Hualqui 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 city and commune in the Concepción Province

Concepción Province, Chile

Concepción Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Biobío . Its capital, Concepción, is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation, the nation's second largest metropolitan area after Santiago.-Administration:...

, Biobio Region. It is also part of the Greater Concepcion

Greater Concepción

Gran Concepción is the second largest conurbation in Chile, after Greater Santiago with 1,013,856 inhabitants. According to the National Statistics Institute , the population projection for 2012 is 1,019,775 inhabitants....

 conurbation, although it maintains a rural profile. It had a population of 18,768 inhabitants according to the 2002 census.

Its name comes from the Moluche

Moluche

Moluche or Nguluche is a dialect of the Mapuche language Mapudungun that is also the ethnic description of the Mapuche peoples speaking that language. At the beginning of the Conquest of Chile by the Spanish Empire the Moluche lived in what came to be known as Araucanía...

 Aillarehue

Aillarehue

Aillarehue or Ayllarehue Aillarehue or Ayllarehue Aillarehue or Ayllarehue (from the (mapudungun: ayllarewe/ayjarewe: " nine rehues"); a confederation of rehues or familiar clans (lof) that dominated a region or province. It was the old administrative and territorial division of the Mapuche,...

 and rehue

Rehue

Rehue or rewe is the sacred altar used by the Mapuche of Chile in many of their ceremonies.- Alter :It is a tree trunk set in the ground and surrounded by canes of colihue located in row and adorned with white, blue or yellow flags and branches of coihues, maitén, lengas and other trees of the area...

 of Hualqui that existed there at the beginning of the Conquest of Chile

Conquest of Chile

The Conquest of Chile is a period in Chilean historiography that starts with the arrival of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile in 1541 and ends with the death of Martín García Óñez de Loyola, in the Battle of Curalaba in 1598 or alternatively with the Destruction of the Seven Cities. This was the period...

. In 1577, the Royal Governor of Chile

Royal Governor of Chile

The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district known as the Kingdom of Chile. This district was also called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General...

 Rodrigo de Quiroga

Rodrigo de Quiroga

Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He was twice the Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...

 erected a small fort of Hualqui on the Biobío River 23 km (14 mi) from the city of Concepcion

Concepción, Chile

Concepción is a city in Chile, capital of Concepción Province and of the Biobío Region or Region VIII. Greater Concepción is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants...

 and 24 km (15 mi) to the northwest of Talcamávida

Talcamávida

Talcamávida is a town in the commune of Hualqui in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is located on the north bank of the Bio Bio River across from Santa Juana on the opposite shore. It occupied a plain along the river 42 kilometers from the Pacific Ocean that is part of a small valley surrounded by...

 at the site of the modern city and over time a small settlement grew around it. In the beginning of 1756 Governor Manuel de Amat y Juniet

Manuel de Amat y Juniet

Felipe Manuel Cayetano de Amat y de Juniet was a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator. He was the Royal Governor of the Captaincy General of Chile from December 28, 1755 to September 9, 1761, and Viceroy of Peru from October 12, 1761 to July 17, 1776.-Origins and military...

 erected a town there, named San Juan Bautista de Gualqui. It served as capital to the Corregimiento de Puchacay and then Partido de Puchacay until 1799.

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...

, Hualqui spans an area of 530.5 sqkm and has 18,768 inhabitants (9,293 men and 9,475 women). Of these, 14,756 (78.6%) 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 4,012 (21.4%) in rural areas. The population grew by 16.2% (2,612 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Hualqui is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council

Municipal council

A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...

, 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 Ricardo Fuentes Palma (Ind.

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

).

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Hualqui is represented in the Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of Chile

The Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Chile is the lower house of Chile's bicameral Congress. Its organisation and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of Chile's current constitution....

 by Sergio Bobadilla (UDI) and Clemira Pacheco (PS

Socialist Party of Chile

The Socialist Party of Chile is a political party, that is part of the center-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. Its historical leader was the late President of Chile Salvador Allende Gossens, who was deposed by General Pinochet in 1973...

) as part of the 45th electoral district, (together with Tomé

Tomé

Tomé is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is bordered by Coelemu to the north, Ránquil and Florida to the east, Penco to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west...

, Penco

Penco

Penco is a Chilean city and commune in Concepción Province, Biobío Region on the Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo on February 12, 1550 by Pedro de Valdivia, it is the third oldest city in the country after Santiago founded first in 1541 and La Serena second...

, Florida

Florida, Chile

Florida is a Chilean town and commune located in the Concepción Province, Biobío Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Florida spans an area of and has 10,177 inhabitants . Of these, 3,875 lived in urban areas and 6,302 in rural areas...

, Coronel and Santa Juana

Santa Juana, Chile

Santa Juana is a city and commune of the Concepción Province in the Biobío Region of Chile. It lies south and west of the Biobío River in the valley of Catirai and is 48 kilometers from Concepcion, Chile.- History :...

). The commune is represented in the Senate

Senate of Chile

The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile.-Composition:...

 by Alejandro Navarro Brain (MAS) and Hosain Sabag Castillo (PDC

Christian Democratic Party

Christian democratic parties are those political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social teaching, and it continues to be influential in Europe and...

) as part of the 12th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Cordillera).

External links

Municipality of Hualqui