Los Álamos 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 commune and city in Arauco Province

Arauco Province

Arauco Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Biobío . It spans a coastal area of just south of the mouth of the Biobío River, the traditional demarcation between the nation's major natural regions, Zona Central and Zona Sur...

, Biobío Region.

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...

, Los Álamos spans an area of 599.1 sqkm and has 18,632 inhabitants (9,456 men and 9,176 women). Of these, 16,394 (88%) 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 2,238 (12%) in rural areas. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 10.4% (1,762 persons).

The commune includes the locality of Antihuala

Antihuala

Antihuala or Antiguala, is a town in the Los Álamos commune of the Arauco Province, Biobío Region, of Chile. On February 5, 1558, during the Arauco War, Pedro de Avendaño with sixty men captured the Mapuche Caupolicán lonco of Pilmaiquén and the Mapuche Gran Toqui nearby Antihuala encamped with a...

.

Administration

As a commune, Los Álamos 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 Lautaro Melita Vinett (PS

Socialist Party of Chile

The 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, Los Álamos 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 Manuel Monsalve (PS) and Iván Norambuena (UDI) as part of the 46th electoral district, (together with Lota

Lota, Chile

Lota is a city and commune located in the center of the Chile on the Gulf of Arauco. It lies within the Concepción Province of the Biobío Region.-History:...

, Lebu

Lebu, Chile

Lebu is a port city and commune in central Chile administered by the Municipality of Lebu. Lebu is also the capital of Arauco Province in Bío-Bío Region...

, Arauco

Arauco, Chile

Arauco is a city and commune in Chile, located in Arauco Province in the Biobio Region. The meaning of Arauco means Chalky Water in Mapudungun. The region was a Moluche aillarehue...

, Curanilahue

Curanilahue

Curanilahue is a Chilean commune and city in Arauco Province, Biobío Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Curanilahue spans an area of and has 31,943 inhabitants . Of these, 30,126 lived in urban areas and 1,817 in rural areas...

, Cañete, Contulmo

Contulmo

Contulmo is a Chilean town and commune in Arauco Province, Biobío Region. Colonized by Germans of Berlin since 1884.-Geography:...

 and Tirúa

Tirúa

Tirúa is a Chilean commune and town in Arauco Province, Biobío Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Tirúa spans an area of and has 9,664 inhabitants . Of these, 2,508 lived in urban areas and 7,156 in rural areas...

). 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 Victor Pérez Varela (UDI) and Mariano Ruiz -Esquide Jara (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...

) as part of the 13th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Coast).

External links

Municipality of Los Álamos