Osorno (

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 ...

: Chauracavi) 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 southern

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 ...

and capital of

Osorno Province Osorno Province () is one of the four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Los Lagos (X). The province has an area of and a population of 221,496 distributed across seven communes ( Spanish: ''comunas''). The provincial capital is the c ...

in the

Los Lagos Region Los Lagos Region ( , 'Region of the Lakes') is one of regions of Chile, Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé Province, Chiloé, Llanquihue Province, Llanquihue, Osorno Provin ...

. It had a population of 145,475, as of the 2002 census. It is located south of the national capital of

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 ...

, north of the

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 ...

al capital of

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

and west of the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

city of

San Carlos de Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche (from the Mapuche name ''Vuriloche'', meaning "people from the other side of the mountain"), commonly known simply as Bariloche (), is the largest city in the Argentine province of Río Negro and the seat of the departm ...

, connected via International Route 215 through the

Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass () is one of the main mountain passes through the southern Andes along the border between Argentina and Chile. Together with Paso Libertadores, it is one of the easiest of the Argentina-Chile passes, and one of the ...

. It is a gateway for land access to the far south regions of Aysén and Magallanes, which would otherwise be accessible only by sea or air from the rest of the country. Located at the confluence of Rahue and Damas River, Osorno is the main service centre of agriculture and cattle farming in the northern Los Lagos Region. The city's cultural heritage is shaped by

Huilliche The Huilliche (), Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group in Chile and Argentina. Located in the Zona Sur, they inhabit both Futahuillimapu ("great land of the south") and, as the Cunco or Ve ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

influences.

History

Prehistory

The city of Osorno is built upon river terraces formed during the last of Earth's geological periods —the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

. 130,000 years ago, during the transition from the Santa María glaciation and the Valdivia interglacial the area of Osorno was covered by

pyroclast Tephra is fragmental material produced by a Volcano, volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, ...

ic material derivative from large and

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

volcanic eruptions 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 ...

. The substrate of Osorno is accordingly made of various combinations of

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

lapilli Lapilli (: lapillus) is a size classification of tephra, which is material that falls out of the air during a volcanic eruption or during some meteorite impacts. ''Lapilli'' is Latin for "little stones". By definition lapilli range from in dia ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

and

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

with occasional layers of

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

. The city hosts the paleontological and

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

of Pilauco Bajo, where human

footprint Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes. The ...

s and lithic artifacts dating to the

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...

have been found. There is an adjoining museum and park dedicated to the site.

Old Osorno

The city was originally planned to be founded in 1553, under the Government of

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and the first royal governor of Chile. After having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...

by his companion of conquest, Lieutenant General Don Francisco de Villagra; with the name of Santa Marina de Gaete, on the site of a

village named ''Chauracavi''. However, Valdivia's death prevented the realization of this plan before it could materialize. On 27 March 1558, the city was finally founded by governor García Hurtado de Mendoza, with the new name of ''Villa de San Mateo de Osorno'', in honor of his grandfather, Count of Osorno.Barros Arana 2000, II, p. 132 Osorno is a

municipio A ' () or ' () is an administrative division in several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. It is often translated as "municipality." It comes from ''mūnicipium'' (), meaning a township. In English, a municipality often is define ...

in Palencia province,

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

, Spain. In the summer of 1567, various settlers of Osorno joined Ruiz de Gamboa's expedition to

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago (, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and the Gulf of Corcovado in the s ...

.Barros Arana 2000, II, p. 277 On December 1575 Osorno was struck a major earthquake and the following year hostilities between Spanish and Mapuches, which had begun farther north, reached Osorno.Barros Arana 2000, II, p. 332 Osorno was destroyed again by the indigenous

people in October 1602. The destruction of Osorno forced Spaniards and the remaining indigenous allies to migrate south to the vicinity of

where Spanish rule was still upheld. Indigenous allies the followed the Spanish on their departure were declared indios reyunos and became free of encomienda and held the duty to form a

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

. The indios reyunos settled chiefly in Calbuco and Abtao. Fernando de Alvarado, an exile from Osorno, led the Spanish resistance in Chiloé against Dutch invaders in 1643. During the crisis that preceded the Battle of Río Bueno Captain Ignacio Carrera Yturgoyen penetrated with an army from Carelmapu north to the vicinity of the ruins of Osorno where his expedition were approached by Huilliches who handed over three "

caciques A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

", allegedly responsible for the murders of the survivors of the wreck of ''San José''. The plains of Osorno and the whole area between

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...

and the settlements of Calbuco and Carelmapu remained independent indigenous territory closed to the Spanish. The Spanish had thus little information on this territory and had to rely on hearsay. This lack of concrete knowledge of the territory fueled speculations about the

mythical Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

City of the Caesars The City of the Caesars (Spanish Ciudad de los Césares), also variously known as ''City of Patagonia'', ''the Wandering City'', ''Trapalanda'' or ''Trapananda'', ''Lin Lin'' or ''Elelín'', is a mythical city of South America. It was supposedly ...

