Ñiquén is a commune of the

Punilla Province Punilla Province is one of the three provinces of the Ñuble Region of Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretchi ...

, located in the north of the

Ñuble Region The Ñuble Region (, ) officially the Region of Ñuble (), is — since 5 September 2018 – one of Chile's sixteen regions of Chile, regions. It spans an area of , making it the smallest region in Chile in terms of area, and is administratively ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. Geographically, it is delimited by the Perquilauquén River to the north and the Ñiquén River in the south. Its boundary to the north is the commune of Parral and to the west that of Cauquenes both in the

Maule Region The Maule Region (, ) 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 basin of about 20,6 ...

, to the south with the commune of San Carlos, and to the east with San Fabian de Alico. The town of San Gregorio is the capital of this commune.

Demographics

According to the 2002

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of the National Statistics Institute, Ñiquén spans an area of and has 11,421 inhabitants (5,886 men and 5,535 women). Of these, 1,143 (10%) lived in

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

s and 10,278 (90%) 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 are typically desc ...

s. The population fell by 13.2% (1735 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Ñiquén is a third-level

administrative division of Chile The administrative division or territorial organization of Chile exemplifies characteristics of a unitary state. State administration is functionally and geographically decentralized, as appropriate for each authority in accordance with the law ...

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, borough cou ...

, headed by an

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Domingo Garrido Torres ( PPD). Within the

electoral divisions of Chile This article covers the electoral division of Chile, which involves two distinct systems: # Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chamber of Deputies and Senate of Chile, Senate: Chile is divided into electoral districts and senatorial constituencies for ...

, Ñiquén is represented in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

by Jorge Sabag ( PDC) and Frank Sauerbaum ( RN) as part of the 42nd electoral district, together with San Fabián, San Carlos, San Nicolás,

Ninhue Ninhue () is a commune and town in the Itata Province, Ñuble Region, Chile. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Ninhue spans an area of and has 5,738 inhabitants (2,920 men and 2,818 women). Of thes ...

Quirihue Quirihue () is a Chilean city in Quirihue, Itata Province, Ñuble Region. It is located about 72 kilometers northwest of Chillán and 410 km southwest of Santiago. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Instit ...

, Cobquecura,

Treguaco Treguaco (), also spelled as Trehuaco (), is a Chilean city and Communes of Chile, commune in Itata Province, Ñuble Region. The commune spans an area of . Demographics According to data from the 2002 Census of Population and Housing, the Tregua ...

, Portezuelo, Coelemu, Ránquil,

Quillón Quillón is a Chilean city and commune and Diguillín Province, Ñuble Region. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Quillón spans an area of and has 15,146 inhabitants (7,699 men and 7,447 women). ...

, Bulnes, Cabrero and Yumbel. The commune is represented in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

by Alejandro Navarro Brain ( MAS) and Hosain Sabag Castillo (PDC) as part of the 12th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Cordillera).

References

External links

*
Municipality of Ñiquén
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niquen Geography of Ñuble Region 1891 establishments in Chile