Peñaflor is a city and commune of the Talagante Province

Talagante Province

Talagante Province is one of six provinces of the Santiago Metropolitan Region in central Chile. The capital is the city of Talagante, located approximately southwest of the national capital of Santiago...

 in central 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 Santiago Metropolitan Region

Santiago Metropolitan Region

Santiago Metropolitan Region or simply Metropolitan Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago...

.

Geography

It can be found in the Chilean Central Valley

Chilean Central Valley

The Central Valley , Intermediate Depression or Longitudinal Valley is the depression between the Chilean Costal Range and the Andes Mountains. The central valley should not be confused with Central Chile that encompasses part of the valley...

 approximately 37 km (23 mi) southwest of the metropolitan area of Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

. The commune spans an area of 69.2 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 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...

, Peñaflor spans an area of 69.2 sqkm and has 66,619 inhabitants (32,671 men and 33,948 women). Of these, 63,209 (94.9%) 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 3,410 (5.1%) in rural areas. The population grew by 32.8% (16,471 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, Peñaflor 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 Manuel Fuentes Rosales (UDI), and his council members are:

• Jorge Muñoz López
• Guillermo Garrido Sanhueza
• Guillermo Donoso Aguilar
• Jorge Navarrete Urzua
• Juan Caroca Suarez
• Angie Farias Videla

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Peñaflor 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 Denise Pascal (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...

) and Gonzalo Uriarte (UDI) as part of the 31st electoral district, (together with Talagante

Talagante

Talagante is a commune and the capital city of the province of the same name in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of central Chile. The word Talagante in Quechua comes from talacanta, meaning "Lazo de Hechicero", which was the proper name of the curaca, or ruler, who dominated this central valley on...

, El Monte, Isla de Maipo

Isla de Maipo

Isla de Maipo is a commune of the Talagante Province in central Chile's Santiago Metropolitan Region.-Geography:Isla de Maipo can be found in the Chilean Central Valley approximately southwest of the metropolitan area of Santiago and about from the city of Talagante. The commune spans an area of...

, Melipilla

Melipilla

Melipilla is a Chilean commune and capital city of the province of the same name, located in the Santiago Metropolitan Region southwest of the nation's capital...

, María Pinto

María Pinto

María Pinto is a town and commune of the Melipilla Province in central Chile's Santiago Metropolitan Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, María Pinto spans an area of and has 10,343 inhabitants . Of these, 1,654 lived in urban areas and 8,689 in...

, Curacaví

Curacaví

Curacaví is a city and commune in the Melipilla Province of central Chile's Santiago Metropolitan Region.-Geography and climate:Immersed among the hills of the coastal mountain range, Curacaví occupies an area of and borders the following communes: Casablanca, Quilpué, Lampa, Pudahuel, Maipú,...

, Alhué

Alhué

Alhué is a Chilean town and commune located in Melipilla Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Alhué spans an area of and has 4,435 inhabitants . Of these, 2,593 lived in urban areas and 1,842 in rural areas...

, San Pedro

San Pedro, Chile

San Pedro is a commune of the Melipilla Province in central Chile's Santiago Metropolitan Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, San Pedro spans an area of and has 7,549 inhabitants , making the commune an entirely rural area...

 and Padre Hurtado

Padre Hurtado

Padre Hurtado is a Chilean city and commune in Talagante Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. A portion of the commune belongs to the Greater Santiago conurbation...

). 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 Guido Girardi Lavín (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...

) and Jovino Novoa Vásquez (UDI) as part of the 7th senatorial constituency (Santiago-West).

External links

• Official link - Municipality of Peñaflor