{{Infobox settlement | official_name = Cunco | native_name = | settlement_type = [[List of cities in Chile|City]] and [[Communes of Chile|Commune]] | nickname = | motto = | image_flag = | image_skyline = Cunco, Chile, 2006.jpg | imagesize = | image_caption = | flag_alt = Flag | image_shield = | shield_alt = Coat of arms | image_map = Comuna de Cunco.svg | map_caption = Map of Carahue commune in the [[Araucanía Region]] | map_alt = Map of Carahue commune in the [[Araucanía Region]] | pushpin_map = Chile | pushpin_map_narrow = 1 | pushpin_label_position = bottom | pushpin_map_alt = Location in Chile | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Chile | coor_pinpoint = city | coordinates_footnotes = | coordinates = {{coord|38|55|S|72|02|W|region:CL-AR|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = [[Chile]] | subdivision_type1 = [[Regions of Chile|Region]] | subdivision_name1 = [[Araucanía Region|Araucanía]] | subdivision_type2 = [[Provinces of Chile|Province]] | subdivision_name2 = [[Cautín Province|Cautín]] | established_date = | established_title = | founder = | named_for = | government_footnotes = <ref name="Official">{{Cite web|url= http://www.municunco.cl |title=Municipality of Cunco |accessdate=19 August 2010|language=es}}</ref> | government_type = [[Municipality]] | leader_title = [[Alcalde]] | area_note = As of 2002 | leader_name = Patricio Mittersteiner Garrido | leader_party = | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = <ref name="INE">{{Cite web |url= http://www.ine.cl/canales/chile_estadistico/censos_poblacion_vivienda/censo_pobl_vivi.php |title= National Statistics Institute |accessdate=13 December 2010|language=es}}</ref> | area_total_km2 = 1906.5 | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 364 | population_footnotes = <ref name="INE"/> | population_total = 15628 | population_as_of = 2012 Census | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_blank1_title = [[Urban area|Urban]] | population_blank1 = 8806 | population_blank2_title = [[Rural area|Rural]] | population_blank2 = 9897 | demographics_type1 = Sex | demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="INE"/> | demographics1_title1 = Men | demographics1_info1 = 9,203 | demographics1_title2 = Women | demographics1_info2 = 9,500 |timezone = [[Time in Chile|CLT]] | utc_offset = −4 |timezone_DST = [[Time in Chile|CLST]] | utc_offset_DST = −3 | postal_code_type = | postal_code = 5010000 | area_code = 56 + 45 | website = [http://www.municunco.cl Municipality of Cunco] | footnotes = }}

'''Cunco''' is a [[Chile]]an [[Communes of Chile|commune]] and [[List of cities in Chile|city]] in [[Cautín Province]], [[Araucanía Region]]. The town is located 60&nbsp;km southeast of the city of [[Temuco]] and 77&nbsp;km west of [[Icalma Lake|Icalma International Pass]].

The major geographical features of this commune are the [[Allipén River]] and the [[Colico Lake]].

According to [[Friar]] [[Ernesto Wilhelm de Moesbach]] Cunco is etymologically derived from the [[Mapuche language]]'s word for "dark red" (cun) "water" (co) meaning water with volcanic ash or silt.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Voz de Arauco |last=de Moesbach |first=Ernesto Wilhelm |publisher=Ceibo |year=2016 |isbn=978-956-359-051-7 |location=Santiago |pages=56 |language=Spanish |orig-date=1944}}</ref>

== History == Cunco was founded by Colonel Gregorio Urrutia in 1883 as a frontier fort, between the marshes Cunco and Nahuelcura, and close to a tributary to the Allipén river. The arrival of the railroad at the beginning of the twentieth century accelerated its urban development. It changed legal status to "commune" on 20 August 1918.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}} In 1918 Cunco was the ending point of the first flight by an airplane across the [[Andes]], when [[Luis Candelaria]] flew from [[Zapala]], Argentina, on April 13.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/93428-a-80-anos-del-primer-cruce-aereo-de-los-andes |title=A 80 años del primer cruce aéreo de los Andes |author=Luis Casabal |publisher=Diario La Nación |date=13 April 1998 |language=Spanish |accessdate=26 April 2015 |archive-date=8 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308223402/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/93428-a-80-anos-del-primer-cruce-aereo-de-los-andes |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Demographics== {{Historical populations |align=left |source={{cite web|url=https://www.ine.gob.cl/estadisticas/sociales/censos-de-poblacion-y-vivienda/censo-de-poblacion-y-vivienda|publisher=National Statistics Institute|title=Censo de Población y Vivienda}} |percentages=pagr |1895 |2808 |1907 |11691 |1920 |12915 |1930 |18269 |1940 |23043 |1952 |21636 |1970 |16119 |1982 |16834 |1992 |18339 |2002 |18703 |2017 |17526 |2024 |19177 }} According to the 2002 [[census]] of the [[National Statistics Institute (Chile)|National Statistics Institute]], Cunco spans an area of {{convert|1906.5|sqkm|0|abbr=on}} and has 18,703 inhabitants (9,203 men and 9,500 women). Of these, 8,806 (47.1%) lived in [[urban area]]s and 9,897 (52.9%) in [[rural area]]s. The population grew by 2% (364 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.<ref name= "INE"/>

==Administration== As a [[Communes of Chile|commune]], Cunco is a third-level [[administrative division of Chile]] administered by a communal council, headed by an [[alcalde]] who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Patricio Mittersteiner Garrido. The communal council has the following members:<ref name="Official"/> * Osvaldo Inostroza Mora * Danilo Urrutia Cárcamo * Rene Sepulveda Ceballos * Patricio Oakley Oviedo * Cristian Moraga Lagos * Alfonso Coke Candia

Within the [[electoral divisions of Chile]], Zapallar belongs to the 52nd electoral district and 15th senatorial constituency.

==References== <references/>

==External links== *{{in lang|es}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080620201450/http://www.laaraucania.cl/turismo-com_cunco.htm Gobierno Regional de la Araucanía: Cunco] *{{in lang|es}} [http://www.municunco.cl Munipalidad de Cunco] *{{in lang|es}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20110710032307/http://portalcunco.comlu.com/ Porta Cunco] (Independent Website)

{{Communes in Araucanía Region}}

[[Category:19th-century fortifications in Chile]] [[Category:Communes of Chile]] [[Category:Populated places in Cautín Province]] [[Category:1883 establishments in Chile]]