Cunco is a Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an commune and city in Cautín Province

Cautín Province

Cautín Province is one of two provinces in the southern Chilean region of Araucanía , bounded on the north by Arauco and Malleco provinces, on the east by Argentina, on the south by Valdivia Province, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Its population at the 2002 census was of 667,920. The most...

, Araucanía Region

Araucanía Region

The IX Araucanía Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south....

. The town is located 60 km southeast of the city of Temuco

Temuco

Temuco is a city and commune, capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The name comes from the Mapudungun language, meaning "temu water"; "temu" is a tree used by Mapuches for medicinal purposes. The city is located 670 km south of Santiago...

 and 77 km west of Icalma International Pass.

The major geographical features of this commune are the Allipén River

Allipén River

Allipén River is a river located in the Araucanía Region of Chile. It is formed at the junction of the rivers Trufultruful and Zahuelhue, near Melipeuco...

 and the Colico Lake

Colico Lake

Colico Lake is located in the Araucanía Region of Chile. The neighboring Caburgua Lake lies to the east of the lake and the Villarrica Lake to the south....

.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

 of the National Statistics Institute

National Statistics Institute (Chile)

The National Statistics Institute of Chile is a state-run organization of the Government of Chile, created in the second half of the 19th century and tasked with performing a general census of population and housing, then collecting, producing and publishing official demographic statistics of...

, Cunco spans an area of 1906.5 sqkm and has 18,703 inhabitants (9,203 men and 9,500 women). Of these, 8,806 (47.1%) lived in urban area

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

s and 9,897 (52.9%) in rural areas. The population grew by 2% (364 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Cunco is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a communal council, headed by an alcalde

Alcalde

Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...

 who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Patricio Mittersteiner Garrido. The communal council has the following members:

• Osvaldo Inostroza Mora
• Danilo Urrutia Cárcamo
• Rene Sepulveda Ceballos
• Patricio Oakley Oviedo
• Cristian Moraga Lagos
• Alfonso Coke Candia

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Zapallar belongs to the 52nd electoral district and 15th senatorial constituency.

External links

Gobierno Regional de la Araucanía: Cunco Munipalidad de Cunco
Porta Cunco (Independent Website)