Región de Valparaíso

Valparaíso Region V ; Región de Valparaíso
Symbols
flag	coat of arms
Basic data
Country	Chile
Capital	Valparaíso
surface	16,396.1 km²
Residents	1,815,902 (2017 census)
density	111 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2	CL-VS
politics
Intendant	Gabriel Aldoney Vargas
	San Antonio Harbor

-33 -71.5Coordinates: 33 ° 0 ′ S , 71 ° 30 ′ W

The Valparaíso region begins around 50 km north or west of Santiago de Chile , and the Chilean overseas territories (e.g. Easter Island ) also belong to the region . The capital Valparaíso is also the seat of the Chilean Congreso Nacional (National Congress).

The climate near the coast is Mediterranean.

geography

The region lies in the west on the Pacific and in the east are the Andes and the Argentine border. In the north is the Región de Coquimbo and in the south the Región Metropolitana and the Región del Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins .

The overseas territories in the Pacific are:

Main cities in Region V:

Important rivers in Region V:

history

The bay around Valparaíso was populated in pre-Hispanic times by the Chango , an ethnic group who were dedicated to fishing and agriculture.

The bay was discovered in 1536 by the Spaniard Juan de Saavedra . His ship was sent by Diego de Almagro . The city was founded in 1544 by Don Juan Bautista Pastene .

At first, during the colonial era, Valparaiso developed slowly and remained a small village, also due to numerous pirate attacks.

Only with the expansion of trade relations with Great Britain and the USA towards the end of the 18th century did the development accelerate. With the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, Valparaiso's role as the most important Pacific port in South America ended.

On March 31, 1866, the city of Valparaíso was bombed by a Spanish fleet in the Spanish-South American War , the city was badly destroyed.

On August 16, 1906, a very strong earthquake, followed by a tsunami, struck Valparaíso . The buildings near the coastline today are almost exclusively from the time after the earthquake.

Discovery of the overseas territories:

Easter Island 1722 for the Dutchman Jakob Roggeveen
Juan Fernández Islands 1574 by Juan Fernández
San Félix 1574 by Juan Fernández
San Ambrosio 1574 by Juan Fernández
Salas y Gómez 1793 by the Spanish captain José Salas Valdés

Administrative division

The V Valparaíso region consists of eight provinces:

Easter Island province , capital Hanga Roa
Los Andes Province , capital of Los Andes
Petorca province , capital La Ligua
Quillota Province , capital Quillota
Marga Marga Province , capital Quilpué
San Antonio Province , capital of San Antonio
San Felipe de Aconcagua Province , capital of San Felipe
Valparaíso Province , capital Valparaíso

The province of Valparaíso also includes the overseas territories of Juan Fernández Islands , San Félix and San Ambrosio . The province of Easter Island (Isla de Pascua) also includes the island of Salas y Gómez .

Port of Valparaíso

Easter Island Isla de Pascua

tourism

The large port cities of Valparaíso and San Antonio as well as the fashionable resort of Viña del Mar are very popular tourist destinations. The harbor miles and the historical places attract many visitors. In the middle of the region there are large wine-growing areas that invite you to visit. In the east are the Andes with their ski areas.

A few km east of Quillota is the La Campana National Park with its palm forests .

economy

Region V is one of the strongest economic areas in Chile. The ports of Valparaíso and San Antonio handle a large part of Chilean imports and exports. The infrastructure of the region is very well developed with railways and highways (e.g. with the Panamericana ).

Tourism plays a very important role in the whole region, along with agriculture with fruit and wine growing, as well as the fish industry are an important economic factor.

The Región de Valparaíso is a center of avocado cultivation. More than half of Chilean production comes from the province of Petorca alone. However, the high water consumption - in Petorca around 320 liters of water are needed to produce an avocado - has dried up entire rivers. In 2017, it became known that several Danish supermarket chains were not importing avocados from the Petorca province in order to reduce the massive environmental problems.

Web links

Commons : Valparaíso Region - collection of images, videos and audio files

Regional government Valparaíso (Spanish)

Individual evidence

↑ - ( Memento from March 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive )

[1] - ( Memento from March 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive )