Curarrehue is a town and commune in Cautín Province

Cautín Province

Cautín Province is one of two provinces in the southern Chilean region of Araucanía , bounded on the north by Arauco and Malleco provinces, on the east by Argentina, on the south by Valdivia Province, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Its population at the 2002 census was of 667,920. The most...

 of Araucanía Region

Araucanía Region

The IX Araucanía Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south....

, 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...

. The origin of Curarrehue dates back to the occupation of Araucanía and the Conquest of the Desert

Conquest of the Desert

The Conquest of the Desert was a military campaign directed mainly by General Julio Argentino Roca in the 1870s, which established Argentine dominance over Patagonia, which was inhabited by indigenous peoples...

 by the Chilean and Argentine army respectively in the 1870s and 1880s when Mapuches were pushed by the Argentine Army through Mamuil Malal Pass

Mamuil Malal Pass

Mamuil Malal Pass is an international mountain pass in the Andes between Chile and Argentina. The pass connects Pucón and Curarrehue in Chile with Junín de los Andes in Argentina. The road is paved on the Argentinian side and passes just north of Lanín Volcano . During winter the pass may close...

 into the valley of Curarrehue were they settled.

Geologically the town of Curarrehue is placed on Reigolil-Pirihueico Fault

Reigolil-Pirihueico Fault

The Reigolil-Pirihueico Fault is a second-order geological fault located in the Chilean and Argentine Andes. As the name implies it runs from Pirihueico Lake to Reigolil Valley...

.

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...

, Curarrehue spans an area of 1170.7 sqkm and has 6,784 inhabitants (3,586 men and 3,198 women). Of these, 1,862 (27.4%) 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 4,922 (72.6%) in rural areas. The population grew by 13.5% (806 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Curarrehue 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...

, 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 Héctor Carrasco Ruiz (RN

National 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...

).

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Curarrehue 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 René Manuel García (RN) and Fernando Meza (PRSD

Social Democrat Radical Party

The Social Democratic Radical Party is a social democratic party in Chile.The party is a member of Socialist International....

) as part of the 52nd electoral district, (together with Cunco

Cunco, Chile

Cunco is a Chilean commune and city in Cautín Province, Araucanía Region. The town is located 60 km southeast of the city of Temuco and 77 km west of Icalma International Pass....

, Pucón

Pucón

Pucón is a Chilean city and commune administered by the municipality of Pucón located in the Province of Cautín, Araucanía Region, 100 km to the southeast of Temuco and 780 km to the south of Santiago....

, Villarrica

Villarrica, Chile

Villarrica is a city and commune in southern Chile located on the western shore of Villarrica Lake in the Province of Cautín, Araucanía Region south of Santiago and close to the Villarrica Volcano ski center to the south east. Residents of Villarrica are known as Villarriquences.Tourism, grain and...

, Loncoche

Loncoche

Loncoche is a city and commune in the Araucanía Region, southern Chile. It is located near the border to Los Ríos Region and the city of Lanco.Loncoche is a major centre for milk production...

, Gorbea

Gorbea, Chile

Gorbea is a Chilean city and commune located in Cautín Province, Araucanía Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Gorbea spans an area of and has 15,222 inhabitants . Of these, 9,413 lived in urban areas and 5,809 in rural areas...

 and Toltén

Toltén

Toltén is a Chilean commune located at the lower flows Toltén River at the southern coast of Cautín Province which is part of Araucanía Region...

). 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 José Garcia Ruminot (RN) and Eugenio Tuma Zedan (PPD

Party for Democracy

The 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...

) as part of the 15th senatorial constituency (Araucanía-South).