Puerto Montt Explained

Official Name:Puerto Montt
Native Name:Meli Pulli
Settlement Type:City and Commune
Map Alt:Location of the Puerto Montt commune in Los Lagos Region
Pushpin Map:Chile
Pushpin Map Narrow:yes
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Chile
Coor Pinpoint:city
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Chile
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Los Lagos
Subdivision Type2:Province
Subdivision Name2:Llanquihue
Government Footnotes:[1]
Government Type:Municipality
Leader Party:PS
Leader Title:Alcalde
Leader Name:Gervoy Paredes Rojas
Established Title:Founded as
Established Date:Melipulli
Established Title2:Founded
Established Date2:12 February 1853
Named For:Manuel Montt
Unit Pref:Metric
Area Footnotes:[2]
Area Total Km2:1673.0
Population Footnotes:[3]
Population Total:245,902
Population As Of:2017 Census
Population Density Km2:auto
Population Blank1 Title:Urban
Population Blank1:220,143
Population Blank2 Title:Rural
Population Blank2:25,759
Demographics Type1:Sex
Demographics1 Title1:Men
Demographics1 Info1:121,019
Demographics1 Title2:Women
Demographics1 Info2:124,883
Population Demonym:Puertomontino -a or
Melipullian
Blank1 Name:Climate
Blank1 Info:Cfb
Timezone:CLT
Utc Offset:−4
Timezone Dst:CLST
Utc Offset Dst:−3
Coordinates:-41.4667°N -128°W
Elevation M:14
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:5480000
Area Code:56 + 65
Website:Official website

Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune spans an area of 1673sqkm and has a population of 245,902 in 2017. It is bounded by the communes of Puerto Varas to the north, Cochamó to the east and southeast, Calbuco to the southwest and Maullín and Los Muermos to the west.

Founded as late as 1853 during the German colonization of southern Chile, Puerto Montt soon outgrew older neighboring cities through its strategic position at the southern end of the Chilean Central Valley being a gateway city into the Chiloé Archipelago, the Llanquihue and Nahuel Huapi lakes and Western Patagonia.

Puerto Montt has gained renown and grown significantly through the rise of Chile to become the second largest salmon producer of the world during the 1990s and 2000s. However, the Chilean salmon aquaculture crisis of the late 2000s resulted in severe unemployment and exposed weaknesses in the local economy. The city's cultural endowment mixes elements of Chilean-Spanish culture with a German heritage. The city has attracted a significant number of newcomers from all over Chile in the last 30 years in search of employment opportunities.

History

Originally, the site was covered by thick forest and was called Melipulli (which means "four hills" in Mapudungun). It was selected as an entrance to Lake Llanquihue when its proximity to the open sea was discovered. The expedition was entrusted to Bernardo Philippi, a German naturalist and cartographer, but after his death in 1851, Vicente Perez Rosales took over his duties, and by the end of September started to chop trees at Reloncaví sound using local woodsman coming from Huar, Maillen, Huelmo and Calbuco Mainly. By December, after the forest was cut down, the area was burned to clear the land in anticipation of completing the settlement plan.[4] The city itself was founded on February 12, 1853, after government-sponsored immigration from Germany that began in 1848 populated the region and integrated it politically to the rest of the country. It was named after Manuel Montt, President of Chile between 1851 and 1861, who set in motion the German immigration.

In 1912, the city was connected by train to Santiago, making it an important point of entry into Chilean Patagonia and augmenting its commercial development. By 1950, it had a population of 27,500, and the city was rapidly urbanizing. However, the 1960 Valdivia earthquake destroyed much of Puerto Montt, collapsing the port and the train station along with many building and houses. Eventually the city recovered, becoming once again an important urban centre as well as a port of national interest.[5]

1969 violence

See main article: Massacre of Puerto Montt. At the start of March 1969, approximately 90 landless people received poor advice from Socialist Member of Parliament Luis Espinoza. The families were never granted land needed to build their homes. On March 4, 1969, the families settled on empty, unoccupied farmland owned by an absentee landlord. The families sought squatters' rights. Approximately four to five days after moving onto the land, the local Police Chief Rolando Rodríguez Marbán assured the squatters that they would not be disturbed, and could proceed with their home construction. Unfortunately, the Ministry of the Interior changed their orders, which led to tragic results.

