Panguipulli ( ;

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 ...

for "hill of the puma") 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

Valdivia Province Valdivia Province (; ) is one of two Provinces of Chile, provinces of the southern Chilean Regions of Chile, region of Los Ríos Region, Los Ríos (XIV). The provincial capital is Valdivia (city), Valdivia. Located in the province are two importan ...

, 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 ...

, administered by the Municipality of Panguipulli. It is located on the western edge of Panguipulli Lake, and is on a

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

in the

Chilean Central Valley The Central Valley (), Intermediate Depression, or Longitudinal Valley is the depression between the Chilean Coastal Range and the Andes Mountains. The Chilean Central Valley extends from the border with Peru to Puerto Montt in southern Chile, wi ...

. Most of the commune lies on

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

mountains and valleys. The commune is rich in

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

resources and contains large tracts of protected areas such as

national parks A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

and

nature reserves A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...

History

Panguipulli's first recorded inhabitants were indigenous

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 ...

s that lived along the shores of the main lakes and rivers of the region. The first mention of Panguipulli was in 1776. Guillermo Angermaier, who settled in the western shores of Panguipulli Lake in 1885, was the first non-indigenous person to settle in what is now the commune of Panguipulli. It was not until 1946 that the city was officially founded. In 1903 the Capuchin order established a mission in Panguipulli. The Capuchin monks built the first schools in the area. In 1947 the Capuchin built Panguipulli's twin towered wooden church, which is now a local landmark.

2020s

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, Panguipulli spans an area of and has 33,273 inhabitants (17,059 men and 16,214 women). Of these, 15,888 (47.8%) 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 17,385 (52.2%) 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. The population grew by 10.3% (3,111 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Tourism

Most of the tourists that visit the Panguipulli area are drawn by a desire to commune with nature. The municipality uses the nearby Seven Lakes prominently in its tourist promotions. Some nearby tourist attractions include; the

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

s at

Liquiñe Liquiñe is a town in Liquiñe Valley, in Panguipulli commune, Valdivia Province, Chile. The area around the village is home to South America's densest collection of hot springs. There are literally hundred of sites where geothermal waters flow ...

, the

Mocho-Choshuenco Mocho-Choshuenco (Pronounced: ) is a glacier covered compound stratovolcano in the Andes of Los Ríos Region, Chile. It is made of the twin volcanoes Choshuenco in the northwest and the Mocho in the southeast. The highest parts of the volcan ...

volcano, and the

Huilo-Huilo Biological Reserve Huilo-Huilo Biological Reserve ( , Pronounced: ) is a private for profit natural reserve and ecotourism area in southern Chile. It is by the community of Neltume, Chile, Neltume along the international road to Hua Hum Pass near the border to Arge ...

, which features year-round skiing.

Rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

and

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

hunting are also popular activities in the region. Panguipulli is linked to

San Martín de los Andes San Martín de los Andes is a city in the south-west of the , serving as the administration centre of the Lácar Department. Lying at the foot of the Andes, on the Lácar lake, it is considered one of the main tourism destinations in the province. ...

in Argentina by the Hua-Hum international pass. It is one of the few passes between Chile and Argentina that is open all year round. The international way follows a geologic fault, which has created a depression now filled by Pirihueico Lake. To get from one side of Pirihueico Lake to the other, the town of Puerto Fuy, nearly half an hour by car east of Panguipulli, operates a ferry that crosses the lake twice a day.

Geography

The commune of Panguipulli is characterized by an Alpine landscape shaped by Quaternary glaciers and recent volcanism. Two morphological zones can be found in here, the Precordillera and 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 Precodillera zone covers most of western Panguipulli and has forest-covered hills dissected by big thoughts occupied by the glacial lakes of

Calafquén Calafquén is a Chilean hamlet (Spanish: caserío) in Panguipulli commune, of Los Ríos Region. Located on the southern shores of Calafquén Lake Calafquén Lake (Mapudungun: Lake like a sea) is a lake of Chile, which straddles the border betwe ...

, Panguipulli and Riñihue. The first two are moraine-dammed and drain westward to Riñihue Lake.

Administration

As a commune, Panguipulli 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. 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 ...

, Panguipulli 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 Mr. Enrique Jaramillo ( PDC) and Mr. Gastón Von Mühlenbrock (

UDI Udi may refer to: Places * Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria * Udi Hills, Enugu State, Nigeria * Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India People Given name * Udi Aloni (born 1959), Israeli-American film ...

) as part of the 54th electoral district, together with Los Lagos, Futrono, Lago Ranco, Río Bueno, La Unión and

Paillaco Paillaco is a city and commune in southern Chile. It is located in Valdivia Province of Los Ríos Region, and is about 48 km southeast of Valdivia. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Paillaco spans ...

. The commune is represented in the as part of the 16th senatorial constituency (Los Ríos Region).

References

External links

*
Municipality of Panguipulli

Panguipulli tourist website
(

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 ...

)
Satellite image of Panguipulli
* https://web.archive.org/web/20101108024544/http://www.panguipulli.org/ Tall the information about tourism in panguipulli, hotels, lodges, treking, rafting, and much more {{Authority control Populated places in Valdivia Province Communes of Chile Populated places established in 1946 Populated lakeshore places in Chile Mapuche language