# Coronel, Chile

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**Coronel** (koɾoˈnel) is a [Chilean](/source/Chile) [city](/source/List_of_cities_in_Chile) and [commune](/source/Communes_of_Chile), located in the [Concepción Province](/source/Concepci%C3%B3n_Province,_Chile) of the eighth [region](/source/Regions_of_Chile) of [Biobío](/source/Biob%C3%ADo_Region).

## Geography

The city of Coronel is located in a sandy platform that goes from the mouth of the [Biobío River](/source/Biob%C3%ADo_River) to the [Arauco Gulf](/source/Arauco_Gulf) bay, a muddy landscape, full of forests, typical of the region.

This muddy, forested landscape enclosed by high mountains was what the first [Spanish](/source/Spanish_people) [conquistadors](/source/Conquistador) and settlers found when arriving. Vegetation and forests covered most of the area except very close to the coast. This type of landscape is characteristic of the province.

The total area of the commune is 279.4 km2 (108 sq mi).[1] Aside from its western coast along the Pacific Ocean, the commune is surrounded by other communes of the Concepción Province: [San Pedro de la Paz](/source/San_Pedro_de_la_Paz) to the north, [Hualqui](/source/Hualqui) to the north and east, and [Lota](/source/Lota,_Chile) and [Santa Juana](/source/Santa_Juana,_Chile) to the south.

[Santa María Island](/source/Santa_Mar%C3%ADa_Island,_Chile) also forms part of the city, which is represented there by a municipal delegate.

### Climate

The climate of Coronel is [temperate](/source/Temperateness) [Mediterranean](/source/Mediterranean_climate), common to the [Chilean Coast Range](/source/Chilean_Coast_Range), with moderate temperature variations. As Coronel is situated west of the mountain range, it generally receives winds out of the west and northwest, and increased precipitation due to [orographic lift](/source/Orographic_lift). Its proximity to the Pacific influences its annual temperature variations. The average temperature in summer is 17 °C (63 °F) and 8 °C (46 °F) in winter.

## History

Like all territory to the south of [Biobío River](/source/Biob%C3%ADo_River), this area was populated by the [Mapuche](/source/Mapuche). Historically, Spaniards called them as Araucaníans (*araucanos*) and their coastal territory as *[Araucanía](/source/Araucan%C3%ADa_(historic_region))*.

This territory is a part of the [Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia](/source/Kingdom_of_Araucania_and_Patagonia), an unrecognised state established on November 19, 1861.

The indigenous population of Coronel Bay was located into a war zone called Butanmapu de la costa. From the descriptions made by the Spaniards, it is probable that before the Spaniards' colonization, half of the Mapuche population lived in this region. Also, the population density of the tribes was evenly distributed on both east and west sides of the [Cordillera de Nahuelbuta](/source/Cordillera_de_Nahuelbuta)

The city of Lota was an early coal mining settlement in the area. The mine was composed of "Chiflones" 1, 2, 3, 4, Pique Santa Maria, and Pique Arenas Blancas. This was the last mine closed, because of a grisu gas explosion where 21 miners died. This mine was the deepest in South America, at 1,000 m (3,281 ft).[citation needed]

The [World War I](/source/World_War_I) naval [Battle of Coronel](/source/Battle_of_Coronel) between ships of the United Kingdom and Germany was fought on 1 November 1914 off the coast of Coronel.

The city was the seat of [Lautaro Department](/source/Lautaro_Department), later known as the [Coronel Department](/source/Coronel_Department).

In March 2013, an investigation was started after thousands of sea animals washed ashore.[2]

## Demographics

According to the 2002 [census](/source/Census) of the [National Statistics Institute](/source/National_Statistics_Institute_(Chile)), Coronel spans an area of 279.4 km2 (108 sq mi) and has 95,528 inhabitants (46,766 men and 48,762 women). Of these, 91,469 (95.8%) lived in [urban areas](/source/Urban_area) and 4,059 (4.2%) in [rural areas](/source/Rural_area). Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 14.5% (12,102 persons).[1] The [demonym](/source/Demonym) for a man from Coronel is *Coronelino* and *Coronelina* for a woman.

## Administration

As a commune, Coronel is a third-level [administrative division of Chile](/source/Administrative_division_of_Chile) administered by a communal council, headed by an [alcalde](/source/Alcalde) who is directly elected every four years. The 2012-2016 alcalde is Leonidas Romero. The communal council has the following members:[3]

- José Suazo Muñoz
- Francisco Merino Olivares
- Edmundo Salas Norambuena
- Francisco Reyes Aguayo
- Daniel Rosales Salgado
- Hugo Monsalves Obreque
- Carmen Madinagoitia Chamorro
- Osvaldo Campos Torres

Within the [electoral divisions of Chile](/source/Electoral_divisions_of_Chile), Coronel is represented in the [Chamber of Deputies](/source/Chamber_of_Deputies_of_Chile) by Marcelo Chávez ([PDC](/source/Christian_Democratic_Party_of_Chile)) and Clemira Pacheco ([PS](/source/Socialist_Party_of_Chile)) as part of the 45th electoral district, (together with [Tomé](/source/Tom%C3%A9), [Penco](/source/Penco), [Florida](/source/Florida,_Chile), [Hualqui](/source/Hualqui) and [Santa Juana](/source/Santa_Juana,_Chile)). The commune is represented in the [Senate](/source/Senate_of_Chile) by Alejandro Navarro Brain ([MAS](/source/Broad_Social_Movement)) and Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe Herrera ([UDI](/source/Independent_Democratic_Union)) as part of the 12th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Cordillera).

## References

1. ["National Statistics Institute"](http://www.ine.cl/canales/chile_estadistico/censos_poblacion_vivienda/censo_pobl_vivi.php) (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 July 2010.

1. [*Thousands of prawns wash ashore in Chile*](http://www.euronews.com/2013/03/21/thousands-of-prawns-wash-ashore-in-chile/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130323081349/http://www.euronews.com/2013/03/21/thousands-of-prawns-wash-ashore-in-chile/) 2013-03-23 at the Wayback Machine March 21, 2013 [Euronews](/source/Euronews)

1. ["Municipality of Coronel"](http://www.Coronel.cl/) (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 July 2010.

## External links

- (in Spanish) [Municipality of Coronel](http://www.Coronel.cl/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Coronel, Chile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronel%2C_Chile) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronel%2C_Chile?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.