A commune ( Spanish : comuna , IPA: [koˈmuna] ) is the smallest administrative subdivision in Chile . It may contain cities , towns , villages , hamlets as well as rural areas. In highly populated areas, such as Santiago , Valparaíso and Concepción , a conurbation may be broken into several communes. In sparsely populated areas, conversely, a commune may cover a substantial rural area together with several settled areas which could range from hamlets to towns or cities.
6-568: Vichuquén is a commune in the Curicó Province of Chile 's Maule Region . The Spanish arrived along the Lico rivers in 1585, where settlements of the Mapuche and Inca already existed. In 1865, Vichuquén founded its capital of the village of the same name.. In 1987, the old part of the town was declared a "Typical Zone Vichuquén" for its colonial style architecture. Vichuquén is located northwest of
12-461: Is similar to a "county" in Anglo-American usage and practice, and may be more universally understood as a "municipality". Each commune or municipality is governed by a directly elected body known as a municipal council ( concejo municipal ) consisting of a mayor ( alcalde ) and a group of councillors ( concejales ), for a period of four years. The communal civil service administration is known as
18-582: The municipality ( municipalidad ) and is headquartered at the mayor's office ( alcaldía ). According to Chilean law, a single municipality may administer one or more communes, though currently, the only such case is the municipality of Cabo de Hornos , which administers the communes of Antártica and Cabo de Hornos . Chile's 346 communes are grouped into 56 provinces ( provincia , pl. provincias ), which are themselves grouped into 16 regions ( región , pl. regiones ). Traditionally, Chilean regions are listed in geographical order starting with
24-470: The 1992 and 2002 censuses. As a commune, Vichuquén 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 Román Pavez López ( PPD ). Within the electoral divisions of Chile , Vichuquén is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Roberto León ( PDC ) and Celso Morales ( UDI ) as part of
30-599: The 36th electoral district, together with Curicó , Teno , Romeral , Molina , Sagrada Familia , Hualañé , Licantén and Rauco . The commune is represented in the Senate by Juan Antonio Coloma Correa (UDI) and Andrés Zaldívar Larraín (PDC) as part of the 10th senatorial constituency (Maule-North). Communes of Chile The term "commune" is ambiguous in English, but the word is commonly used in translation for "comuna", although with some controversy among translators. A comuna
36-782: The Curicó Province. It also has the Vichuquén lakes Lago Vichuquén (es) in its boundaries, as well as the Laguna Torca National Reserve . The commune spans an area of 425.7 km (164 sq mi). According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute , Vichuquén spans an area of 425.7 km (164 sq mi) and has 4,916 inhabitants (2,596 men and 2,320 women). Of these, 1,368 (27.8%) lived in urban areas and 3,548 (72.2%) in rural areas . The population fell by 0.3% (15 persons) between
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