Victoria 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

Malleco Province Malleco Province () is one of two provinces in the southern Chilean region of La Araucanía (IX). Its population as of the 2017 census is 205,124, and it covers an area of . The provincial capital is the city of Angol. Malleco Province is known ...

of La Araucanía Region,

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 ...

. It is the second most populous city in the

, and is the gateway to the area known as Araucanía Andina, with attractions such as the

Tolhuaca National Park Tolhuaca National Park () is a protected area created on October 16, 1935, in an area of 3,500 ha that was previously part of the Malleco National Reserve. In 1985, a second section of Malleco National Reserve was also made part of the national ...

, the Tolhuaca Hot Springs, Malalcahuello National Reserve, and the communes of

Curacautín Curacautín, which means "Gathering Stone" in Mapudungun, is a Communes of Chile, commune and List of cities in Chile, city in the Chilean province of Malleco Province, Malleco. Curacautín is located 90 kilometres northeast of Temuco, in a valley ...

and Lonquimay. The climate is influenced by the vicinity of the

temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are rainforests with coniferous or Broad-leaved tree, broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rainforests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate ...

in Chile.

History

Victoria was founded in 1881 by Bernardo Muñoz Vargas by order of General

Gregorio Urrutia Gregorio Urrutia Venegas ( San Carlos, Chile, 1830 - Santiago, ibidem, September 10, 1897) was a Chilean military official who made a career in the Chilean Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He held several military positions and par ...

, on a plateau overlooking the Traiguén River valley.

The beginning

The city was extremely underdeveloped when it was first established in 1881, with only a few huts and a little amount of trade, mostly for the fort's garrison. In 1883, Swiss settlers arrived in Victoria. The commander of the fort, Bernardo Muñoz Vargas was responsible for some of the early urban planning. Creating some dumps, open streets, and a wooden bridge crossing the nearby river Traiguén. The Swiss settlers were followed by Germans in Valdivia, who established a mill and a brewery on the banks of Traiguén; and exploited the extensive virgin forest creating some sawmills.

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, Victoria spans an area of and has 33,501 inhabitants (16,423 men and 17,078 women). Of these, 23,977 (71.6%) 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 9,524 (28.4%) 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 1.6% (522 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. The main settlements of the commune are the city of Victoria and the villages of Selva Oscura, Púa and Quino.

Attractions

Some snowcapped volcanoes of 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 ...

, such as the Tolhuaca, Lonquimay,

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

and the Llaima, can be seen from Victoria, forming an enormous backdrop for the city.

Economy

Its economy is based mainly on agriculture, livestock, dairy and export of agricultural products, forestry, trade and services. Its privileged location in the center of the Province, close to the regional capital,

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 ...

, permits an expedite connection with the main national routes such as railways and

Chile Route 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 conn ...

. It is also located halfway along the bi-oceanic corridor between the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

and

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 ...

across the Pino Hachado Pass.

Administration

As a commune, Victoria 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 Hugo Monsalve Castillo (ILA). 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 ...

, Victoria 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 Enrique Estay ( UDI) and Fuad Chahín ( PDC) as part of the 49th electoral district, together with

, Lonquimay, Melipeuco,

Vilcún Vilcún (Mapudungun for "lizard") is a Chilean List of towns in Chile, town and Communes of Chile, commune in Cautín Province, Araucanía Region. The town is an important gateway for tourists visiting Conguillío National Park and Llaima volcano. ...

Lautaro Lautaro (Anglicized as 'Levtaru') ( " swift hawk") (; 1534 – April 29, 1557) was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would continue to be empl ...

, Perquenco and Galvarino. 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 Alberto Espina Otero ( RN) and Jaime Quintana Leal ( PPD) as part of the 14th senatorial constituency (Araucanía-North).

Climate

References

External links

*
Municipality of Victoria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Victoria Communes of Chile Geography of Araucanía Region Populated places in Malleco Province 1881 establishments in Chile