Talcahuano is a port
city and commune in the Biobío Region of
ChileChile ,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...
. It is part of the
Greater ConcepciónGran Concepción is the second largest conurbation in Chile, after Greater Santiago with 1,013,856 inhabitants. According to the National Statistics Institute , the population projection for 2012 is 1,019,775 inhabitants....
conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the
Central ZoneZona central is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It is home to a majority of the Chilean population and includes the three largest metropolitan areas- Santiago, Valparaíso, and Concepción...
of Chile.
Geography
Together with ten other municipalities, it forms part of the
Concepción ProvinceConcepción Province may refer to*Concepción Province, Chile*Concepción Province, Peru...
, which in turn is one of four provinces that forms the VIII Region of Biobío Region.
Demographics
According to the 2002
censusA 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 InstituteThe 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...
, Talcahuano spans an area of 145.8 sqkm and has 250,348 inhabitants (121,778 men and 128,570 women). Of these, 248,964 (99.4%) lived in
urban areaAn 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 1,384 (0.6%) in rural areas. The population grew by 59.9% (93,766 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. With a population density of 1,873 inhabitants per square kilometre, it is the seventh most populated city of the country.
History
The official foundation date of Talcahuano is November 5, 1764 when Antonio Guill y Gonzaga declared an official port. However, Talcahuano began to appear in history books as early as 1544 when
GenoeseGenoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
captain
Juan Bautista PasteneGiovanni Battista Pastene was a Genoese maritime explorer who while in the service of the Spanish crown, explored the coasts of Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile as far south as to the archipelago of Chiloé....
discovered the mouth of the Biobío river while exploring the coast in his ships “
San Pedro” and “
Santiaguillo”. In 1601
Alonso de RiberaAlonso de Ribera de Pareja was a Spanish soldier and twice Spanish royal governor of Chile .-Early life:...
built Fort Talcahueno to defend remaining Spanish settlements near
ConcepciónPenco is a Chilean city and commune in Concepción Province, Biobío Region on the Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo on February 12, 1550 by Pedro de Valdivia, it is the third oldest city in the country after Santiago founded first in 1541 and La Serena second...
.
The city is named after an Araucanian chief, Talcahueñu, who inhabited the region at the arrival of the Spanish. In
MapudungunThe Mapuche language, Mapudungun is a language isolate spoken in south-central Chile and west central Argentina by the Mapuche people. It is also spelled Mapuzugun and sometimes called Mapudungu or Araucanian...
, the language of the indigenous
MapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
s, Talcahuano means “Thundering Sky”.
The port was well known to American whaleships of the 19th century. They often put in for fresh water, food, and various forms of entertainment for the crews.
8.8 magnitude 27 February 2010 earthquake
On February 27, 2010 Talcahuano was devastated by the 8.8 magnitude
2010 Chile earthquakeThe 2010 Chile earthquake occurred off the coast of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February 2010, at 03:34 local time , having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale, with intense shaking lasting for about three minutes. It ranks as the sixth largest earthquake ever to be recorded by a...
and its subsequent
tsunamiA tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
. These back-to-back disasters left 80% of the city's residents homeless.
The tsunami is estimated to have been more than 7.5 feet high. After a week, there are only 20 reported deaths, and 18 missing. The city government estimates that it will take 10 years to recover from the quake and 2.5 m tsunami. The local government has been turning away tent aid, as they want to make permanent shelters rather than have permanent tent camps.
Economy
Talcahuano contains Chile's main naval base which is home of the historical relic, the
HuáscarHuáscar is a 19th century small armoured turret ship of a type similar to a monitor. She was built in Britain for Peru and played a significant role in the battle of Pacocha and the War of the Pacific against Chile before being captured and commissioned with the Chilean Navy. Today she is one of...
, a Peruvian ironclad ship (British-made), which was captured in 1879 during the
War of the PacificThe War of the Pacific took place in western South America from 1879 through 1883. Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru. Despite cooperation among the three nations in the war against Spain, disputes soon arose over the mineral-rich Peruvian provinces of Tarapaca, Tacna, and Arica, and the...
. It is also the base of the Chilean submarine fleet and the ASMAR shipyard.
Administration
As a commune, Talcahuano is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a
municipal councilA 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
alcaldeAlcalde , 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 Gastón Saavedra Chandía (
Ind.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...
).
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Talcahuano is represented in the
Chamber of DeputiesThe 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 Jorge Ulloa (UDI) and Cristián Campos (
PDCChristian 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...
) as part of the 43rd electoral district, (together with
HualpénHualpén is a Chilean city and commune belonging to Concepción Province and the Biobío Region. It forms part of the conurbation of Greater Concepción. The commune spans an area of .-Demographics:...
). The commune is represented in the
SenateThe 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 Alejandro Navarro Brain (MAS) and Hosain Sabag Castillo (PDC) as part of the 12th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Cordillera).
Sports
Talcahuano entered
footballAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
history when
Ramón Unzaga AslaRamón Unzaga Asla was a Chilean citizen football player. He was born in Bilbao, Spain. Unzaga, with his parents emigrated to Talcahuano, Chile in 1906 at 12 years of age. In 1912 the eighteen year old Unzaga impresses the Talcahuano sports delegation with his football ability that they sign him...
, a player for the local club Estrella del Mar, invented the famous
bicycle kickA Bicycle kick or Scissor kick is a physical move made by throwing the body up into the air, making a shearing movement with the legs to get one leg in front of the other without holding on to the ground. The move can either be done backwards or sideways...
(also known as "chilena") there in 1914.
The city is home to
Club Deportivo HuachipatoClub Deportivo Huachipato, is a Chilean football club based in the city of Talcahuano. The club was founded June 7, 1947 and plays in the top level of the Chilean football league system, the Primera División. Their home games are played at the Estadio CAP, which has a capacity of 10,500...
, a football club in Chile's
Primera DivisiónThe Primera División del Fútbol Profesional Chileno is the top level of Chilean football, and main component of the Chilean football league system. It is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional and is currently ranked 9th in the IFFHS' Best Leagues of the World ranking...
, playing at
Estadio CAPEstadio CAP , is a soccer stadium in Talcahuano, Chile. It is the home field of the Huachipato soccer team. Since 2010, Naval also plays its home matches there. Opened in 2009, it replaced the old Estadio Las Higueras, which was demolished in 2008. The stadium capacity is 10,500 people .- External...
.
In literature
It featured prominently in Miles Smeeton's book
Once Is Enough, a sailor's classic.
It is mentioned by the character Charlie Marlow in
Joseph ConradJoseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
's book
Lord JimLord Jim is a novel by Joseph Conrad originally published as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine from October 1899 to November 1900.An early and primary event is Jim's abandonment of a ship in distress on which he is serving as a mate...
.
A chapter of
In Search of the CastawaysIn Search of the Castaways is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1867–1868. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Édouard Riou. In 1876 it was republished by George Routledge & Sons as a three volume set titled "A Voyage Round The World"...
by
Jules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
is set in its bay.
External links