Limache 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 Marga Marga Province

Marga Marga Province

Marga Marga Province is one of the eight provinces in the central Chilean region of Valparaíso . Its capital is the city of Quilpué.-History:The province was created by Law 20,368 on August 25, 2009 and it became operative on March 11, 2010...

, Valparaíso Region

Valparaíso Region

The V Valparaíso Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's third highest population of 1,539,852 million in 2002 and third smallest area of , the region is Chile's second most densely populated after the Santiago Metropolitan Region...

. Limache is the only commune of Chile that has two cities. First San Francisco de Limache is to the north of the Matting of Limache, towards the south is Limache Viejo. Limache is famous by the exports of tomato and the celebration of "The Virgin of the 40 Hours" .

Geography

Limache spans an inland area of 293.8 sqkm in Chile's Zona Central

Zona Central

Zona Central can refer to:* Zona Central, Chile* Zona Central, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil* Downtown São Paulo, Brazil...

, located 43 km (27 mi) west of the port city of Valparaíso

Valparaíso

Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

 and 103 km (64 mi) northwest of the national capital of Santiago

Santiago

Santiago is the capital city of Chile. Santiago may also refer to:*Santiago *Santiago , a Spanish given name*Santiago!, a shortened form of the Reconquista battle cry "Santiago y cierra, España"...

.

Culture

The Feast of the Virgin of 40 Hours (La Fiesta de la Virgen de las 40 Horas) begins in Limache 40 hours before the last Sunday in February with masses

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

 every hour, culminating on Sunday with a procession through the city.

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...

 Limache has 39,219 inhabitants (19,269 men and 19,950 women). Of these, 34,948 (89.1%) 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 4,271 (10.9%) in rural areas. The population grew by 12.6% (4,380 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Limache 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 Luis Minardi de la Torre.

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Limache 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 Mr. Marcelo Schilling (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...

) and Mr. Arturo Squella (UDI) as part of the 12th electoral district, (together with Olmué

Olmué

Olmué is a Chilean commune located in the Marga Marga Province, Valparaíso Region. The commune spans an area of .-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Olmué has 14,105 inhabitants . Of these, 10,379 lived in urban areas and 3,726 in rural areas...

, Villa Alemana

Villa Alemana

Villa Alemana is a city and commune in Chile's Zona Central. It was founded in 1896 by Italian and German immigrants. Villa Alemana is a part of the urban area known as Greater Valparaiso.- History :...

, Quilpué). 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 Ignacio Walker Prieto (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...

) and Lily Pérez San Martín (RN

National Renewal (Chile)

National Renewal , is a liberal conservative political party belonging to the Chilean right-wing political coalition Coalition for Change in conjunction with the Independent Democratic Union and the Chile First movement...

) as part of the 5th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Cordillera).