Pitrufquén () is a Chilean

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

Cautín Province Cautín Province () is one of two Provinces of Chile, provinces in the southern Chilean Regions of Chile, region of La Araucanía Region, La Araucanía (IX), bounded on the north by Arauco Province, Arauco and Malleco Province, Malleco provinces, ...

Araucanía Region The Araucanía ( ), La Araucanía Region ( ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions, and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south. Its capital and largest city is Temuco; other important cities ...

. The city is located 30 km south of

Temuco Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The cit ...

and lies immediately south of the

Toltén River Toltén River is a river located in the La Araucanía Region of Chile. It rises at Villarrica Lake, close to the city of the same name. Its major tributary is the Allipén River. From its confluence with the Allipén, the river follows a brai ...

, along

Chile Highway 5 Chile Highway 5 or Route 5 known locally as ''Ruta 5'' is Chile's longest route, . It is part of the Pan-American Highway. Stretch It runs from the Peruvian border connecting with Peru Highway 1 north of Arica to Puerto Montt where it connec ...

History

Pitrufquén was initially founded as ''Lisperguer'', name that honors the creator of the plane of the urban area, the French engineer Lisperguer.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Pitrufquén spans an area of and has 21,988 inhabitants (10,902 men and 11,086 women). Of these, 13,420 (61%) lived in urban areas and 8,568 (39%) in rural areas. Pitrufquén's population is characterized as varied because its members have different culture backgrounds, highlighting the historical legacy

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 immigrants principally from: France, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Hungary. Currently, the largest foreign colony is in " Faja Maisan" composed mostly of descendants of Germans, Dutchmen and Swiss, whose ancestors arrived in La Araucanía between 1905 and 1912.Historia de Faja Maisan
/ref> Since 1898, Pitrufquén begins its development under the impetus of its people and its agricultural potential. Besides immigrants mostly Dutchmen and

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

Administration

As a commune, Pitrufquén 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 Humberto Catalán Candia ( PS). 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 ...

, Pitrufquén 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 José Manuel Edwards ( RN) and Joaquín Tuma ( PDC) as part of the 51st electoral district, together with

Carahue Carahue () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in southern Chile. It is located 56 km west of Temuco, on the northern bank of the Imperial River (Chile), Imperial River. The city was founded as La Imperial, Chil ...

Nueva Imperial Nueva Imperial (New Imperial, in English) is a city and commune in the south of Chile. It is located in Cautín Province in the Araucanía Region. Nueva Imperial lies about to the west of Temuco, the regional capital. Geography Nueva Imperial i ...

, Saavedra, Teodoro Schmidt, Freire and Cholchol. 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 José Garcia Ruminot ( RN) and Eugenio Tuma Zedan ( PPD) as part of the 15th senatorial constituency (Araucanía-South).

References

Gobierno Regional de la Araucanía: Pitrufquén

External links

*
Municipality of Pitrufquén
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitrufquen Communes of Chile Populated places in Cautín Province Mapuche language