Nueva Imperial
Encyclopedia
Nueva Imperial is a city and commune in the south of Chile
. It is located in Cautín Province
in the Araucanía Region
. Nueva Imperial lies about 35 km (22 mi) to the west of Temuco
, the regional capital.
trees. The city is traversed by the Chol-Chol and Cautín
Rivers, which together form the Imperial River
. The Imperial River flows into the Pacific Ocean
at the town of Puerto Saavedra. Both are navigable by boat and support fishing for trout and other species as well as canoeing
and kayaking
.
, the Spanish conquistador
, under the name La Imperial. He intended it to be one of the most important cities in colonial Chile, perhaps even the capital of the country. However, it was destroyed twice by the local indigenous population, the Mapuche
. It was totally abandoned in 1599 because of the attacks.
In 1882, a new city was built on the site called Carahue
(in Mapudungun
, the language of the Mapuches, the name means “The City that Was”). That same year, Imperial was refounded about 12 miles from the original location and renamed Nueva Imperial (New Imperial). 8 miles from Nueva Imperial one can find vestiges of the old Spanish fort Boroa
.
Cacique (Chief) Lemunao was the leader of the people in the area. He sold the land that later became Nueva Imperial to the Spanish. Today, there is a wooden monument to him on the edge of the city. It stands 6.5 feet tall.
of the National Statistics Institute
, Nueva Imperial spans an area of 1160.4 sqkm and has 40,059 inhabitants (20,423 men and 19,636 women). Of these, 18,335 (45.8%) lived in urban area
s and 21,724 (54.2%) in rural areas. The population grew by 44.8% (12,387 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.
One of the city’s most notable characteristics is its bridge, which was originally a railroad crossing but is now only preserved for its beauty. It was designed by the architect and engineer Gustave Eiffel
.
Nueva Imperial is also known for its colorful houses, for which it once earned the nickname “The Watercolor City.” It is gradually becoming more and more urbanized and bringing more people to the city as it offers more commercial and employment opportunities.
Nueva Imperial is actually made up of two communities, Imperial proper and a village called Villa Almagro
, named after another Spanish conquistador, Diego de Almagro
, which lies on the other side of the Chol-Chol River. The poet Juvencio Valle
, who won the national Chilean prize for literature, was born in Villa Almagro, and his house is still there. La Araucania was also a source of inspiration for Pablo Neruda
, who was raised in the region. Together, the two communities make up a population of about 40,000 people.
Nueva Imperial is also divided by a large hill. The section of city that lies at the base of the hill is called El Bajo (bajo means “lower”) and El Alto (alto means “upper”). From the top of the hill, one can see the volcanoes Villarrica
, Llaima
, and Lonquimay
as well as the surrounding countryside.
The community has one of the biggest concentrations of indigenous people in the region. For this reason, visiting the city provides a good opportunity to learn about the Mapuche language, customs, arts and crafts, and food.
The last week of February is Imperial Week, which culminates in a fireworks show over the river. Another important date is September 18, which is the day of the first Government Junta of Chile
(called “Fiestas Patrias
”).
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...
. It is located 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...
in the 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....
. Nueva Imperial lies about 35 km (22 mi) to the west of Temuco
Temuco
Temuco is a city and commune, capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The name comes from the Mapudungun language, meaning "temu water"; "temu" is a tree used by Mapuches for medicinal purposes. The city is located 670 km south of Santiago...
, the regional capital.
Geography
Nueva Imperial is located in a region with a lot of natural resources: volcanoes, mountains, rivers, hot springs, valleys, and native forests, which include stands of araucariaAraucaria araucana
Araucaria araucana is an evergreen tree growing to tall with a trunk diameter. The tree is native to central and southern Chile, western Argentina and south Brazil. Araucaria araucana is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria...
trees. The city is traversed by the Chol-Chol and Cautín
Cautín River
The Cautín is a river in Chile. It rises on the western slopes of the Cordillera de Las Raíces and flows in Araucanía Region. The river's main tributary is the Quepe River. The city of Temuco is located on the Cautín River....
Rivers, which together form the Imperial River
Imperial River (Chile)
Imperial River is a river located in the Araucanía Region of Chile. It is formed at the confluence of the Chol Chol and Cautín Rivers in the vicinity of the city of Nueva Imperial....
. The Imperial River flows into the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
at the town of Puerto Saavedra. Both are navigable by boat and support fishing for trout and other species as well as canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
and kayaking
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
.
History
What is now the city of Nueva Imperial was founded in 1551 by Pedro de ValdiviaPedro de Valdivia
Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command...
, the Spanish conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
, under the name La Imperial. He intended it to be one of the most important cities in colonial Chile, perhaps even the capital of the country. However, it was destroyed twice by the local indigenous population, the Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
. It was totally abandoned in 1599 because of the attacks.
