San Pedro de la Paz () 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 ...

located in the Concepción Province,

Biobío Region The Biobío Region ( es, Región del Biobío ), is one of Chile's sixteen regions (first-order administrative divisions). With a population of 1.5 million, thus being the third most populated region in Chile, it is divided into three provinces: ...

. It has some 80,447 inhabitants according to the 2002 national census. In 2005, the Pedro Aguirre Cerda avenue, the main avenue in the city, was completed. Most of the inhabitants of this comuna commute daily to Concepción – either by car, bus or train – over the Biobío River. It is considered to be part of Greater Concepción conurbation. San Pedro was established during the

Conquest of Chile The Conquest of Chile is a period in Chilean historiography that starts with the arrival of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile in 1541 and ends with the death of Martín García Óñez de Loyola in the Battle of Curalaba in 1598, and the destruction of ...

first as fort ''la Candelaria'' which was destroyed following the death of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Martín García Óñez de Loyola Don Martín García Óñez de Loyola (1549 in Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa – December 24, 1598 at Curalaba) was a Spanish Basque soldier and Royal Governor of the Captaincy General of Chile. Very likely Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of ...

in 1599. It was rebuilt as part of La Frontera by

Alonso de Ribera Alonso de Ribera y Zambrano (; 1560 – March 9, 1617) was a Spanish soldier and twice Spanish royal governor of Chile (1601–1605 and 1612–1617). Early life Born in Úbeda, he was the illegitimate son of Hidalgo and Captain Jorge de Ribera Za ...

as fort ''San Pedro de la Paz'' in 1603. A small settlement grew up around it. During the Chilean War of Independence the town was burned in 1821, by the royalist Juan Manuel Picó on the order of

Vicente Benavides Vicente Benavides Llanos (Quirihue, 1777 – Santiago, Chile, February 23, 1822) was a Chilean soldier who fought in the Chilean War of Independence. He is best known for leading Royalists guerrillas in La Frontera during the last years of t ...

during the Battle of San Pedro. The fort was ruined by the

1835 Concepción earthquake The 1835 Concepción earthquake occurred near the neighboring cities of Concepción and Talcahuano in Chile on 20 February at 11:30 local time (15:30 UTC) and has an estimated magnitude of about 8.5 . The earthquake triggered a tsunami which ...

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 ...

, San Pedro de la Paz spans an area of and has 80,447 inhabitants (38,571 men and 41,876 women). Of these, 80,159 (99.6%) 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 288 (0.4%) 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 18.6% (12,630 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, San Pedro de la Paz 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 Audito Retamal Lazo ( Ind.). Within the electoral divisions of Chile, San Pedro de la Paz is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by José Miguel Ortiz ( PDC) and Enrique Van Rysselberghe ( UDI) as part of the 44th electoral district, (together with Concepción and Chiguayante). 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).

References

''Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile'', SEGUNDA EDICIÓN CORREGIDA Y AUMENTADA, NUEVA YORK, D. APPLETON Y COMPAÑÍA. 1899. pg. 721 San Pedro de Bío-Bío

Francisco Solano Asta Buruaga y Cienfuegos Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos (July 21, 1817 – June 13, 1892) was a Chilean politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, ...

External links

Municipality of San Pedro de la Paz
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in Concepción Province 1599 establishments in the Spanish Empire Coasts of Biobío Region Populated coastal places in Chile