Perquenco is a town and commune in southern 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 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 was declared capital of the Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia

Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia

The Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia was the name of a state and kingdom created in the 19th century by a French lawyer and adventurer named Orélie-Antoine de Tounens. Orélie-Antoine de Tounens claimed the regions of Araucanía and eastern Patagonia hence the name of kingdom...

 by Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, but soon after it was occupied by Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez

Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez

Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez was a Chilean politician and military figure who played a major role in the Occupation of the Araucanía....

 who was in charge of the Chilean occupation of the Araucanía

Occupation of the Araucanía

The Occupation of Araucanía was a series of military campaigns, agreements and penetrations by the Chilean army and settlers which led to the incorporation of Araucanía into Chilean national territory...

.

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...

, Perquenco spans an area of 330.7 sqkm and has 6,450 inhabitants (3,281 men and 3,169 women). Of these, 2,929 (45.4%) 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 3,521 (54.6%) in rural areas. The population grew by 9.6% (564 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Perquenco 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 Alberto Muñoz Pérez (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, Perquenco 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 Enrique Estay (UDI) and Fuad Chahín (PDC) as part of the 49th electoral district, (together with Victoria

Victoria, Chile

Victoria is a city and commune in Malleco Province of Araucanía Region, Chile. It is the second most populous city in the province of Malleco, and is the gateway to the area known as Araucanía Andina, with attractions such as the Tolhuaca National Park , the Baths of Tolhuaca Malalcahuello National...

, Curacautín

Curacautín

Curacautín, which means "Gathering Stone" in Mapudungun, is a commune and city in the Chilean province of Malleco. Curacautín is located 90 kilometres northeast of Temuco, in a valley near the volcanoes Tolhuaca, Lonquimay and Llaima, all of which can be seen from the city...

, Lonquimay

Lonquimay

Lonquimay is a town and commune in the Malleco Province of southern Chile's Araucanía Region.- Transport :It is the terminus of an abandoned broad gauge railway project which supporters cited as the most practical railway route through the Andes to Argentina, but which lacks a link between...

, Melipeuco

Melipeuco

Melipeuco is a town and commune in Chile, located at the foot of the Andes, in the Province of Cautín, Araucanía Region. Melipeuco is from the southern entrance of the Conguillío National Park. The Nevados de Sollipulli, an ice-filled volcanic caldera surrounded by numerous hot water springs and...

, Vilcún

Vilcún

Vilcún is a Chilean town and commune in Cautín Province, Araucanía Region. The town is an important gateway for tourists visiting Conguillío National Park and Llaima volcano....

, Lautaro

Lautaro, Chile

Lautaro is a city and commune of the Cautín Province in Chile's Araucanía Region. The area is named in honor of Lautaro, Mapuche leader during the War of Arauco.-Demographics:...

 and Galvarino). 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 Alberto Espina Otero (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...

) and Jaime Quintana Leal (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...

) as part of the 14th senatorial constituency (Araucanía-North).

External links

Municipality of Perquenco