Villa Alemana

Villa Alemana
City and Commune
Flag Coat of arms Villa Alemana Location in Chile
Coordinates (city): 33°02′32″S 71°22′24″W / 33.04222°S 71.37333°W / -33.04222; -71.37333Coordinates: 33°02′32″S 71°22′24″W / 33.04222°S 71.37333°W / -33.04222; -71.37333
Country	Chile
Region	Valparaíso
Province	Marga Marga
Founded	November 8, 1894
Government [1]
• Type	Municipality
• Mayor	José Sabat Marcos
Area [2]
• Total	96.5 km2 (37.3 sq mi)
Elevation	143 m (469 ft)
Population  (2012 Census)[2]
• Total	116,097
• Density	1,200/km2 (3,100/sq mi)
• Urban	94,802
• Rural	821
Sex [2]
• Men	45,868
• Women	49,755
Time zone	UTC-4 (CLT[3])
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (CLST[4])
Area code(s)	(country) 56 + (city) 32
Website	Official website (in Spanish)

Villa Alemana ("German Village" in English) is a city and commune in Chile's Zona Central. It was founded in 1896 by Italian and German immigrants. Villa Alemana is a part of the urban area known as Greater Valparaiso.

Villa Alemana's flag is notable for having the flag of the German Empire banded on it, along with the Flag of Germany.

History[]

Tren Villa Alemana 1880

The city of Villa Alemana was founded due to the building of a railway, and was at the beginning of Chilean railway development. Its climate is so temperate that the slogan is "The City of Eternal Youth" ("La ciudad de la eterna juventud" in Spanish) or "City of the Mills" ("Ciudad de los Molinos" in Spanish).

Villa Alemana, before being named, was nothing but fields. There was a small vineyard, many trees and flowers and what prevailed was the hawthorn. Around where Theater Pompeya stands today, land was offered for 20 cents per meter. And that was where Don Buenaventura Joglar had the idea to buy land and build a population which he named Villa Alemana, because the Germans were the first to buy these sites.

On November 8, 1894, it was founded under the name of Viña Miraflores. The property was owned by Don Buenaventura Joglar, who divided the land into lots and set the name of Villa Alemana.

On January 5, 1918, the commune of Villa Alemana was established, but in 1928 it was incorporated in Quilpué. On June 7, 1933, Villa Alemana separated from Quilpué, recreating the commune of Villa Alemana.

Today, Villa Alemana is a bedroom community of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso.

Demographics[]

Until 1982 the commune had just over 55,000 residents.^{[citation needed]}

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Villa Alemana spans an area of 96.5 km² (37 sq mi) and has 95,623 inhabitants (45,868 men and 49,755 women). Of these, 94,802 (99.1%) lived in urban areas and 821 (0.9%) in rural areas. The population grew by 33.4% (23,951 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.^[2]

Administration[]

As a commune, Villa Alemana is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2012-2016 alcalde is José Sabat Marcos. The council has the following members:^[1]

• Divka Rojic Puelma
• Carolina Pfaff Rojas
• Raúl Alvear Guerra
• Claudio de la Horra Donoso
• Alejandro Gazmuri Sanhueza
• Gonzalo Uribe Gil
• Juan Celestino Salvo Montoya
• Álvaro Brauchi González

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Villa Alemana is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Marcelo Schilling (PS) and Arturo Squella (UDI) as part of the 12th electoral district, together with Olmué, Limache and Quilpué. The commune is represented in the Senate by Ignacio Walker Prieto (PDC) and Lily Pérez San Martín (RN) as part of the 5th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Cordillera).^{[needs update]}

Twin cities[]

• Bethlehem, State of Palestine

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Villa Alemana.

• (in Spanish) Municipality of Villa Alemana