| Freire | |
| Native Name Lang: | es |
| Settlement Type: | Town and Commune |
| Flag Alt: | Flag |
| Shield Alt: | Coat of arms |
| Pushpin Map: | Chile |
| Pushpin Map Narrow: | 1 |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Map Alt: | Location in Chile |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Chile |
| Coordinates: | -38.9558°N -72.6256°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Chile |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Araucanía |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Cautín |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 7 December 1882 |
| Government Footnotes: | [1] |
| Government Type: | Municipality |
| Leader Title: | Alcalde |
| Leader Name: | Luis Armando Arias Lopez (2021-2025) |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Footnotes: | [2] |
| Area Note: | As of 2012 Census |
| Area Total Km2: | 935.2 |
| Elevation M: | 88 |
| Population Total: | 22390 |
| Population As Of: | 2017 Census |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Demonym: | Freirense |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Urban |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Rural |
| Demographics Type1: | Sex |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Men |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Women |
| Timezone: | CLT |
| Utc Offset: | −4 |
| Timezone Dst: | CLST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | −3 |
| Area Code: | 56 + 45 |
| Website: | Municipality of Freire |
Freire is a Chilean town and commune in Cautín Province, Araucanía Region. According to the 2012 census, the commune population was 21,750 and has an area of 935.2sqkm.[2]
The town of Freire lies at the junction of Chile Highway 5 and the Route CH-199, which links Freire with Villarrica and Pucón.
According to the 2017 census of Population and Housing by the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas or INE) Freire had 25,514 inhabitants; of these, 10,979 (38.9%) lived in urban areas and 20,531 (92.1%) in rural areas. At that time, there were 17,670 men and 16,560 women. The population grew by 10.9% (2,517 persons) between the 2012 and 2017 censuses.[2]
As a commune, Freire 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 2021-2025 alcalde is Luis Armando Arias Lopez, and the council has the following members:[1]
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Freire is represented in the Chamber of Deputies as a part of the 23rd electoral district (together with Cholchol, Temuco, Padre Las Casas, Nueva Imperial, Carahue, Cunco, Puerto Saavedra, Teodoro Schmidt, Pitrufquén, Nueva Toltén, Gorbea, Loncoche, Villarrica, Pucón, Curarrehue). The commune is represented in the Senate as part of the 11th senatorial constituency (Araucanía-South).