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Puente Alto

Puente Alto
City and Commune
Concha y Toro vineyard in Puente Alto
Concha y Toro vineyard in Puente Alto
Coat of arms of Puente Alto
Coat of arms
Puente Alto commune within Greater Santiago
Puente Alto is located in Chile
Puente Alto
Puente Alto
Location in Chile
Coordinates (city): 33°37′S 70°34′W / 33.617°S 70.567°W / -33.617; -70.567Coordinates: 33°37′S 70°34′W / 33.617°S 70.567°W / -33.617; -70.567
Country Chile
Region Santiago Metro.
Province Cordillera
Founded 1898
Government
 • Type Municipality
 • Alcalde Germán Codina Powers (RN)
Area
 • Total 88.2 km2 (34.1 sq mi)
Elevation 673 m (2,208 ft)
Population (2012 Census)
 • Total 573,935
 • Density 6,500/km2 (17,000/sq mi)
 • Urban 492,603
 • Rural 312
Sex
 • Men 240,862
 • Women 252,053
Time zone CLT (UTC-4)
 • Summer (DST) CLST (UTC-3)
Area code(s) country 56 + city 2
Website Municipality of Puente Alto

Puente Alto (Spanish: "High Bridge") is a city and commune of Chile. It is the capital of the Cordillera Province in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. Located at the south of the Great Santiago conurbation (of which it is part), it houses 573,935 inhabitants (city proper, 2012 census), making it the second largest city in Chile.

After 1883, the province of Santiago was divided into three departments: Santiago, La Victoria and Melipilla. In 1891 the "Autonomic Commune Law" was enacted, after which the president signed as the "Decree of the Creation of Municipalities."

From this decree the department of La Victoria was divided into the municipalities of Peñaflor, Talagante, Calera de Tango, San José de Maipo y Lo Cañas.

According to regional law, the authorities of this new sector would be able to increase in proportion to the number of inhabitants in the area, as well as adding three additional mayors the bureaucratic structure. This law was passed with the aim of giving more individual power to the remote areas of the fast-growing city, instead of everything being governed as a whole under La Victoria.

Decades ago, Puente Alto was considered a village on the outskirts of Santiago (like Maipú and San Bernardo), but the steady growth of Santiago, and to a lesser degree Puente Alto, resulted in the union of two cities (as was eventually Maipú and San Bernardo).

The commune is still not totally unified with Santiago - there are a few unique exceptions that are part of Puente Alto but not Santiago, most notably in the Third Sector of Puente Alto. From Concha y Toro Avenue to Avenida La Serena- 4 Oriente there are places where, for some reason, the annexation into Santiago failed or has yet to be complete

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Puente Alto spans an area of 88.2 km2 (34 sq mi) and has 492,915 inhabitants (240,862 men and 252,053 women). Of these, 492,603 (99.9%) lived in urban areas and 312 (0.1%)


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