Coronel () is a
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 ...
an
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
and
commune, located in the
Concepción Province of the eighth
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
of
Biobío.
Geography
The city of Coronel is located in a sandy platform that goes from the mouth of the
Biobío River to the
Arauco Gulf bay, a muddy landscape, full of forests, typical of the region.
This muddy, forested landscape enclosed by high mountains was what the first
Spanish conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
s and settlers found when arriving. Vegetation and forests covered most of the area except very close to the coast. This type of landscape is characteristic of the province.
The total area of the commune is .
Aside from its western coast along the Pacific Ocean, the commune is surrounded by other communes of the Concepción Province:
San Pedro de la Paz to the north,
Hualqui to the north and east, and
Lota and
Santa Juana to the south.
Santa María Island also forms part of the city, which is represented there by a municipal delegate.
Climate
The climate of Coronel is
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
, common to the
Chilean Coast Range, with moderate temperature variations. As Coronel is situated west of the mountain range, it generally receives winds out of the west and northwest, and increased precipitation due to
orographic lift. Its proximity to the Pacific influences its annual temperature variations. The average temperature in summer is and in winter.
History
Like all territory to the south of
Biobío River, this area was populated by the
Mapuche
The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...
. Historically, Spaniards called them as Araucaníans (''araucanos'') and their coastal territory as ''
Araucanía''.
This territory is a part of the
Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia, an unrecognised state established on November 19, 1861.
The indigenous population of Coronel Bay was located into a war zone called Butanmapu de la costa. From the descriptions made by the Spaniards, it is probable that before the Spaniards' colonization, half of the Mapuche population lived in this region. Also, the population density of the tribes was evenly distributed on both east and west sides of the
Cordillera de Nahuelbuta
The city of Lota was an early coal mining settlement in the area. The mine was composed of "Chiflones" 1, 2, 3, 4, Pique Santa Maria, and Pique Arenas Blancas. This was the last mine closed, because of a grisu gas explosion where 21 miners died. This mine was the deepest in South America, at .
The
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
naval
Battle of Coronel between ships of the United Kingdom and Germany was fought on 1 November 1914 off the coast of Coronel.
The city was the seat of
Lautaro Department, later known as the
Coronel Department.
In March 2013, an investigation was started after thousands of sea animals washed ashore.
''Thousands of prawns wash ashore in Chile''
March 21, 2013 Euronews
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, Coronel spans an area of and has 95,528 inhabitants (46,766 men and 48,762 women). Of these, 91,469 (95.8%) 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 4,059 (4.2%) 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. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 14.5% (12,102 persons).demonym
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, ...
for a man from Coronel is ''Coronelino'' and ''Coronelina'' for a woman.
Administration
As a commune, Coronel 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 communal council, 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 2012-2016 alcalde is Leonidas Romero. The communal council has the following members: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 ...
, Coronel 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 Marcelo Chávez ( PDC) and Clemira Pacheco ( PS) as part of the 45th electoral district, (together with Tomé, Penco, Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, Hualqui and Santa Juana). 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 Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe Herrera ( UDI) as part of the 12th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Cordillera).
References
External links
*
Municipality of Coronel
{{Authority control
Communes of Chile
Port cities in Chile
Populated places established in 1851
Populated places in Concepción Province
1851 establishments in Chile