Quilpué
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Quilpué is a city and municipality in Valparaíso Province, Valparaíso Region, Chile. It is part of the Greater Valparaíso metropolitan area. It known as the "City of the Sun" ("Ciudad del Sol") and the urban part of the municipality comprises the boroughs of Quilpué and El Belloto. El Belloto is an area that showed rapid growth in the early 21st century.
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[edit] Etymology
There are various theories about the origin of the word "Quilpué". According to some "Quilpué" means "place where there are pigeons," arguing that pigeons were found abundantly in the area and that the name derives from "cullpo" (dove) and "hue" (place). But other authors suggest that it means "place of the stone lancet," because the Pikunches (the indigenous people) were experts in the manufacture of these items that were used for medical procedures. Numbers of these stone lancets have been found in the area's archaeological sites, as well as the original formation which was quarried for them.
[edit] Tourism
Quilpué is called by the locals "Ciudad del Sol" (City of the sun) because compared to Valparaíso (only 30 minutes away) it has a lot more sunny days. It has excellent train, highway and road connections to Viña del Mar and Valparaíso. Since housing is cheaper in Quilpué, thousands of people commute every day to the coastal cities.
Local attractions include a zoo (one of only three in Chile), and the rural settings of Colliguay and the Marga-Marga Valley, both with basic facilities for camping and hiking.
[edit] City facts
- Surface area: 537 km²
- Population: 128,579 (67,249 females and 61,329 males) - 8.35% of the 5th Region's population.
- Urban population: 98.69%
- Rural population: 1.31%
- (Source: 2002 census) Summary of the City's statistics as reported by the Chilean Government
[edit] History
Indigenous peoples had settled the area long before Governor Pedro de Valdivia gave the land to Rodrigo de Araya in 1547. Mining was the main economic activity for many years, until the land was further divided in the 17th century.
[edit] Local Government
The city hall is located at 684 Vicuña Mackenna. The current mayor is Mauricio Viñambres Adasme.
[edit] Educational Institutions
Campus housing part of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Faculty of Engineering is located in the suburb of Población Valencia and Universidad Santo Tomas is located en Paso Hondo
[edit] References
- This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Spanish Wikipedia.
[edit] External links
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