On midnight on March 9, Luis Espinoza Socialist member of parliament was charged with breaking the law, arrested, and moved to the city of Valdivia, where he was held. Following direct orders from the Minister of Interior Edmundo Pérez Zujovic, 250 armed policemen launched an assault on the squatting families at dawn. Eight squatters were shot dead. Two squatters, a 9-month child and an adult later died from their wounds. The newly built homes were decimated.[6] The massacre is poignantly memorialized by singer-songwriter Víctor Jara in his song Preguntas por Puerto Montt.

The massacre of Puerto Montt and the public outcry that followed were major factors contributing to the defeat of Eduardo Frei's party in the Chilean presidential election of 1970 which was succeeded by Salvador Allende's Unidad Popular.

Late 20th century

By 1979, Puerto Montt was nominated and later become the Capital of Los Lagos Region, thereby becoming the principal administrative, political and commercial centre of Southern Chile.[7]

By 1982, the commune already reached 103,680 inhabitants. From the late 1980s, the city began to experience a new accelerated growth, both in population and in the economic sphere, mainly due to the installation of the industry Chilean salmon farm, of which Puerto Montt became its nerve center.

Demographics

According to the 2017 census, Puerto Montt has 245,902 inhabitants (121,019 men and 124,883 women), of which 25,759 live in rural areas and 220,143 live in urban areas. From 218,858 inhabitants in the 2012 census, the population grew by 12.36% (27,044 people).

Of the overall population, 52,483 belong to indigenous groups, with 50,247 being Mapuche, 314 Aymara people, 73 Rapa Nui people, 19 Lican Antai, 84 Quechua people, 27 Colla, 136 Diaguita, 114 Kawésqar, 38 Yahgan, 175 other and 1,256 declaring indigenous status but not identifying a group.

About 1.46% of the population (3,595 people) are immigrants, with 199 reporting originating from Peru, 596 from Colombia, 269 from Venezuela, 40 from Bolivia, 1,527 from Argentina, 44 from Haiti, 194 from Ecuador, 157 from South America, 153 from Central America and the Caribbean, 52 from North America, 242 from Europe, 83 from Asia, 16 from Africa, 6 from Oceania and 17 not declaring.[3]

Climate

Puerto Montt has a wet oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) with heavy rainfall throughout the year but a drying trend in the summer. Although temperatures are consistently below 25C, frosts are very rare and occur only a couple of times per month in the winter. For the 41st parallel south, closer to the equator than to the South Pole, Puerto Montt is much cooler than areas further inland in terms of summer temperatures, due to cool ocean currents nearby. This is compounded by the lack of a sizeable landmass on those parallels in the southern hemisphere. That means that Puerto Montt has much cooler summers than areas at similar distances from the equator in the northern hemisphere.

Economy

See also: Aquaculture in Chile. Puerto Montt is the capital of the Los Lagos Region and the Llanquihue Province, and the main sea port at the lower end of Chile's western continental land. The city is the principal commercial, services, and financial hub of the Chilean Northern Patagonia—Zona Austral.

Puerto Montt is also the gateway to the Chiloé Archipelago and Chiloé Island across the Chacao Channel, and the many other smaller islands in Chile's inland Sea of Chiloé.

The city's economy is now based upon agriculture, cattle, and forestry on the surrounding islands, and fishing and salmon aquaculture in the fjords and nearby Pacific Ocean.

History

During the 19th century, before and after the founding of Puerto Montt, the extraction and commercialization of wood, mainly larch, was the main economic activity in the area. Other existing items since the creation of the city were, to a lesser extent, alcohol distilleries, grain oil factories, breweries and the sale of items imported from Germany or Valparaíso. Puerto Montt, as the capital, was vital in the entry and exit of merchandise to the area, since the seaway was the only way to get the products out - the train would only arrive in 1912.

