Los Andes, founded on July 31, 1791 as Santa Rosa de Los Andes, 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
province of the same name, in
Valparaíso Region ("Fifth Region" of Chile). It lies on the route between
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 ...
and Chile's primary border crossing with
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
by way of the summit of the
Uspallata Pass in the
Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
mountain range.
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, Los Andes spans an area of and has 60,198 inhabitants (30,247 men and 29,951 women). Of these, 55,388 (92%) 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 4,810 (8%) 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 21% (10,451 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.
Administration
As a municipality, Los Andes 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 ...
governed 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 Mauricio Navarro S.. The council has the following members:
* Marta Yochum G.
* Oscar Araya S.
* Alejandro Tapia C.
* Sergio Montenegro P.
* Ivan Salinas S.
* Julio Lobos L.
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 ...
, Los Andes 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 Marco Antonio Núñez (
PDC) and Gaspar Rivas (
RN) as part of the 11th electoral district, together with
San Esteban,
Calle Larga,
Rinconada,
San Felipe,
Putaendo,
Santa María,
Panquehue,
Llaillay and
Catemu. 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
Ignacio Walker Prieto (
PDC) and
Lily Pérez San Martín (
RN) as part of the 5th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Cordillera).
Economy
Los Andes principal economy is based on mining and agriculture, with vineyards and grapes being the principal fruit export. Copper and other minor minerals production is handled by Codelco Chile. From 1973 until 2004, the Automotores Franco Chilena S.A. plant assembled Peugeot and Renault automobiles from French and Argentine components in Los Andes. Peugeot production began with the
404 and ended with the
206
Year 206 ( CCVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Umbrius and Gavius (or, less frequently, year 959 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 206 for this y ...
; Renaults were also produced there between 1979 and 1991. Cars built by Automotores Franco Chilena were also exported to certain other Latin American markets. The factory was refitted to become a vehicle preparation, sales, and repair center for the national Peugeot Citroën sales network.
Transport
Los Andes stands at the beginning of the now derelict
metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...
Transandine Railway, opened in 1910, which once ran to
Mendoza in
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, providing a link between the
broad gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...
line from
Valparaiso to Los Andes, operated by the Chilean State Railway, and the broad gauge line from Mendoza to
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
operated by the
Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway. It is now being reconstructed. Due to the lack of concrete actions to restore this link, the most recent estimations are that the line could be restored around October, 2009. However, as of June 2011, there is no indication of any restorative work underway.
Reconstruction
in Spanish
Climate
Notable people
* Laura Rodig (1901-1972), painter, sculptor, illustrator, educator
* Gaspar Rivas (born 1978), politician
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in Los Andes Province
Communes of Chile
Capitals of Chilean provinces
Populated places established in 1791
1791 establishments in the Spanish Empire