Curepto
Encyclopedia
Curepto is a town and commune in the 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 Province of Talca
Talca Province
Talca Province is one of four provinces of the central Chilean region of Maule . Its capital is the city of Talca.-Administration:As a province, Talca is a second-level administrative division of Chile, governed by a provincial governor who is appointed by the president.-Communes:The province...

, located in the VII 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...

. The commune spans an area of 1073.8 sqkm.

Culture

The town has many examples of Chilean 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...

 colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...

 architecture. Its parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 is a quintessential example of a traditional religious building in the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

-Latin American style. The town itself exemplifies the works of the Chilean government in remote rural regions and the diversity of cultures that resulted from Spanish colonialism in the region.

Known locally as El Festival de la Camelia and named for a flower common to areas south of Santiago, this annual festival has been an example of Curepto's outgoing influence in the country. It consists of a collective concert that usually includes many Chilean musicians, and receives national radio and television coverage.

The Maule Activa initiative brought Curepto and the entire Maule Region improved internet connectivity.

Rodeo
Chilean rodeo
Rodeo is a traditional sport in Chile. It was declared the national sport in 1962. It has since thrived, especially in the more rural areas of the country. Chilean rodeo is different from the rodeo found in North America...

 is a popular sport the country, and during the summer months Curepto's rodeo arena is often open.

Demographics

According to data from 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...

 by 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...

, Curepto had 10,812 inhabitants; of these, 3,157 (29.2%) 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 7,655 (70.8%) in rural areas. At that time, there were 5,784 men and 5,028 women. The population fell by 12.0% (1,473 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Curepto is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a communal council, 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 Armando González Aguilar (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 the 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...

 has the following councilors:
  • Juan Eduardo Valdés Aldunate (UDI
    Independent Democrat Union
    The Independent Democrat Union is a Chilean right-wing, conservative political party, founded in 1983. Its main inspirer was the lawyer, politician and law professor Jaime Guzmán, a former senator of the Republic of Chile from 1990 until his assassination on April 1, 1991.Its ideological origins...

    )
  • Mario Gómez Águila (PDC
    Christian Democrat Party of Chile
    The Christian Democratic Party is a political party in Chile and governs as part of the Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. In the 2009 election it won 19 congress seats and 9 senate seats....

    )
  • Francisco Núñez Ramírez (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....

    )
  • Dorys Sepúlveda Contreras (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...

    )
  • Guilermo Reyes Espina
  • Aníbal Muñoz Díaz


Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Curepto (along with Constitución
Constitución, Chile
Constitución is a seaside resort, industrial city, minor port and commune in Chile, located in the Maule Region, Talca Province.-History:-8.8 magnitude 2010 earthquake:...

, Empedrado, Pencahue
Pencahue
Pencahue is a town and commune in Chile, located in Talca Province, in the seventh region of Maule. The commune spans and area of .Also there are another three places called Pencahue, near to San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Sexta Región, Chile...

, Maule, San Clemente
San Clemente, Chile
San Clemente is a city and commune administered by the municipality of San Clemente, located in the Talca Province of Chile's Maule Region.-Demographics:...

, Pelarco
Pelarco
Pelarco is a town and commune in Talca Province, Maule Region of Chile. The commune spans an area of .-Demographics:According to data from the 2002 Census of Population and Housing, Pelarco had 7,266 inhabitants; of these, 1,822 lived in urban areas and 5,444 in rural areas. At that time, there...

, Río Claro and San Rafael
San Rafael, Chile
San Rafael is a town and commune of the Talca Province in the Maule Region of Chile. The town serves as the communal capital.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, San Rafael spans an area of and has 7,674 inhabitants . Of these, 3,482 lived in urban...

) 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....

 as part of the 38th electoral district. 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:...

 as part of the 10th senatorial constituency (Maule-North).

El Oriflama

On approximately July 27, 1770 off the coast of the commune, the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

 "Nuestra Señora del Buen Consejo y San Leopoldo" (Spanish for "Our Lady of the Good Council and San Leopoldo"), better known as "El Oriflama", sank off the cost of the commune near the beach named "La Trinchera" ("The Trench"). The ship was built by the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

, captured by the English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

, and eventually sold to Charles III of Spain
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...

. It sailed from the port of Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....

, bound the port of Callao
Callao
Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...

 in the Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty 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...

, loaded with huge fortunes of silver and gold pieces, stamps, fine cutlery, glassware manufactured by the "Granja de San Ildefonso", and luxurious furniture decorated with gold, costume seeds and precious fabrics. The company Oriflama S.A. cordoned off the area where the ill-fated ship remains and made a search, but the ship not has been rescued given that the company is in legal disputes with the National Monuments Council.

External links

Municipality of Curepto
Curepto On Line
Radio Poesía FM de Curepto
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