Villa Alemana

Villa Alemana
—  City and Commune  —
Map of the Villa Alemana commune in the Valparaíso Region
Villa Alemana
Location in Chile
Coordinates (city):
Country Chile
Region Valparaíso
Province Marga Marga
Founded November 8, 1894
Government[1]
 • Type Municipality
 • Alcalde José Sabat Marcos
Area[2]
 • Total 96.5 km2 (37.3 sq mi)
Elevation 143 m (469 ft)
Population (2002 Census)[2]
 • Total 95,623
 • Density 990.9/km2 (2,566.5/sq mi)
 • Urban 94,802
 • Rural 821
Sex[2]
 • Men 45,868
 • Women 49,755
Time zone CLT [3] (UTC-4)
 • Summer (DST) CLST [4] (UTC-3)
Area code(s) (country) 56 + (city) 32
Website Municipality of Villa Alemana

Villa Alemana ("German town" in Spanish) is a city and commune in Chile's Zona Central. It was founded in 1896 by Italian and German immigrants. Villa Alemana is a part of the urban area known as Greater Valparaiso.

Contents

History

The city of Villa Alemana was founded due to the building of a railway, and was at the beginning of Chilean railway development. Its climate is so temperate that the slogan is "The City of Eternal Youth".

Villa Alemana before being named was nothing but fields. There was a small vineyard, many trees and flowers and what prevailed was the hawthorn. For housing today Theater Pompeya were offered at 20 cents per meter of ground. And that was where Don Buenaventura Joglar had the idea to buy land and build a population which appointed as Villa Alemana because the Germans were the first to buy these sites. However, many of them built or lived here, most sold and left.

On November 8, 1894, was founded under the name of Vine Miraflores. The property was owned by Don Buenaventura Joglar, who lot and set the name of Villa Alemana.

On January 5, 1918, the commune of Villa Alemana was established, but in 1928 it was incorporated in Quilpué. On June 7, 1933, Villa Alemana separated from Quilpué, recreating the commune of Villa Alemana.

Today, Villa Alemana is a bedroom community of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso.

Demographics

Until 1982 the commune had just over 55,000 residents.

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Villa Alemana spans an area of 96.5 km2 (37 sq mi) and has 95,623 inhabitants (45,868 men and 49,755 women). Of these, 94,802 (99.1%) lived in urban areas and 821 (0.9%) in rural areas. The population grew by 33.4% (23,951 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.[2]

Administration

As a commune, Villa Alemana is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is José Sabat Marcos. The council has the following members:[1]

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Villa Alemana is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Mr. Marcelo Schilling (PS) and Mr. Arturo Squella (UDI) as part of the 12th electoral district, (together with Olmué, Limache and Quilpué). The commune is represented in the Senate by Ignacio Walker Prieto (PDC) and Lily Pérez San Martín (RN) as part of the 5th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Cordillera).

Twin cities

External links

References

  1. ^ a b (Spanish) "Municipality of Villa Alemana". http://www.villalemana.cl/. Retrieved 17 November 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c d (Spanish) "National Statistics Institute". http://www.ine.cl/canales/chile_estadistico/censos_poblacion_vivienda/censo_pobl_vivi.php. Retrieved 17 November 2010. 
  3. ^ "Chile Time". WorldTimeZones.org. http://www.world-time-zones.org/zones/chile-time.htm. Retrieved 26 September 2010. 
  4. ^ "Chile Summer Time". WorldTimeZones.org. http://www.world-time-zones.org/zones/chile-summer-time.htm. Retrieved 26 September 2010.