Taltal 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 commune and city in Antofagasta Province

Antofagasta Province

Antofagasta Province is one of three provinces in the northern Chilean region of Antofagasta . The capital is the port city of Antofagasta. Located within the Atacama Desert, it borders the El Loa and Tocopilla provinces to the north, Bolivia to the west and the Atacama Region to the...

, Antofagasta Region

Antofagasta Region

The II Antofagasta Region is one of Chile's fifteen first-order administrative divisions. It comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loa and Tocopilla...

. According to the 2002 census, the commune population was 11,000 and has an area of 20405.1 sqkm.

The commune is home to Paranal Observatory

Paranal Observatory

Paranal Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on Cerro Paranal at 2,635 m altitude and operated by the European Southern Observatory. The Very Large Telescope is the largest telescope on Paranal, actually composed of four separate 8.2 m telescopes...

 and includes the northern portion of Pan de Azúcar National Park

Pan de Azúcar National Park

Pan de Azúcar National Park is a national park of Chile. The park straddles the border between the Antofagasta Region and the Atacama Region. Its name, Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar, means "sugar loaf".-Geography:...

.

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...

, Taltal had 11,000 inhabitants (6,182 men and 4,918 women). Of these, 9,564 (8.6%) 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 1,536 (1.4%) in rural areas. The population grew by 2.3% (110,148 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Taltal 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 Guillermo Hidalgo Ocampo.

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Taltal 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. Pedro Araya (PRI) and Mr. Manuel Rojas (UDI) as part of the 4th electoral district, (together with Antofagasta

Antofagasta

Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2002 census, the city has a population of 296,905...

, Mejillones

Mejillones

Mejillones is a Chilean port city and commune in Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta Region. Its name is the plural form of the Spanish mejillón meaning "mussel", referring to a particularly abundant species and preferred staple food of its indigenous inhabitants. It is situated in the northern side...

 and Sierra Gorda

Sierra Gorda

The Sierra Gorda is an ecological region centered on the northern third of the state of Querétaro and extending into the neighboring states of Guanajuato, Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí...

). 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 Carlos Cantero Ojeda (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...

) and José Antonio Gómez Urrutia (PRSD

Social Democrat Radical Party

The Social Democratic Radical Party is a social democratic party in Chile.The party is a member of Socialist International....

) as part of the 2nd senatorial constituency (Antofagasta Region).

External links

Municipality of Taltal