Puchuncaví is a town and commune in the

Valparaíso Province Valparaíso Province () is one of eight provinces of the central Chilean region of Valparaíso (V). Its capital is the coastal city of Valparaíso (pop. 275,982). Administration As a province, Valparaíso is a second-level administrative division ...

of 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 ...

's fifth

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 ...

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

. It spans a coastal area of .

History

The history of Puchuncaví and its surroundings goes back over 500 years, being one of the oldest localities in Chile. The contemporary name comes 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 ...

"''Punchuncahuin''", meaning "where fiestas abound". Similarly, there have been other meanings to this word, such as "Remains of Fiestas" or "End of Fiestas". There are no precise dates known relating to the origin of Puchuncaví, and it is presumed that at the arrival of the Spaniards a shantytown by this name existed. Puchuncaví was one of the terminals of the famous Inca road system, a stone footpath of medium width that united the Zona Central of Chile with

Cuzco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous province and department. The city was the capital of the Inca Empire unti ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, the capital of the

Inca Empire 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 ...

. In this location resided a ''Curaca'' or direct representative of the Inca, in charge of collecting taxes, crops, and imposing imperial authority over the indigenous peoples of the region. Upon the arrival of the Spanish, conquistador

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 ...

gave the valley of Puchuncaví to one of his soldiers, the Italian native Milán Vicenzo del Monte, a nephew of

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

. His descendants subdivided the lands between their heirs and finally in the 17th century there were several principal owners. On 8 December 1691, the Parrish of Puchuncaví was created by the Chaplain of War during the independence of Chile,

Presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros'', which means elder or senior, although many in Christian antiquity understood ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as overseer ...

Juan Manuel Benavides y Mujica, as recorded in the parish archives. On 6 March 1875, the Villa of Puchuncaví was declared and was on several occasions provincial capital. In the year 1894 the first commune called “ Quintero-Puchuncaví” was formed, integrating the two neighboring localities. In 1929,

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 General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (; 3 November 1877 – 28 April 1960) was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as president twice, first between 1927 and 1931, and then from 1952 to 1958, serving for 10 years in office. E ...

, issued a decree annexing the low-budget communes, and Puchuncaví was eliminated. This mandate complicated the situation; Puchuncaví happened to depend on Quintero. After a long period of dependence on Quintero, the creation of the Puchuncaví commune was achieved through Decree No. 3827 on 15 October 1923 after great efforts made by the then authorities of the town of Quintero and prominent residents of the area. Thus, in 1943 the corporation of the commune of Quintero decided to separate of the two cities. After a series of meetings with neighbors and the authorities, they achieved this separation on 13 September 1944 as issued in Law Decree No. 7866 under then-president Juan Antonio Ríos and

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 ...

Juan José Mena Salinas, creating the Municipality of Puchuncaví with its eight districts: Placilla de Puchuncaví, La Laguna, La Canela, San Antonio, Pucalán, Melosillas, Los Maitenes, Campiche, La Greda, Las Ventanas, La Chocota and Horcón. In 1975, with the creation of the Quillota Province and restructuring of the

, Puchuncaví became part of the latter province.

Demographics

According to data from the 2002 Census of Population and Housing, Puchuncaví had 12,954 inhabitants; of these, 11,099 (85.7%) 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 1,855 (14.3%) 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 6,643 men and 6,311 women. The population grew by 21.5% (2,293 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. The commune consists of a number of localities and towns, including Las Ventanas, which hosts the Foundry and Refinery of Las Ventanas (est. 30 September 1964); La Chocota and Horcón with their handcrafted boats and nude beach; Maitencillo, where one can find the Marbella Resort; El Rungue, countryside known for its traditional restaurant ''El Caballito de palo'' (English: "Stick Pony"); Pucalán and Los Maquis, whose people are primarily dedicated to the production of coal and agriculture; Campiche, whose people are primarily dedicated to growing tomatoes and other vegetables; La Canela; La Quebrada; El Paso; La Laguna; Chilicauquen; El Rincón; and El Leon.

Administration

As a commune, Puchuncaví 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 communal council, headed by an

(mayor) who is directly elected every four years. The 2021–2024 mayor is Marcos Morales Ureta (Ind./ RN). The communal council has the following members: * Maryolen Zamora Escobar ( RN) * Juan Pérez Herrera ( UDI) * Andrés Campos Vallejos (Ind./FRVS) * Ricardo Quero Arancibia (Ind./FA) * Érika Galarce Meléndez (PPD) * Juan Gilberto Peña Bernal (Ind./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 ...

, Puchuncaví 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 Eduardo Cerda (PDC) and Andrea Molina (UDI) as part of the 10th electoral district, together with La Ligua, Petorca, Cabildo, Papudo, Zapallar, Quintero, Nogales, Calera, La Cruz, Quillota and

Hijuelas Hijuelas () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in the Quillota Province of central Chile's fifth Regions of Chile, region of Valparaíso Region, Valparaíso. Geography Hijuelas spans an area of in Chile's Zona C ...

. 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).

References

External links

*
Municipality of Puchuncaví
*
Puchuncaví in Images
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puchuncavi Communes of Chile Populated places in Valparaíso Province Nude beaches