Linares, Chile

Linares is a Chilean city and episcopal see located in the Maule Region and lies in the geographical center of the country, on the fertile central plain, 303 km south of Santiago and 50 km south of Talca, the regional capital. Linares is the capital city of the province of Linares.

Demography

The "comuna" of Linares has a population of 83,249 (2002 census), of which 15,025 (18%) live in rural areas while the urban population has reached 68,224 (82%), (as compared with 59,658 in the 1992 census). Women (35,669) make up 52.3% of Linares urban population while men (32,555) represent 47,7%. In contrast, and mirroring the results typically found in rural areas in Chile, there were 7,963 men (53.0%) vs 7,062 women (47.0%) living in the rural areas of the "comuna".

Geography

The municipality covers an area of 1.466 km² and the city proper, 16 km². The rivers Ancoa, Putagán and Achibueno are the main rivers that pass through the municipality or form its natural borders.

Most of the territory of the municipality is located within the central plain or "depresión intermedia", (Valle Central de Chile). Some low altitude hills are located in the westernmost part of the municipality, while its easternmost part is marked by the presence of the foothills of the Andes mountains. The municipality of Linares is bordered on the west by San Javier; on the north by Villa Alegre, Yerbas Buenas and Colbún; on the east, by Colbún, and on the south, by Longaví. The municipality of Colbún occupies the easternmost strip of the province, where some of the highest provincial peaks are located as are the sources of several of the main rivers.

Climate

Linares has a mild Mediterranean climate. The summers are hot and mainly dry (November to March) with temperatures reaching up to 32 -33 degrees Celsius on the hottest days. The winters (late May to mid September) tend to be rather humid and rainy, with typical maximum daily temperatures of 14-15 degrees Celsius, and minimum just above freezing.

"Source: Tricel [http://www.tribunalcalificador.cl/admin/upload/PRESI2006.pdf] (PDF)"|-

ee also

* Chilean presidential election, 2005-2006
*

Intendant ("Intendente") of the Maule Region

* Fernando Coloma Amaro

Provincial Governor

* Linares Province: Luis Suazo

Members of Parliament ("Diputados")

The Maule Region is divided into five parliamentary districts. Each one of these returns two members of parliament or deputies. Linares belongs to Chile's district # 39.

enators ("Senadores")

The Maule Region is divided into two senatorial circumscriptions. One (Circunscription North) is composed by the provinces of Curicó and Talca and the other, by the provinces of Linares and Cauquenes. Thus, senatorial circumscription North encompasses parliamentary districts 36, 27 and 38, and senatorial circumscription South encompasses parliamentary districts 39 and 40. Each circumscription elects two Senators. Linares belongs to Chile's senatorial circumscriptions # 11 (Maule South)

Notable natives and residents of Linares (city and province)

* Juan Ignacio Molina (Abate Molina), a Chilean priest and naturalist, born in Guaraculén, a farm located in Villa Alegre "comuna".
* Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, Army General and twice the President of Chile;
* Arturo Alessandri Palma, politician, statesman and twice the President of Chile
* Valentin Letelier, educator, writer and politician
* Pedro Dartnell, General, Army commander-in-chief and politician

Artists and intellectuals

* Pablo Neruda, famous poet and Nobel Prize winner, born in Parral, Linares Province
* Margot Loyola Palacios, noted folk musician and researcher
* Edilberto Domarchi Villagra, poet
* [http://www.marketecnica.com/samysilva Samuel Maldonado Silva] , poet, novelist and Journalist. He founded the journal "Sucesos", the "Grupo Ancoa" and the "Colegio de Periodistas de Linares". He has a lot of publications and thousands of articles.
* [http://www.portaldearte.cl/autores/olmos.htm Pedro Olmos] , painter
* Manuel Francisco Mesa Seco, poet and writer
* Eduardo Anguita, writer
* Rubén Campos Aragón, poet
* Max Jara, poet
* Jerónimo Lagos Lisboa, poet
* Gustavo González Rodríguez, journalist and university professor
* Juan Enrique Coeymans Avaria, civil engineer, PhD and university professor.
* Manuel Astica Fuentes, writer
* [http://www.pgquimica.ufsc.br/english/docentes/aguilera.htm Faruk Jose Nome Aguilera, PhD] - Full Professor, Federal University of Santa Catarina - Brasil.
* Humberto Pinochet, painter now living in Canada
* Juan Cristobal Pinochet, painter now living in Canada

Related links

* [http://www.dibam.cl/subdirec_museos/maya_linares/home.asp Museum of Arts and Crafts/Museo de Arte y Artesanía] . In Spanish
* [http://www.obispadodelinares.cl Diocese of Linares] . In Spanish
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Linares,+Chile&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1 Aerial photo # 1 from Google Maps]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Linares,+Chile&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=-35.846483,-71.599338&spn=0.00901,0.021007 Aerial photo # 2 from Google Maps]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Linares,+Chile&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=-35.769358,-71.709995&spn=0.068945,0.146084 Aerial photo # 3 from Google Maps. The westernmost portion of Linares comuna, lying between the rives Putagán (north), Loncomilla, (west) and Achibueno (south).]
* [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?scale=100000&lon=-71.6&lat=-35.85&icon=x Linares in Multimap]

See also

* [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edilberto_Domarchi] Edilberto Domarchi, a poet from Linares. In Spanish.