Quemchi
Encyclopedia
Quemchi is a Chile
an town and commune in Los Lagos Region
, located in the eastern shore of Chiloé Island
. It acquired certain celebrity because the famous Chilean writer Francisco Coloane was born nearby the town.
ans and Europe
ans. In 1870 the first barkentine to anchor in the bay brought the English
businessman Edwin H. Landon. Impressed by the beauty of the area and its potential commercial possibilities, he settled on a big block of land purchased from Juan Pablo Tocol. Here he built a house and later the first sawmill in Choen, as well as a store to supply his workers and villagers with provisions. He introduced exotic timbers from North America, Europe and Australia
. Thus emerged a port visited by ships of many different nations.
As this harbour was not very secure, it was moved to the more protected waters of Quemchi. This became quite an important place, where many people established themselves, amongst them Vicente Lobos Toledo from Valparaíso
.
Compañía Explotadora de Maderas Valparaíso was formed in Quemchi in 1885, and later became the "Sociedad Nacional de Bosques y Maderas", with affiliated companies in Quemchi, Calbuco
and Maullín
, and with an agent in Ancud
.
In 1881 Luis Martiniano was appointed Governor of Chiloé. He signed the declaration recognising Quemchi and its environs as an administrative area of the republic
.
The timber company Pi-Castolpi was founded in 1940 when the Spaniard don Antonio Campani, bought a thousand hectares of virgin forest in the Ancud area. With employment a strong community emerged.
of the National Statistics Institute
, Quemchi spans an area of 440.3 sqkm and has 8,689 inhabitants (4,525 men and 4,164 women). Of these, 1,665 (19.2%) lived in urban area
s and 7,024 (80.8%) in rural areas. The population grew by 6.1% (501 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.
, headed by an alcalde
who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Luis Macías De Marchi (ILC).
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Quemchi is represented in the Chamber of Deputies
by Gabriel Ascencio (PDC
) and Alejandro Santana (RN
) as part of the 58th electoral district, (together with Castro
, Ancud
, Dalcahue
, Curaco de Vélez
, Quinchao
, Puqueldón
, Chonchi
, Queilén
, Quellón
, Chaitén
, Hualaihué
, Futaleufú
and Palena
). The commune is represented in the Senate
by Camilo Escalona Medina (PS
) and Carlos Kuschel Silva (RN) as part of the 17th senatorial constituency (Los Lagos Region).
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 town and commune in Los Lagos Region
Los Lagos Region
Los Lagos Region is one of Chile's 15 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains the country's second largest island, Chiloé, and the second largest lake, Llanquihue.Its capital is Puerto Montt;...
, located in the eastern shore of Chiloé Island
Chiloé Island
Chiloé Island , also known as Greater Island of Chiloé , is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean...
. It acquired certain celebrity because the famous Chilean writer Francisco Coloane was born nearby the town.
History
At the end of 1860, Quemchi was set in native forest and the inhabitants lived mainly on shellfish. The population was a mixture of ChileChile
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...
ans and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans. In 1870 the first barkentine to anchor in the bay brought the English
English Chilean
English Chileans English descendants in Chile are estimated to number between 350,000 and 420,000 people, although over 700,000 Chileans may have British origin ....
businessman Edwin H. Landon. Impressed by the beauty of the area and its potential commercial possibilities, he settled on a big block of land purchased from Juan Pablo Tocol. Here he built a house and later the first sawmill in Choen, as well as a store to supply his workers and villagers with provisions. He introduced exotic timbers from North America, Europe and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Thus emerged a port visited by ships of many different nations.
As this harbour was not very secure, it was moved to the more protected waters of Quemchi. This became quite an important place, where many people established themselves, amongst them Vicente Lobos Toledo from 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...
.
Compañía Explotadora de Maderas Valparaíso was formed in Quemchi in 1885, and later became the "Sociedad Nacional de Bosques y Maderas", with affiliated companies in Quemchi, Calbuco
Calbuco
Calbuco is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Calbuco. Administratively Calbuco belongs to the Llanquihue Province of Los Lagos Region. The origin of the city was the Spanish Fort Calbuco founded in 1603, and became later an important fish market...
and Maullín
Maullín
Maullín is Chilean town and commune in Llanquihue Province which is part of Los Lagos Region. The commune is located in at the outflow of Maullín River.-History:In 1674, there was a group of soldiers Basques in the present position of the commune...