New Osorno

On 22 November 1792, Tomás de Figueroa who headed a military expedition from

took possession of the ruins. The Parliament of Las Canoas held in 1793 established anew peace between Spanish and Mapuche-Huilliche. The treaty allowed for Spanish control of a strip of land between Rahue (the known as Río de Las Canoas) and Damas rivers, which including the area of Osorno. Local chiefs Catrihuala, Iñil and Caniu from around Osorno, and other from farther away, participated in the meeting. Under the orders of Ambrosio O'Higgins, Osorno was again rebuilt by Juan Mackenna, and declared officially re-populated in 1796. O'Higgins, in turn, was awarded the title of Marquess of Osorno. The new settlers of Osorno soon begun to purchase land from the local indigenous families of Catrihuala, Caniu and Colin. These purchases were permitted by local governor Juan Mackenna, who did however claim to have prevented local Huilliche sell lands they needed for subsistence. According Mackenna local

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

s sold land to purchase liquour. Osorno owes its legacy to fairly recent Chilean settlement, when the government subdued the region's indigenous

peoples in the mid-19th century and opened the land to Chilean and European immigration soon to follow. A large percentage of locals in Osorno are descendants of Spanish (the livestock grazing industry owes its foundation to the

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

) and other European immigrants. Around 1850, the government of Chile began inviting German settlers to the colony to promote growth in the region; the settlers found Osorno's climate and geography to be very similar to their own. It continues to have a thriving German secondary school. With their help, Osorno was made the home of the National Cattle ranch of Chile, boosting the regional economy significantly. Present-day Osorno has preserved 19th century architecture and urban layout, represented by six picturesque houses which have been designated national monuments. Osorno has a long history of rivalry with

, and in a 2006 referendum, the

rejected its proposed incorporation into the new

Los Ríos Region The Los Ríos Region (Spanish: ''Región de Los Ríos'', , ''Region of the Rivers'') is one of Chile's 16 regions, the country's first-order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. It began to operate as a region on October 2, 20 ...

, of which Valdivia is now the capital. In 2019 the water supply system of Osorno was contaminated with 1,100 liters of petrol ushering an sanitary and environmental crisis. The crisis led to the water supply system of Osorno to be shut down from July 10 to July 21. The oil spill also effected Rahue River. ESSAL, the private company in charge of the water supply of Osorno, did not specify the reason for the shut down in the first communique. The government announced that President

Sebastián Piñera Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique (; 1 December 1949 – 6 February 2024) was a Chilean businessman and politician who served as President of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022. The son of a Christian Democratic Party (C ...

had canceled a visit to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to instead solve the crisis in Osorno. Opposition deputy Emilia Nuyado denounced a

media circus Media circus is a colloquial metaphor or idiom describing a news event for which the level of media coverage—measured by such factors as the number of reporters at the scene and the amount of material broadcast or published—is perceived to b ...

on behalf of the government after the water shortage continued following Piñera's visit to the city. Inhabitants of the city went to streets of Osorno to protest calling for the cancellation of ESSAL's water supply concession. ESSAL was to give total discount of 63,250

Chilean peso The peso is the currency of Chile. The current peso has circulated since 1975, with a Chilean peso (1817–1960), previous version circulating between 1817 and 1960. Its symbol is defined as a letter S with either one or two vertical bars super ...

s (2019) to each of the 47,519 affected clients. In a

popular consultation A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

held in Osorno following the 2019 Chilean protests over 90% of the participants voted to end ESSAL's concession. Results are however not binding.

