Casablanca, meaning "white house", is a 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 city and commune located in Valparaíso Province

Valparaíso Province

Valparaíso Province is one of eight provinces of the central Chilean region of Valparaíso . Its capital is the coastal city of Valparaíso Valparaíso Province is one of eight provinces of the central Chilean region of Valparaíso (V). Its capital is the coastal city of Valparaíso Valparaíso...

, Valparaíso Region

Valparaíso Region

The V Valparaíso Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's third highest population of 1,539,852 million in 2002 and third smallest area of , the region is Chile's second most densely populated after the Santiago Metropolitan Region...

.

Geography

The city of Casablanca is located on Route 68 between Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

 and the city of Valparaíso

Valparaíso

Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

, at about 30 minutes southeast of Valparaíso and 50 minutes northwest of Santiago traveling by car. It is a region known for white wine grapes, especially Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...

 and Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

. The commune of Casablanca spans an area of 952.5 sqkm.

Demographics

According to 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...

 of 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...

, Casablanca spans an area of 952.5 sqkm and has 21,874 inhabitants (11,127 men and 10,747 women). Of these, 15,209 (69.5%) 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 6,665 (30.5%) in rural areas. The population grew by 31.9% (5,284 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Casablanca is a third-level administrative division of Chile, administered by a 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...

, which is headed by a directly elected 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...

. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Manuel Jesús Vera Delgado. The communal council has the following members:

• Rodrigo Martínez Roca
• Roberto Burgos González
• Pedro Caussade Pitté
• Ángel Poggi Saa
• Laura Reyes Salazar
• Enrique Heck Escalante

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Casablanca belongs to the 15th electoral district and 6th senatorial constituency.

External links

Municipality of Casablanca