Quintero 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 ...

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 ...

Valparaíso Province Valparaíso Province ( es, Provincia de Valparaíso) is one of eight provinces of the central Chilean region of Valparaíso (V). Its capital is the coastal city of Valparaíso (pop. 275,982). Administration As a province, Valparaíso is a second- ...

, in the

Valparaíso Region The Valparaíso Region ( es, Región de Valparaíso, links=no, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , ...

, 30 kilometers north of Valparaíso. The commune spans an area of . It was the first port in the country, created during the expedition of

Diego de Almagro Diego de Almagro (; – July 8, 1538), also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador known for his exploits in western South America. He participated with Francisco Pizarro in the Spanish conquest of Peru. While subd ...

. Fundición Ventanas and other heavy industries are located in the commune of Quintero.

History

The name of the city comes from Alonso Quintero, the

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 ...

navigator who discovered the bay in 1536 when he arrived on the ship ''Santiaguillo''. In the early years of 21st century, Quintero has become famous as a symbol of insufficient environmental policies. Since the beginnings of 20th century when an industrialization politics started, in the zone were built a thermoelectric coal plant by Chilectra (currently Enel Américas) and the copper smelter Fundición Ventanas by

Codelco Codelco (''Corporación Nacional'' ''del'' ''Cobre de Chile'' or, in English, the National Copper Corporation of Chile) is a Chilean state-owned copper mining company. It was formed in 1976 from foreign-owned copper companies that were nationalise ...

in the nearby town of the same name; arriving to this date (2019) to be a zone informally known as Industrial Park Quintero- Puchuncaví, including oil industries, liquefied gas terminals, and chemical industries among others, which has caused the bay and surroundings to be considered a "

sacrifice zone A sacrifice zone or sacrifice area (often termed a national sacrifice zone or national sacrifice area) is a geographic area that has been permanently impaired by heavy environmental alterations or economic disinvestment, often through locally unwan ...

". Multiple protests about the gradual environmental destruction were unsuccessful, until a serious episode of mass poisoning in August 2018 put a spotlight on the city's situation and its surroundings in Quintero Bay causing investigations by the

Senate of Chile The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile. Composition According to the present Constitution of Chile, the Senate is composed of forty-t ...

. By October 2019, the situation remains unresolved.

Demographics

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 ...

, Quintero had 21,174 inhabitants (10,390 men and 10,784 women). Of these, 18,719 (88.4%) 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 2,455 (11.6%) 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 19% (3,378 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. The demonym for a man from Quintero is ''Quinterano'' and ''Quinterana'' for a woman.

Administration

As a commune, Quintero is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a communal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is José Varas Zuñiga. Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Quintero is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Eduardo Cerda ( PDC) and Andrea Molina ( UDI) as part of the 10th electoral district, together with

La Ligua La Ligua () is a Chilean city and commune, capital of the Petorca Province in Valparaíso Region. The city is known for its textile manufacturing and traditional Chilean pastry production. Demographics According to data from the 2002 Census o ...

, Petorca, Cabildo,

Papudo Papudo is a Chilean commune located in the Petorca Province, Valparaíso Region. Most of its permanent residents live in the small town of the same name, whereas primarily new development for the affluent population of Santiago concentrates in ...

, Zapallar, Puchuncaví, Nogales, Calera, La Cruz,

Quillota Quillota is a city located in the Aconcagua River valley in central Chile's Valparaíso Region. It is the capital and largest city of Quillota Province, where many inhabitants live in the outlying farming areas of San Isidro, La Palma, Pococ ...

and Hijuelas. The commune is represented in the Senate by Ignacio Walker Prieto ( PDC) and Lily Pérez San Martín ( RN) as part of the 5th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Cordillera).

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Quintero has a

warm-summer mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Quintero, Chile
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References

External links

Municipality of Quintero
{{Communes in Valparaíso Region Populated places in Valparaíso Province Communes of Chile Port cities in Chile Populated places established in 1865 1865 establishments in Chile Coasts of Valparaíso Region