Sierra Gorda is a

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 ...

an commune in Antofagasta Province,

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region (, ) is one of Chile's Administrative divisions of Chile, sixteen first-order administrative divisions. Being the second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, El ...

. The total population was 1,516 as of the 2012 census. The two main settlements are the villages of Sierra Gorda (pop. 428) and Baquedano (pop. 825). The Sierra Gorda copper mine is located 2km north-west of the village of Sierra Gorda. Due to the mining business, Sierra Gorda has the eighth highest average household income in the country ( PPP US$34,842 in 2006). The village of Sierra Gorda stages a yearly summer music festival called ''Festival del Desierto'' ("Festival of the Desert"), which attracts thousands of people from nearby towns, and even from neighboring countries such as

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 ...

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

.La Tercera, February 10, 2008 print edition, page 68.

Climate

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, Sierra Gorda had 2,356 inhabitants (1,791 men and 565 women), and is an entirely

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 ...

. The population grew by 65.3% (931 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Sierra Gorda 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 2021-2024 alcalde is José Guerrero Venegas. 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 ...

, Sierra Gorda 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 Pedro Araya ( PRI) and Manuel Rojas ( UDI) as part of the 4th electoral district, together with

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

, Mejillones and

Taltal Taltal is a Chilean commune and city in Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta Region. According to the 2012 census, the commune has a population of 11,132 and has an area of . The commune is home to Paranal Observatory and includes the northern po ...

. 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 Jorge Soria ( Ind., 2018–2026) and Luz Ebensperger ( UDI, 2018–2022) as part of the 2nd senatorial constituency (Antofagasta Region).

2008 ''Quantum of Solace'' incident

While filming for the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film ''

Quantum of Solace ''Quantum of Solace'' is a 2008 spy thriller film and the twenty-second in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. Directed by Marc Forster and written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, Neal Purvis, Robe ...

'' was under way in the village, the mayor of Sierra Gorda, Carlos López Vega, drove his car onto the set because the crew had not asked his permission to film in his commune.

References

External links

Municipality of Sierra Gorda
{{Authority control Communes of Chile Populated places in Antofagasta Province