In 1882, a new city was built on the site called Carahue
Carahue
Carahue is a city and commune in southern Chile. It is located 56 km west of Temuco, on the northern bank of the Imperial River.The city was founded as La Imperial April 16, 1552 by Pedro de Valdivia....
(in 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...
, the language of the Mapuches, the name means “The City that Was”). That same year, Imperial was refounded about 12 miles from the original location and renamed Nueva Imperial (New Imperial). 8 miles from Nueva Imperial one can find vestiges of the old Spanish fort Boroa
Boroa
Boroa, is a town in Araucanía, Chile on the shores of Cautín River. The region near the town south of the Cautin River between the Boroa and Quepe Rivers was the Moluche aillarehue of Boroa...
.
Cacique (Chief) Lemunao was the leader of the people in the area. He sold the land that later became Nueva Imperial to the Spanish. Today, there is a wooden monument to him on the edge of the city. It stands 6.5 feet tall.
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...
, Nueva Imperial spans an area of 1160.4 sqkm and has 40,059 inhabitants (20,423 men and 19,636 women). Of these, 18,335 (45.8%) 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 21,724 (54.2%) in rural areas. The population grew by 44.8% (12,387 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.
Characteristics
Gustave Eiffel
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a French structural engineer from the École Centrale Paris, an architect, an entrepreneur and a specialist of metallic structures...
.
Nueva Imperial is also known for its colorful houses, for which it once earned the nickname “The Watercolor City.” It is gradually becoming more and more urbanized and bringing more people to the city as it offers more commercial and employment opportunities.
Nueva Imperial is actually made up of two communities, Imperial proper and a village called Villa Almagro
Diego de Almagro, Chile
Diego de Almagro is a Chilean city and commune in Chañaral Province, Atacama Region. The commune has an area of . The area is named after Diego de Almagro.-Demographics:...
, named after another Spanish conquistador, Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro
Diego de Almagro, , also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo , was a Spanish conquistador and a companion and later rival of Francisco Pizarro. He participated in the Spanish conquest of Peru and is credited as the first European discoverer of Chile.Almagro lost his left eye battling with coastal...
, which lies on the other side of the Chol-Chol River. The poet Juvencio Valle
Juvencio Valle
Juvencio Valle, also known by the pseudonym Gilberto Concha Riffo , was a noted Chilean poet. He is a recipient of the Premio Nacional de Literatura de Chile, a National Prize awarded to poets of high achievement.- Biography :Valle was born in Villa Almagro, Nueva Imperial in 1900...
, who won the national Chilean prize for literature, was born in Villa Almagro, and his house is still there. La Araucania was also a source of inspiration for Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
, who was raised in the region. Together, the two communities make up a population of about 40,000 people.
Nueva Imperial is also divided by a large hill. The section of city that lies at the base of the hill is called El Bajo (bajo means “lower”) and El Alto (alto means “upper”). From the top of the hill, one can see the volcanoes Villarrica
Villarrica (volcano)
Villarrica is one of Chile's most active volcanoes, rising above the lake and town of the same name. The volcano is also known as Rucapillán, a Mapuche word meaning "House of the Pillán". It is the westernmost of three large stratovolcanoes that trend perpendicular to the Andean chain along the...
, Llaima
Llaima
Llaima Volcano is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Chile. It is situated 82 km northeast of Temuco and 663 km southeast of Santiago, within the borders of Conguillío National Park.-Geography:...
, and Lonquimay
Lonquimay (volcano)
Lonquimay Volcano is a stratovolcano of late-Pleistocene to dominantly Holocene age, with the shape of a truncated cone. The cone is largely andesitic, though basaltic and dacitic rocks are present. It is located in the Araucanía Region of Chile, immediately SE of Tolhuaca volcano. Sierra Nevada...
as well as the surrounding countryside.
The community has one of the biggest concentrations of indigenous people in the region. For this reason, visiting the city provides a good opportunity to learn about the Mapuche language, customs, arts and crafts, and food.
Holidays
The Mapuche people celebrate the new year on June 24, called Wuetripantu, which traditionally involves drinking a grain alcohol called mudai.The last week of February is Imperial Week, which culminates in a fireworks show over the river. Another important date is September 18, which is the day of the first Government Junta of Chile
Government Junta of Chile (1810)
Government Junta of the Kingdom of Chile , also known as the First Government Junta, was the organ established to rule Chile following the deposition and imprisonment of King Ferdinand VII by Napoleon Bonaparte...
(called “Fiestas Patrias
Fiestas Patrias (Chile)
The Fiestas Patrias of Chile consists of two days:*September 18, in commemoration of the proclamation of the First Governing Body of 1810, and marking the beginning of the Chilean independence process....
”).