Santiago (commune)


The Commune of Santiago is the central commune of the Santiago Province, located at the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region in Chile's Central Zone. Locally, Santiago is usually abbreviated Stgo. It is also called as "Santiago Centro" in order to differentiate it from Greater Santiago, a larger entity which includes Santiago Commune along with other 36 communes.

History

The city of Santiago was founded on February 12, 1541 as "Santiago de la Nueva Extremadura" by Pedro de Valdivia. It is officially the provincial, regional and national capital. It encompasses the oldest part of the city —that enclosed by old rail lines—, including downtown, and houses all major government infrastructure, including the government palace La Moneda.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, the commune has an area of and a population of 200,792, giving it a population density of. The population shrank by 13.1% in the ten years since the 1992 population of 230,977. In 2002, there were 17,514 households, each with an average income of $38,648 in PPP US dollars in 2006.
The commune is subdivided into 29 census districts.

Administration

As a commune, Santiago is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by a mayor who is directly elected every four years. Since 2016 the mayoress is Felipe Alessandri Vergara. The communal council has the following members:
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Santiago is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Giorgio Jackson, Marcela Sabat, Luciano Cruz-Coke, Jorge Alessandri Vergara, Maya Fernández, Sebastián Torrealba, Gonzalo Winter and Natalia Castillo as part of the 10th and 7th electoral district,. The commune is represented in the Senate by Guido Girardi Lavín and Andrés Allamand as part of the 7th senatorial constituency.
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