Parral, Chile
Encyclopedia
Parral is a city and commune and in the Linares Province
of central Chile
's seventh region of Maule
.
, Ambrosio O'Higgins. It was originally named Villa Reina Luisa
del Parral in honor of the wife of Carlos IV, the King of Spain.
Parral is the birthplace of poet
Pablo Neruda
, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
in 1971.
and 97 kilometers south of Talca
, on the southern border of the Maule Region
and Linares Province. Parral borders on the north with the communes of Longaví
, Retiro
and Colbún
(with which it shares a short border in the cordillera
na zone); on the west with the coomune of Cauquenes
(Cauquenes Province
); on the south with the communes of Ñiquén and San Fabián
and Ñuble Province
(Bío-Bío Region
); and on the east, with the commune of San Fabián.
The commune of Parral is 1638.4 square kilometre in area. Its most important river is the Perquilauquén
, which forms its southern border.
, 26,397 (70.0%) live in urban area
s and 11,425 (30.0%) in surrounding rural
areas. The ratio of men to women is 101 to 100. Between the census of 1992 and that of 2002, the population of the municipality fell by 0.6% (245 people), exclusively in the rural population; the city of Parral grew by around 1,900 people (7.7%). Parral has welcomed immigration from Italy
and Germany
.
, headed by an alcalde
who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Israel Urrutia Escobar (PDC
).
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Parral is represented in the Chamber of Deputies
by Guillermo Ceroni (PPD
) and Ignacio Urrutia (UDI) as part of the 40th electoral district, (together with Longaví
, Retiro
, Cauquenes
, Pelluhue
and Chanco). The commune is represented in the Senate
by Hernán Larraín
(UDI) and Ximena Rincón González (PDC) as part of the 11th senatorial constituency (Maule-South).
Linares Province
Linares is one of four provinces of the central Chilean region of Maule . The provincial capital and most populous center is the city of Linares.-Administration:...
of central 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...
's seventh region of Maule
Maule Region
The VII Maule Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Talca. The region takes its name from the Maule River which, running westward from the Andes, bisects the region and spans a basin of about 20,600 km2...
.
History
Parral was founded in 1795 by the Viceroy of PeruViceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
, Ambrosio O'Higgins. It was originally named Villa Reina Luisa
Maria Luisa of Parma
Maria Luisa of Parma was Queen consort of Spain from 1788 to 1808 as the wife of King Charles IV of Spain. She was the youngest daughter of Duke Philip of Parma and his wife, Louise-Élisabeth of France, the eldest daughter of King Louis XV.She was christened Luisa Maria Teresa Ana, but was known...
del Parral in honor of the wife of Carlos IV, the King of Spain.
Parral is the birthplace of poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
in 1971.
Geography
Parral is located 50 km (31.1 mi) south of LinaresLinares, Chile
Linares is a Chilean city and commune located in the Maule Region and lies in the fertile Chilean Central Valley, south of Santiago and south of Talca, the regional capital...
and 97 kilometers south of Talca
Talca
Talca is a city and commune in Chile located about south of Santiago, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region . As of the 2002 census, the city had a population of 193,755....
, on the southern border of the Maule Region
Maule Region
The VII Maule Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Talca. The region takes its name from the Maule River which, running westward from the Andes, bisects the region and spans a basin of about 20,600 km2...
and Linares Province. Parral borders on the north with the communes of Longaví
Longaví
Longaví is a Chilean city and commune located in Linares Province, one of the four provinces that make up the Maule Region, in the geographical center of Chile.-Geography:...
, Retiro
Retiro, Chile
Retiro is a town and commune in Chile, located in Linares Province, in the seventh region of Maule.-Geography:Retiro is located to the south of Santiago, to the south of the city of Linares , and 15 km to the north of the city of Parral...
and Colbún
Colbún
Colbún is a Chilean town and commune in Linares Province, Maule Region. The commune has a population of over 17,000 inhabitants and covers an area of , making it the province's largest. Its capital, the town of Colbún, has 3,679 inhabitants...
(with which it shares a short border in the cordillera
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
na zone); on the west with the coomune of Cauquenes
Cauquenes
Cauquenes, a city and commune in Chile, is the capital of the Cauquenes Province and is located in the Maule Region.-History:According to the historical records of Alonso de Ercilla, Cauquenes was originally inhabited by an indigenous community of the Promaucaes, known as the Cauqui by the Inca or...
(Cauquenes Province
Cauquenes Province
Cauquenes Province is one of four provinces of the central Chilean region of Maule . The provincial capital is the city of Cauquenes.-Geography and demography:The provincial capital, Cauquenes, lies approximately southwest of Santiago...
); on the south with the communes of Ñiquén and San Fabián
San Fabián
San Fabián is one of 21 communes in the Ñuble Province of central Chile's Biobío Region. The capital is the town of San Fabián de Alico. The commune spans an area of .-Administration:...
and Ñuble Province
Ñuble Province
Ñuble Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Biobío . It spans an area of and is administratively constituted by 21 communes. It has a population of 441,604 inhabitants. Its capital is the city of Chillán.-History:...
(Bío-Bío Region
Bío-Bío Region
The VIII Biobío Region , one of the fifteen first-order administrative divisions in Chile, comprises four provinces: Arauco, Biobio, Concepción, and Ñuble.The capital of the Region is Concepción...
); and on the east, with the commune of San Fabián.
The commune of Parral is 1638.4 square kilometre in area. Its most important river is the Perquilauquén
Perquilauquén
The Perquilauquén River is a tributary of the Loncomilla river, in the Maule Region of Chile. The river joins the Longaví to form the Loncomilla, a tributary of the Maule river....
, which forms its southern border.
Demography
The city of Parral is the second most populous city in Linares Province with a population of more than 26,000. According to the 2002 censusCensus
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...
, 26,397 (70.0%) live 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 11,425 (30.0%) in surrounding rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
areas. The ratio of men to women is 101 to 100. Between the census of 1992 and that of 2002, the population of the municipality fell by 0.6% (245 people), exclusively in the rural population; the city of Parral grew by around 1,900 people (7.7%). Parral has welcomed immigration from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Attractions
There are a number of natural and historical attractions in the area of Parral. These include:- Termas de Catillo, thermal baths located 27 km (16.8 mi) east of Parral and 320 m (1,049.9 ft) above sea levelSea levelMean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
, and the site of a 200-room hotelHotelA hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
complex; - The Digua Dam reservoir, a largely undeveloped recreational and fishing area;
- The Bullileo Dam reservoir and Laguna de Amargo recreational area;
- Fort Viejo, a recreational area and an archaeological siteArchaeological siteAn archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
from the time of the Spanish colonization of the AmericasSpanish colonization of the AmericasColonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
(La Conquista); - La Balsa, a recreational area near the AndesAndesThe Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
, with thermal baths nearby.
Administration
As a commune, Parral is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal councilMunicipal 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 Israel Urrutia Escobar (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...
).
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Parral 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 Guillermo Ceroni (PPD
Party for Democracy
The Party for Democracy is a political party in Chile; it is social democratic in its political orientation. It was founded in December 1987 by Ricardo Lagos, who aimed at forming a legal social democratic party . The party continued to function after the defeat of Pinochet...
) and Ignacio Urrutia (UDI) as part of the 40th electoral district, (together with Longaví
Longaví
Longaví is a Chilean city and commune located in Linares Province, one of the four provinces that make up the Maule Region, in the geographical center of Chile.-Geography:...
, Retiro
Retiro
Retiro might refer to the following:*Retiro, Antioquia, a municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia*Retiro, Buenos Aires, a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina...
, Cauquenes
Cauquenes
Cauquenes, a city and commune in Chile, is the capital of the Cauquenes Province and is located in the Maule Region.-History:According to the historical records of Alonso de Ercilla, Cauquenes was originally inhabited by an indigenous community of the Promaucaes, known as the Cauqui by the Inca or...
, Pelluhue
Pelluhue
Pelluhue is a town and commune in the Cauquenes Province of central Chile's eighth region of Maule.-Geography:...
and Chanco). 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 Hernán Larraín
Hernán Larraín
Hernán Larraín Fernández is a conservative Chilean lawyer, university lecturer, and politician; he is a current Senator and former President of the Senate, and is also currently serving as the president of the Independent Democrat Union. Larraín was elected to the Senate representing the 11th...
(UDI) and Ximena Rincón González (PDC) as part of the 11th senatorial constituency (Maule-South).