Salmon aquacultureThe city is configured as the hub of one of the largest salmon aquaculture industries in the world. Hatcheries, fisheries and packing plants are mostly located south of Puerto Montt. Fresh salmon is flown daily to world markets and frozen salmon is shipped by ocean to all destinations. The tremendous growth of the region, mainly due to the salmon industry, but also due to rapid expansion of forestry, cattle, and tourism, has proven the massive economic potential of Puerto Montt and its surrounding area.

Transport

El Tepual Airport is the main commercial airport serving the city. Three airlines operate regular flights to and from Santiago, Punta Arenas, Balmaceda, and Antofagasta. The airlines operating at the airport are LATAM Airlines (the country's largest), Sky Airline and JetSmart. The flight time to Santiago is approximately two hours.

Additionally, Marcel Marchant Aerodrome (La Paloma) connects the city with remote locations within the Patagonian Fjords.

Administration

As a commune, Puerto Montt is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an Alcalde with 10 councilors and represented in the Chamber of Deputies by 5 members and in the Senate by 2 people and with support of a Regional Council of 6 members.[8]

Since 2012 the current Mayor has been Gervoy Paredes Rojas who was reelected at 2016 Municipal elections with an end term up to 2020 and the current members of the council are Fernado España España (PS), Sonia Hernandez Asencio (PS), Luis Matamala Almonacid (PDC), Veronica Sanchez Silva (PDC), Juan Carlos Cuitiño Uribe (GEP), Rodrigo Wainraihgt Galilea (RN), Fernando Orellana Perez (RN), Marcia Muñoz Cochifas (IND), Hector Ulloa Aguilera (PPD) and Leonardo Gonzales Saez (PPD).[9]

Within the electoral division of Chile, representatives of Puerto Montt, District 26 (Puerto Montt, Cochamó, Maullín, Calbuco, Castro, Ancud, Quemchi, Dalcahue, Curaco de Vélez, Quinchao, Puqueldón, Chonchi, Queilén, Quellón, Chaitén, Hualaihué, Futaleufú and Palena) in the Chambers of Deputies 2018-2022 are Jenny Álvarez Vera (PS), Gabriel Ascencio Mansilla (PDC), Alejandro Santana Tirachini (RN), Carlos Kuschel Silva (RN) and Alejandro Bernales (Liberal Party). The current Representatives in the Senate period 2014-2022 are Rabindranath Quinteros Lara (PS) and Ivan Moreira Barros (UDI).Regional councilors members 2018-2022 are Ricardo Kuschel Silva (RN), Jaime Brahm Barril (RN), Juan Ortiz Roble (UDI), Manuel Rivera Altamirano (PS), Juan Carcamo Carcamo (PDC) and Valentina Alvarez (Ind/PPD).[10] [11] [12]

Education

Puerto Montt has 175 registered schools varying from educational levels such as pre-school, primary school, secondary school, special school as well as technical-professional and adult schools.[13]