Climate

Osorno has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfb'') with a drying trend in summer. Winters are cool but mild with a July average of . Most of the precipitation falls during this time of the year with May to July being the wettest months, averaging around to of precipitation and humidity is high, averaging around 85%. Snowfalls are rare. Summers are drier and mild with a January average of and during this time, precipitation is lower, averaging in January. In some years, many days can go without a day of precipitation such as the case in 1992 when only of precipitation was recorded in January while in other years, some summers can have several wet days in a row. Temperatures can occasionally exceed anytime from December to March. The average annual precipitation is and there are 173 days with measureable precipitation. The record high was in February 2019 and the record low was in July 1954.

The city

Osorno sits in sight of Volcán Osorno, an active but minor volcano. The city's most prominent geographical feature is the Rahue River that runs north–south through its center. A smaller stream breaks off as well, running east before turning south and giving the city some natural boundaries. Located near the river front on the east side is the city's heart, the

Plaza de Armas ''Plaza de armas'' (pl. ; literally ''arms square'' or ''place-of-arms'') is a Spanish language, Spanish term commonly used to refer to town square, town squares in Latin America, Spain and the Philippines, as well as a name commonly given to th ...

, a large, one-block park with fountains, benches, and tree-lined avenues. On the park's east side is '' La Catedral'' of

Saint Matthew Matthew the Apostle was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. According to Christian traditions, he was also one of the four Evangelists as author of the Gospel of Matthew, and thus is also known as Matthew the Evangelist. The claim of his g ...

, one of the city's major landmarks, notable for its modern architecture. The cathedral serves as

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

of the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Diocese of Osorno. Along the south side is Juan Mackenna Avenue, the city's major city centre street. Other points of interest are the main campus of the Universidad de Los Lagos and the Osorno Rodeo Stadium. The recently opened

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

''Plaza Sol de los Lagos'' is a new popular attraction for tourists and locals alike. Osorno hosts a number of annual celebrations. The ''Festival de la Carne y la Leche'' (Milk and Meat Festival) is a

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

held annually in late January, features performances by national music pop singers and bands. The ''Festival del Folklore Campesino'' (Country Folk Festival) held annually in mid-January, features performances of regional music folk artists. Another celebration is the ''Feria Ganadera Sago Fisur'' (Sago-Fisur Cattle Fair) held annually in early November, hosted by the largest ranch in the area highlights the current state of agricultural activity. Fireworks displays are held every year around the city on 18 September, the Chilean national Day, commemorating independence from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Osorno is also a gateway for many tourist attractions. Puyehue National Park is a major attraction, with pristine lakes, forests, and game preserves. The volcanic area provides natural hot springs, now the site of the Aguas Calientes spa. ''Puyehue Hot Springs'' is adjacent to the park. Los Lagos Region was named for the many lakes in the area, many of which have tourist-friendly yet isolated beaches; closest to Osorno are Puyehue and Rupanco.Turistel
map foun

Antillanca ski resort, less than a hundred kilometers away, is one of the highest-quality resorts in Chile. Ecotourism is also encouraged by the indigenous

communities, who inhabit the Pacific coastal zone. Much of the funds brought in by tourism is being used to protect native plant and tree species, most notably the Alerce, a threatened

Cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

. The thick forests open onto a number of beaches and bays, such as Maicolpué, Bahía Mansa and Pucatrihue.

Sports

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

are popular sports in the city. Osorno fields a football team,

Provincial Osorno Provincial Osorno is a football club based in Osorno, Los Lagos Region, Chile. The club is currently playing at the third tier of the Chilean football system, the Segunda División. The club were founded on 5 June 1983 and then re-founded on 3 ...

, in the third level national football league. Provincial Osorno plays home games at the Estadio Ruben Marcos Peralta, which has a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 10,000. Osorno's professional basketball team in the top level National Basketball League is called Español de Osorno. Their home games are held at the ''Gimnasio María Gallardo'', which has a

of almost 4,500. Chilean rodeo is popular in Osorno, as it is in most of the center-south zone of the country. Osorno's rodeo stadium, the Medialuna de Osorno, is considered one of the best in the country, and was the qualifying arena for the southern region of the national rodeo in 2006.

Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

is also one of the city's pastimes; Osorno produced Chile's boxing representative at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

, Martín Vargas. Additionally, the mountainous terrain surrounding Osorno is used for

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

, sports popularized by the large tide of German immigrants. It is the closest city to the Antillanca ski resort, only 98 km away.

Economy

Osorno is an important

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

center, and agriculture makes up the bulk of the Osorno province's economic activity.

Wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

and

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seed ...

grow abundantly, but the land is also well-suited to the breeding of Chilean horses and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

. Some of Chile's finest beef products originate in the Osorno ranches. Osorno's proximity to the

makes it a key place the national economy. The

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

connects Osorno to the

city of

Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche (from the Mapuche name ''Vuriloche'', meaning "people from the other side of the mountain"), commonly known simply as Bariloche (), is the largest city in the Argentine province of Río Negro and the seat of the departm ...

, and is one of primary arteries that ties the two countries' southern regions together. The pass is particularly important due to the fact that it crosses the

mountains at very low altitude, allowing it to remain open even when other passes are blocked by snow. Despite all this, Osorno has seen some economic stagnation in the past several decades. Agriculture alone has not allowed it to keep pace with the booming, rapidly industrializing Chilean economy; Osorno lacks both industrial and information-services sectors. In one effort to combat this, the city has forged international business ties with several Dutch companies, after it was discovered that the local climate is ideal for the growing of

tulip Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different colour ...

s. Likewise, Osorno has recently entered the international meat market. Besides offering high-quality beef, the isolated region is also completely free of the recent rash of cattle plagues such as Mad Cow and

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious disease, infectious and sometimes fatal virus (biology), viral disease that primarily affects even-toed ungulates, including domestic and wild Bovidae, bovids. The vir ...

, guaranteeing the safety of Chilean meats. Osorno is now faced with a unique opportunity: the arable land is suited for the growing of beets, soy, and corn, crops rising in popularity with the recent development of biocombustibles: fuels derived from crops, such as corn-derived

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

. It is hoped that the Chilean government's announcement that it will not apply the same steep taxes to agricultural fuels as it does to petroleum products, as well as the increasing demand for more environment-friendly fuels, will mean that Osorno will again become a major economic hub. As Chile continues to develop as one of South America's economic leaders and one of the most stable states in the region, tourism is on the rise.

Transportation

The city is served by Canal Bajo Carlos Hott Siebert Airport, which offers 2-hour flights to

. Buses also depart for the capital daily. The

also marks the city as a major gateway to and from

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 ...

Education

International schools * Lycée Claude Gay *Instituto Alemán de Osorno

Religion

St. Matthew's Cathedral, Osorno, located in the city of Osorno, is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Osorno.

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, Osorno spans an area of and has 145,475 inhabitants (70,743 men and 74,732 women). Of these, 132,245 (90.9%) 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 13,230 (9.1%) 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 13.9% (17,706 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Notable residents

* Tomás Burgos, Philanthropist * Adolfo Matthei, Agricultural engineer. Founder local agricultural school. * Luis "Colin" Ramirez, Singer, Musician, Actor. * Eleuterio Ramírez, Chilean Army officer during de Pacific War against Perú and Bolivia. Also called Hero of Tarapacá. * Martín Vargas, Olympic boxer * Juan Mackenna, Governor of Osorno, hero of Chilean independence. * Pablo Longueira, politician * Erik Carrasco, professional basketball player * Iris Sanguesa, composer * Klaus von Storch, first Chilean astronaut trainee * Alexis Caiguan, member of the Chilean Constitutional Convention * Beatriz Hevia, public official

Administration

As a commune, Osorno 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 Jaime Alberto Bertin Valenzuela. 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 ...

, Osorno 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 Fidel Espinoza ( PS), Javier Hernández ( UDI), Harry Jürgensen ( RN) and Emilia Nuyado ( PS) as part of the 25th electoral district. 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 Rabindranath Quinteros Lara ( PS) and Iván Alejandro Moreira Barros ( UDI) as part of the 17th senatorial constituency (Los Lagos Region).

Gallery

Image:Mirador_de_Osorno.jpg, Osorno neighbourhood from a viewpoint Image:Interior catedral osorno.jpg, Catedral de San Mateo Image:Bosquechile.jpg, Forest near Osorno Image:DonPedro Antillanca.jpg, Antillanca Ski Resort Image:RubenMarcosP.JPG, Estadio Ruben Marcos Peralta

References

;Bibliography *

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

{{Authority control Communes of Chile Capitals of Chilean provinces Populated places established in 1558 1558 establishments in the Captaincy General of Chile 1602 disestablishments in the Captaincy General of Chile Populated places established in 1796 1796 establishments in the Captaincy General of Chile Colonial fortifications in Chile Populated places in Osorno Province 1558 establishments in the Spanish Empire Former ghost towns Populated places destroyed during wars 1796 establishments in the Spanish Empire