, and with an agent in Ancud
Ancud
Ancud is a city in southern Chile located in the northernmost part of the island and province of Chiloé, in Los Lagos Region .-Geography:...
.
In 1881 Luis Martiniano was appointed Governor of Chiloé. He signed the declaration recognising Quemchi and its environs as an administrative area of the republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
.
XX century
Compañía de Electricidad was formed in Quemchi in 1925 by Don Vicente Lobos T. and Don Antonio Scholbach and supplied the port with electric power.The timber company Pi-Castolpi was founded in 1940 when the Spaniard don Antonio Campani, bought a thousand hectares of virgin forest in the Ancud area. With employment a strong community emerged.
Demographics
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...
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...
, Quemchi spans an area of 440.3 sqkm and has 8,689 inhabitants (4,525 men and 4,164 women). Of these, 1,665 (19.2%) 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 7,024 (80.8%) in rural areas. The population grew by 6.1% (501 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.
Administration
As a commune, Quemchi 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 Luis Macías De Marchi (ILC).
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Quemchi 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 Gabriel Ascencio (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 Alejandro Santana (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 58th electoral district, (together with Castro
Castro, Chile
Castro is a city and commune in the Chilean island of Chiloé Island. Castro is the capital of the Chiloé Province in the Los Lagos Region. It is Chile's third oldest city in continued existence...
, Ancud
Ancud
Ancud is a city in southern Chile located in the northernmost part of the island and province of Chiloé, in Los Lagos Region .-Geography:...
, Dalcahue
Dalcahue
Dalcahue is a port town and a commune on Chiloé Island, Los Lagos Region, Chile.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute, the Dalcachue commune spans an area of and had 10,693 inhabitants; of these, 4,933 lived in urban areas and 5,760 in rural areas. At...
, Curaco de Vélez
Curaco de Vélez
Curaco de Vélez is Chilean commune in Chiloé Archipelago which is part of Chiloé Province and Los Lagos Region. The commune is located in western Quinchao Island while the eastern part is administered by the commune of Quinchao.-History:...
, Quinchao
Quinchao
-External links: *...
, Puqueldón
Puqueldón
Puqueldón is Chilean commune in Chiloé Archipelago which is part of Chiloé Province and Los Lagos Region. The commune is located on Lemuy Island. Puqueldón was one of the town to receive the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations scholarship in 2002.-History:...
, Chonchi
Chonchi
Chonchi is a Chilean town and commune located in Los Lagos Region. Chonchi is a truly rural community. The country people have given a distinct form to its valleys, hills and waterways...
, Queilén
Queilén
Queilén is a town and commune in the Archipelago of Chiloé in southern Chile. It covers a portion of the southeast of the Greater Island of Chiloé, between the communes of Chonchi, Quellón, Tranqui Island and Acuy Island...
, Quellón
Quellón
Quellón is a Chilean port city and commune in southern Chiloé Island, Los Lagos Region. It is considered an end-station of the Panamerican Highway and the Pacific Coastal Highway. The majority of men work on small boats called "lanchas" for days at a time fishing...
, Chaitén
Chaitén
Chaitén is a Chilean town, commune and former capital of the Palena Province in Los Lagos Region. The town is located north of the mouth of Yelcho River, on the east coast of the Gulf of Corcovado...
, Hualaihué
Hualaihué
Hualaihué is a Chilean commune located in Palena Province, Los Lagos Region. The communal capital is the town of Hornopirén.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Hualaihué spans an area of and has 8,273 inhabitants . Of these, 2,406 lived in urban areas...
, Futaleufú
Futaleufú, Chile
Futaleufú is a Chilean town and commune located in Palena Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune is named after Futaleufú River. Due to the eruption of Chaitén Volcano and the subsequent destruction of Chaitén, Futaleufú has been the capital of Palena Province since March 2009. The town is close...
and Palena
Palena, Chile
Palena is a Chilean commune located in Palena Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune is named after Palena Lake.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Palena spans an area of and has 1,690 inhabitants , making the commune an entirely rural area...
). 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 Camilo Escalona Medina (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 Carlos Kuschel Silva (RN) as part of the 17th senatorial constituency (Los Lagos Region).