Maule is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and commune in Talca Province in 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 ...

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 ...

. It takes its name from the

Mapudungun Mapuche ( , ; from 'land' and 'people', meaning 'the people of the land') or Mapudungun (from 'land' and 'speak, speech', meaning 'the speech of the land'; also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu) is either a language isolate or member of the s ...

words for "valley" (''mau'') and "rainy" (''len'').

Geography

The town of Maule lies near the Maule River. The Maule commune spans an area of .

History

Since the time of 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 ...

s, the area that makes up the Maule commune today has been a place of strategic and communicative value due to its close proximity to the river of the same name. In this area, the city of

Talca Talca () is a city and commune in Chile located about south of Santiago, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile). As of the 2012 census, the city had a population of 201,142. The city is an important ...

was founded as the Villa de San Agustín about to the north. In the mid 18th century, nearby Duao was founded as the communal seat. During the 19th century, many people were attracted to the mining activity in the area of El Chavito and settled here looking for a better future. They founded various towns, principally Peumo. Toward the west was the old river port of Linares de Perales which lies between the confluence of the Maule and Claro rivers, where barges transported agricultural products to their destination of Constitución. On 30 December 1927, then-

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Mientras renamed Peumo to Maule and established the commune with Supreme Decree 8583. At this time, the communal seat was moved from Duao to Maule where it remains to this day. In 1928, a year after its founding, the commune of Maule, which was at one time owned by the Lailhacar brothers, belonged to the municipality of Duao but was renamed to the municipality of Maule. Until 1927, the ancient city of Duao had been led by seven alcaldes. The current commune of Maule, since its first mayor Carlos Garcena to its present mayor, has been led by 39 alcaldes.

Economy

The economy of the commune is based primary on agriculture and

stockbreeding Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. ...

. The goldmine El Chavito can be found on the riverbank where El Águila hill, property of the Silva Neale family, was the area's main gold deposit in the 19th century. The vineyard and garden ''La Vertientes'' (meaning "The Slopes") has become the premiere industrial flower garden that exports flowers and seeds to Europe, particularly to Germany. Their owner, Carlos Steinhoff von Bohlen, married Amalia Silva Neale and began work in the 1950s, becoming a pioneer in the commune in this non-traditional export trade. In the Maule Region, principle exports are wine and fruits such as apples and grapes.

Demographics

According to data from the 2002 Census of Population and Housing, Maule had 16,837 inhabitants; of these, 6,739 (40.0%) 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 10,098 (60.0%) 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. At that time, there were 8,691 men and 8,146 women. The population grew 22.3% (3,068 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. The demonym for a person from Maule is ''Maulino'' for a man or ''Maulina'' for a woman.

Administration

As a commune, Maule 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 Iván Riveros Cerda (ILE), and his council members are: * Luis Vasquez Galvez ( UDI) * Sergio Jelvez Medina ( PS) * Pablo Opazo Encina ( DC) * Vladimir Albornoz Espina (ILD) * Carlos Ovalle Rojas (ILF) * Juan Gutierrez Moreno ( RN) 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 ...

, Maule 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 Pablo Lorenzini ( PDC) and Pedro Pablo Alvarez-Salamanca ( UDI) as part of the 38th electoral district, together with Curepto, Constitución, Empedrado, Pencahue,

San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement" ) is a coastal city in southern Orange County, California, United States. It was named in 1925 after the Spanish colonial island (which was named after a Pope from the first century). Located in the O ...

, Pelarco, Río Claro and San Rafael. 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 Juan Antonio Coloma Correa (UDI) and Andrés Zaldívar Larraín (PDC) as part of the 10th senatorial constituency (Maule-North).

References

External links

Municipality of Maule
{{Authority control Populated places in Talca Province Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1927