Colbún
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the town and commune, for the hydroelectric plant see Colbún Hydroelectric PlantColbún Hydroelectric PlantColbún Hydroelectric Plant is a hydroelectric power station in Maule Region, Chile. The plant uses water from Colbún Lake and produces 400MW of electricity. The plant was built by ENDESA in 1985 but is currently run by Colbún S.A....
, for the company see Colbún S.A.Colbún S.A.Colbún S.A. is an electric utility company in Chile. The company was created in 1982 and privatized in 1997. Originally it had only two hydroelectric plants, Machicura and Colbún from where it gets it name. Today Colbún S.A. generates a total of 2514 MW of which 1274 comes from hydropower and 1236...
.
Colbún (Mapudungun
Mapudungun
The 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...
: "Cleaning of the land") 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 town and commune in Linares Province
Linares Province
Linares is one of four provinces of the central Chilean region of Maule . The provincial capital and most populous center is the city of Linares.-Administration:...
, 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 has a population of over 17,000 inhabitants and covers an area of 2900 sqkm, making it the province's largest. Its capital, the town of Colbún, has 3,679 inhabitants (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...
). It is 7 km (4 mi) west of the center of continental Chile.
Demographics
According to the 2002 censusCensus
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...
, Colbún spans an area of 2899.9 sqkm and has 17,619 inhabitants (8,943 men and 8,676 women). Of these, 5,152 (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 12,467 (70.8%) in rural areas. The population grew by 3.9% (669 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.
Geography
The Colbún commune is bordered on the west by Yerbas BuenasYerbas Buenas
Yerbas Buenas is a Chilean town and commune in Linares Province, Maule Region. It lies in the geographical center of the country, on the fertile central plain, some south of the national capital of Santiago, south of Talca, the regional capital and north of Linares, the provincial...
; on the southwest by Linares
Linares, Chile
Linares is a Chilean city and commune located in the Maule Region and lies in the fertile Chilean Central Valley, south of Santiago and south of Talca, the regional capital...
and Longaví
Longaví
Longaví is a Chilean city and commune located in Linares Province, one of the four provinces that make up the Maule Region, in the geographical center of Chile.-Geography:...
; on the north by San Clemente, (Talca Province
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...
); on the east and southeast, by Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, and on the south, by Parral
Parral, Chile
Parral is a city and commune and in the Linares Province of central Chile's seventh region of Maule.-History:Parral was founded in 1795 by the Viceroy of Peru, Ambrosio O'Higgins...
and San Fabián
San Fabián
San Fabián is one of 21 communes in the Ñuble Province of central Chile's Biobío Region. The capital is the town of San Fabián de Alico. The commune spans an area of .-Administration:...
; the latter in Ñuble Province
Ñuble Province
Ñuble Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Biobío . It spans an area of and is administratively constituted by 21 communes. It has a population of 441,604 inhabitants. Its capital is the city of Chillán.-History:...
. The municipality of Colbún occupies the easternmost strip of the Province of Linares
Linares Province
Linares is one of four provinces of the central Chilean region of Maule . The provincial capital and most populous center is the city of Linares.-Administration:...
, which boasts some of the highest provincial peaks
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
and the headwaters of several provincial rivers.
Foundation
The municipality of Colbún was officially founded December 30, 1927. Prior to that date the municipality was called PanimávidaPanimávida
Panimávida is a town in the Chilean commune of Colbún, Linares Province, Maule Region. Panimávida is well-known in Chile for being one of the oldest hot springs and resort spas in the country....
which was based in that town. The municipality of Panimávida had been founded May 6, 1906.
Administration
As a commune, Colbún is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal councilMunicipal 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...
, 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 Pedro Pablo Muñoz Oses (Ind.
Independent (politician)
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...
). The municipal council has the following members:
- José Hernán Núñez Ramos (PPDParty for DemocracyThe Party for Democracy is a political party in Chile; it is social democratic in its political orientation. It was founded in December 1987 by Ricardo Lagos, who aimed at forming a legal social democratic party . The party continued to function after the defeat of Pinochet...
) - Lupercio Díaz Gutiérrez (UDI)
- Teresa Fuentes Loyola (PRI)
- María Eugenia Riveros Medina (PRSDSocial Democrat Radical PartyThe Social Democratic Radical Party is a social democratic party in Chile.The party is a member of Socialist International....
) - Jose Hernán Salgado Bustos (RNNational 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...
) - Manuel Ortiz Bustos (PSSocialist Party of ChileThe 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...
)
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Colbún 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....
by Jorge Tarud (PDC
Christian Democratic Party
Christian 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...
) and Romilio Gutiérrez (UDI) as part of the 39th electoral district, (together with Linares San Javier
San Javier, Chile
San Javier is a Chilean city and commune located in the Province of Linares, Maule Region. The city lies in the geographical center of the country, some south of Santiago, to the northwest of the provincial capital, Linares, and to the south of Talca, the regional capital...
, Villa Alegre
Villa Alegre, Chile
Villa Alegre a commune and city located in Linares Province, Maule Region of Chile. With , Villa Alegre is the smallest commune by area in the Maule Region. It sits above sea level.-Demographics:...
and Yerbas Buenas
Yerbas Buenas
Yerbas Buenas is a Chilean town and commune in Linares Province, Maule Region. It lies in the geographical center of the country, on the fertile central plain, some south of the national capital of Santiago, south of Talca, the regional capital and north of Linares, the provincial...
). 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:...
by Hernán Larraín
Hernán Larraín
Hernán Larraín Fernández is a conservative Chilean lawyer, university lecturer, and politician; he is a current Senator and former President of the Senate, and is also currently serving as the president of the Independent Democrat Union. Larraín was elected to the Senate representing the 11th...
(UDI) and Ximena Rincón González (PDC) as part of the 11th senatorial constituency (Maule-South).
Attractions
In the municipality there are two well-known Chilean spaSpa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
s: the "Termas de Quinamávida
Quinamávida
Quinamávida is a Chilean village in the commune of Colbún, Linares Province, Maule Region. Quinamávida is well-known in Chile as a popular hot springs and resort spa.-External links:* *...
" and the "Termas de Panimávida
Panimávida
Panimávida is a town in the Chilean commune of Colbún, Linares Province, Maule Region. Panimávida is well-known in Chile for being one of the oldest hot springs and resort spas in the country....
". In addition, the municipality concentrates the hydroelectric industry of the province, with the important power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
s of Colbún and Machicura. The Colbún dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
is a centre for recreation and water sports although these are highly dependent on water levels, which tend to be erratic.
Crafts
Near Panimávida lies the village of RariRari
Rari is a village in the Chilean municipality of Colbún, Linares Province, Maule Region located in the Andean foothills of this province....
, famous for its unique craft
Craft
A craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods.-Development from the past until...
s made of horse hair.
External links
Municipality of Colbún- Aerial view of an area of the municipality of Colbún Shows the larger Colbún dam lake, to the north-east and the Machicura dam lake to the south-west.
- Aerial view of the city of Colbún (Google maps)
- Aerial view of Panimávida (Google maps)