Curacaví () is a

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 in the Melipilla Province of central

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 ...

's Santiago Metropolitan Region. Its climate is temperate Mediterranean with a long dry season, experiencing high temperatures in summer and low temperatures in winter. Curacaví is located on the Ruta 68 between the coastal conurbation of

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...

and

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

and

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

which has proved a popular home for expats working in Santiago. Curacaví is a commune situated between the hills of the coastal mountain range in central

, located in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, specifically in Melipilla Province, with an area of 693 km² and borders the following municipalities:

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, Quilpué, Lampa, Pudahuel, Maipú, Padre Hurtado, Melipilla, and Maria Pinto. Curacaví is integrated along with the communes of Talagante, Melipilla, Peñaflor, Isla de Maipo, Maria Pinto, El Monte, San Pedro and Alhué in the number 31 Electoral District and also belongs to the 7th Chilean Senate District ( Santiago west). The commune covers five districts: Curacaví, Bustamante, Lo Prado, Zapata and Caren.

Rapid Expansion

Curacaví is now home to various exclusiv

gated communities called condominios

These large luxury developments range from 500 hectares upwards with each individual property starting at around 1 hectare. The development of the condominios began in the 1990s but has accelerated dramatically in recent years. The area is therefore home to increasing numbers of wealthy

commuters who are both Chilean and foreign. The momentum is largely due to fast transport links and a better quality of life in the face of Santiago's increasing pollution problems. Fast commuting times are now offered through the Ruta 68 and the Lo Prado tunnel which offers journey times of 35 minutes to Santiago.

Geography and climate

Immersed among the hills of the coastal mountain range, Curacaví occupies an area of and borders the following communes:

, Quilpué, Lampa, Pudahuel, Maipú, Padre Hurtado, Melipilla, and María Pinto. The climate is mild Mediterranean with a long dry season with high temperatures in the summer and low temperatures in the winter.

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, Curacaví spans an area of and has 24,298 inhabitants (12,351 men and 11,947 women). Of these, 15,645 (64.4%) 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 8,653 (35.6%) 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 are typically desc ...

s. The population grew by 27.5% (5,245 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. There is a fast growing expat community in Curacav�

Notable people

* Juan Williams Rebolledo – Commander-in-chief of the Chilean Navy at the beginning of the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

* Rosamel del Valle –

Avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

poet

Administration

As a commune, Curacaví 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 2012–2016 alcalde is Juan Pablo Barros Basso (IND), and the council members are: * Lidia Araos Henriquez ( UDI) * Cristian Galdames Santibañez ( PS) * Paul Alvarado Muñoz ( PDC) * Marco Antonio Guzmán Márquez ( UDI) * Sandra Ponce Baeza ( RN) * Francisco Carrasco González ( PC) 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 ...

, Curacaví 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 Denise Pascal ( PS) and Gonzalo Uriarte (UDI) as part of the 31st electoral district, (together with Talagante, Peñaflor, El Monte, Isla de Maipo, Melipilla, María Pinto, Alhué, San Pedro and Padre Hurtado). 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 Guido Girardi Lavín ( PPD) and Jovino Novoa Vásquez (UDI) as part of the 7th senatorial constituency (Santiago-West).

Airport

Curacavi is home to a small airport situated by the motorway Ruta 68br>

Chicha

Curacaví is famous in Chile for its

chicha ''Chicha'' is a Fermentation, fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jo ...

productio

There is a popular Chilean cueca titled "Chicha de Curacaví"

Curacavi Puangue Alhue

Road from Santiago to Valparaiso

Curacaví is on the most-used old horse trail between Valparaiso and Santiago which had been formed during the

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

period. Since 1553 it was called the royal highway. The old road crossed

, the Zapata road and Curacaví finally entering

on the road of San Pablo. The original royal highway was made between the years 1792 and 1797 however Ambrosio O'Higgins changed the old road by the current Lo Prado route.

Mercedes Canal

The Mercedes Canal (Spanish: '' Canal de las Mercedes''), which irrigates the whole valley of Curacavi was built by Jose Manuel Balmaceda before becoming president. The

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

was started in 1854 and finished 30 years later with a total length of 120 km and with a flow rate 10 m³/s.

Parish School

The first Parish School was built by the priest Don Eduardo Miles in 1885 which is still working and has done so almost without interruption educating much of the local population.

Gallery

File:Curacavi Puangue Alhue.jpg, alt=Puangue at Alhue, Ford of the Puangue River at Alhué near Curacaví. File:Curacavi Puangue Piedra Tacita.jpg, alt=Puangue Piedra Tacita, "Tacitas" (cupules) on a boulder at the banks of the Puangue River. File:Curacavi Museo de la Vivienda.jpg, alt=Museo de la Vivienda, A house at the museum ''Museo de la Vivienda Tradicional Rural Unifamiliar Chilena''.

References

External links

*
Municipality of Curacaví

Curacavi.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curacavi Communes of Chile Populated places in Melipilla Province