

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and immigrants principally from: France, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Hungary. Currently, the largest foreign colony is in " Faja Maisan" composed mostly of descendants of Germans, Dutchmen and Swiss, whose ancestors arrived in La Araucanía between 1905 and 1912.Historia de Faja Maisan
/ref> Since 1898, Pitrufquén begins its development under the impetus of its people and its agricultural potential. Besides immigrants mostly

Dutchmen The Dutch (Dutch: ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Netherlands. They share a common history and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Arub ...

and

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

Administration

As a commune, Pitrufquén 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 2008–2012 alcalde is Humberto Catalán Candia ( PS). Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Pitrufquén is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by José Manuel Edwards ( RN) and Joaquín Tuma ( PDC) as part of the 51st electoral district, together with Carahue,

Nueva Imperial Nueva Imperial (New Imperial, in English) a city and commune in the south of Chile. It is located in Cautín Province in the Araucanía Region. Nueva Imperial lies about to the west of Temuco, the regional capital. Geography Nueva Imperial is l ...

, Saavedra, Teodoro Schmidt, Chile, Teodoro Schmidt, Freire, Chile, Freire and Cholchol. The commune is represented in the Senate of Chile, Senate by José Garcia Ruminot ( RN) and Eugenio Tuma Zedan (Party for Democracy (Chile), PPD) as part of the 15th senatorial constituency (Araucanía-South).

References

Gobierno Regional de la Araucanía: Pitrufquén

External links

*
Municipality of Pitrufquén
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitrufquen Communes of Chile Populated places in Cautín Province Mapuche language