Universities

Notable people

References

Notes

External links

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Municipality of Puerto Montt . 1 January 2011 . es . https://web.archive.org/web/20110503202133/http://www.puertomonttchile.cl/ . 3 May 2011 . live .
  2. Web site: National Statistics Institute . 13 December 2010 . es . https://web.archive.org/web/20101113145023/http://www.ine.cl/canales/chile_estadistico/censos_poblacion_vivienda/censo_pobl_vivi.php . 13 November 2010 . live .
  3. Web site: Censo 2017 . National Statistics Institute (Chile) . Resultados Censo 2017 por país, regiones y comunas . 2017 . es . Census 2017 results by country, region and commune . 28 November 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181129142028/https://resultados.censo2017.cl/Region?R=R10 . 29 November 2018 . dead .
  4. Web site: Historia de Puerto Montt . César A. Sánchez Vera . . April 20, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170208103154/http://www.diariollanquihue.cl/prontus3_turismo/site/artic/20040805/pags/20040805210248.html . February 8, 2017 . dead .
  5. Web site: Puerto Montt 1853-2002 . Memoria Chilena . April 20, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160424035000/http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-783.html#presentacion . April 24, 2016 . live .
  6. Web site: Chile: 9 de marzo de 1969, masacre en Puerto Montt, ni olvido, ni perdón. . Correo de los trabajadores . April 17, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160426173500/http://www.cctt.cl/correo/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2561:chile-9-de-marzo-de-1969-masacre-en-puerto-montt-ni-olvido-ni-perdon&catid=24&Itemid=60 . April 26, 2016 . dead .
  7. Web site: Historia . Municipalidad de Puerto Montt . Oficina Municipal de Patrimonio Cultural. . April 20, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160517213730/http://www.puertomontt.cl/puerto-montt/historia/ . May 17, 2016 . live .
  8. Web site: Servicio Electoral de Chile . January 21, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180224043049/https://servel.cl/ . February 24, 2018 . live .
  9. Web site: Municipal Council Members of Puerto Montt . January 21, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180121125850/https://www.puertomontt.cl/municipalidad/concejo-municipal/ . January 21, 2018 . live .
  10. Web site: Chamber of Deputies of Chile . January 21, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170910040051/https://www.camara.cl/camara/diputados.aspx#tab . September 10, 2017 . dead .
  11. Web site: Senate of Chile . January 21, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180121184454/http://www.senado.cl/prontus_senado/site/edic/base/port/senadores.html . January 21, 2018 . live .
  12. Web site: Regional Council X Region de Los Lagos . January 21, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180123235608/http://www.goreloslagos.gob.cl/consejo/consejeros . January 23, 2018 . live .
  13. Web site: Full guide of Education in Chile . 6 February 2018 . es . https://web.archive.org/web/20180206131607/http://colegiosenchile.cl/ . 6 February 2018 . live .
  14. Web site: Adventist School of Puerto Montt . 6 February 2018 . es . https://web.archive.org/web/20180206190303/http://cadpu.educacionadventista.com/ . 6 February 2018 . live .
  15. Web site: Pumahue School Puerto Montt . 6 February 2018 . es . https://web.archive.org/web/20180207005128/http://www.pumahue.cl/puerto-montt/ . 7 February 2018 . live .
  16. Web site: Cognita Group . 6 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180207010624/https://www.cognita.com/school/colegio-pumahue-puerto-montt-puerto-montt/ . 7 February 2018 . live .
  17. Web site: COLEGIO SALESIANO P. José Fernández Pérez. 6 February 2018. es. https://web.archive.org/web/20180207005228/http://www.salesianospuertomontt.cl/. 7 February 2018. live.
  18. Web site: German School Puerto Montt . 6 February 2018 . es . https://web.archive.org/web/20180207005256/http://www.ialeman.cl/ . 7 February 2018 . live .
  19. "Deutscher Bundestag 4. Wahlperiode Drucksache IV/3672" (Archive). Bundestag (West Germany). 23 June 1965. Retrieved on 12 March 2016. p. 23/51.
  20. Web site: Lafquen Montessori School. 6 February 2018. es. https://web.archive.org/web/20180206131708/http://lafquenmontessori.cl/. 6 February 2018. live.
  21. Web site: Hermanas de la caridad del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus. 6 February 2018. es. https://web.archive.org/web/20180207012658/http://hermanas.corazonistas.org/. 7 February 2018. live.
  22. Web site: Joaquin de los Andes Puerto Montt. 6 February 2018. es. https://web.archive.org/web/20180206190308/http://www.joaquindelosandes.cl/sitio/index.php?curr=01. 6 February 2018. live.
  23. Web site: Universidad de los Lagos . 2016-08-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160812002842/http://www.puertomontt.ulagos.cl/ . 2016-08-12 . dead .
  24. Web site: Bienvenidos a UACh | Universidad Austral de Chile . 2016-08-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160815132112/http://www.pmontt.uach.cl/ . 2016-08-15 . live .
  25. Web site: Descripción | USS 2016 . 2016-08-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160423003227/http://www.uss.cl/blog/sedes/puerto-montt-patagonia/descripcion/ . 2016-04-23 . live .
  26. Web site: Puerto Montt - Universidad Santo Tomás . 2016-08-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160827162007/http://www.ust.cl/sedes/puerto-montt/ . 2016-08-27 . live .