Hualañé is a town and commune of the Curicó Province

Curicó Province

Curicó Province is one of four provinces of the central Chilean region of Maule . Its capital is the city of Curicó. It lies between the provinces of Colchagua and Talca and extends from the Pacific to the Argentine frontier, spanning an area of...

 in 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...

's eighth region of Maule

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...

.

Situated in the Mataquito River

Mataquito River

Mataquito is a river located in the Province of Curicó, Maule Region of Chile and formed by the union of rivers Teno and Lontué about 10 kilometers west of Curicó near the locality of Sagrada Familia and empties into the Pacific Ocean south of the town of Iloca, Licantén.- Source :*...

 valley, its main activities are the agriculture of tomatoes, potatoes, and grapes for wine. The commune spans an area of 629 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 Population and Housing by the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas or INE) the Hualañé commune had 9,741 inhabitants; of these, 5,198 (53.4%) 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 4,543 (46.6%) in rural areas. At that time, there were 5,059 men and 4,682 women. The population grew by 4.8% (443 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Hualañé 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 Claudio Pucher.

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Hualañé 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 Mr. Roberto León (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 Mr. Celso Morales (UDI) as part of the 36th electoral district, (together with Curicó

Curicó

Curicó , meaning "Black Waters" in Mapudungun , is the capital city of the Curicó Province, part of the Maule Region in Chile's central valley....

, Teno

Teno

Teno is a Chilean city and commune in the Curicó Province, Maule Region. A large percentage of inhabitants are of mestizo and Mapuche Indian origin...

, Romeral

Romeral

Romeral is a Chilean town and commune in Curicó Province, Maule Region. The commune spans and area of .-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of Population and Housing by the National Statistics Institute, the Romeral commune had 12,707 inhabitants; of these, 3,675 lived in urban areas and...

, Molina

Molina, Chile

Molina is a Chilean city and commune in Curicó Province, Maule Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Molina spans an area of and has 38,521 inhabitants . Of these, 28,232 lived in urban areas and 10,289 in rural areas...

, Sagrada Familia, Licantén

Licantén

Licantén is a town within the Licantén commune, administered by the Municipality of Licantén within the Curicó Province in the Maule Region of Chile. The commune also include the coastal town of Iloca.-Demographics:...

, Vichuquén

Vichuquén

Vichuquén is a commune in the Curicó Province of Chile's Maule Region.- History :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....

 and Rauco

Rauco

Rauco is a Chilean town and commune in Curicó Province, Maule Region. The commune spans an area of .-Demographics:According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute, Rauco commune had 8,566 inhabitants 4,364 men and 4,202 women. Of these, 3,114 lived in urban areas and 5,452 in...

). 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 Juan Antonio Coloma Correa (UDI) and Andrés Zaldívar Larraín (PDC) as part of the 10th senatorial constituency (Maule-North).