Peñalolén

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Peñalolén
location
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Chile
region Metropolitan Region of Santiago
province SantiagoTemplate: Infobox administrative unit / maintenance / other
Residents 237,862
founding 1984
ISO 3166-2 CL-RM

Coordinates: 33 ° 29 ′  S , 70 ° 32 ′  W

Peñalolén is one of 36 independent communities ( comunas ) that together form the Gran Santiago agglomeration , i.e. the greater Santiago de Chile area. It is located on the eastern edge of the Chilean capital at the foot of the Andes Cordillera and belongs to the province of Santiago . The municipality, established in 1984, has developed from a series of classic slum settlements . It was seen as a poor district with high unemployment , poor infrastructure and low per capita income . In the meantime, Peñalolen has become a more and more prosperous municipality with a broad middle class, although the so-called "poblaciones" (poor districts) continue to be a defining part of the place.

In the period between 1960 and 1975, illegal land occupations took place here, which eventually resulted in numerous poor settlements. In the course of time, the residents officially received their land on which they had built the simplest wooden accommodation. The municipality, whose name means "meeting of the brothers" ( Spanish reunión de los hermanos ) in the language of the Mapuche Indians , but which, according to another opinion, comes from a rural settlement established in the 1950s, has more than 200,000 inhabitants. It consists of four areas ( barrios or sectores ) that cannot be clearly separated from each other : Peñalolén Alto (the oldest district), Lo Hermida, La Faena and San Luis de Macul.

The labor market situation in Peñalolén remains very bad; there is no industry to speak of, just a few small businesses. Hardly anyone has a permanent job in the "poblaciones". Everyone there has to try to make a living by doing all kinds of odd jobs. On the other hand, one finds in the "condominios" (delimited and guarded residential areas with single-family houses) officials, small business owners and employees who, however, do their work properly. d. Usually not found in Peñalolen, but in the center (especially in the municipalities of Santiago, Las Condes and Providencia).

The average per capita income in 2000 according to the census was 22,355 PPP - $. 27% of the population are younger than 15 years and only 5.6% are older than 64 years.

The range of educational and health facilities in this part of the capital is still completely inadequate, so that in many cases corresponding facilities in other, more centrally located municipalities of Santiago have to be used.

Peñalolén is now supported by the KAIRÓS aid project, which of course cannot help everyone, but specializes in 1,000 people. Mediating jobs and creating better family relationships, these are the goals. But also adult education, health education, training women in handicrafts and building kindergartens are his areas of responsibility.