- align! "center" colspan2 style! "border-bottom:3px solid gray;"| - Founded|| May 23, 1794, - Original Name|| Villa de San Ambrosio de Linares - Region||Maule Region - Area - Municipality || 1,466 km² - Population - City (estimated) - Density (municipality) || 70,000 Inhabitants 57 /km² - Time zone|| Santiago Time Zone, UTC- 4 - Telephone Prefix||73 - Postal code|| 3580000 - Gentilic|| Linarense - Mayor || Mr. Rodrigo Hermosilla (Socialist Party of Chile) (2004-2008)

- align"center" colspan! 2 style"border-bottom:3px solid gray;"|Map of Linares in the Maule Region of 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, Putagan 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 "depresion 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 Colbun; on the east, by Colbun, and on the south, by Longavi. The municipality of Colbun 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.

History and current status

Linares was founded on 23 May, 1794 as "Villa de San Ambrosio de Linares" by Ambrosio O'Higgins, the then Viceroy of Peru and Bernardo O'Higgins' father. The city counts among its natives important statesmen, politicians, poets, writers and musicians and is currently an active commercial, agricultural, industrial and service center.

The city of Linares houses the Artillery School of the Chilean Army.

Religion

According to the 2002 census, in the municipality of Linares, 45,987 people 15 and older identified themselves as Catholics, equivalent to 75.41% of the total population 15 and older, while 15.74 % of people described themselves as evangelical protestants, 0.61% as Jehovah's witnesses and 0.70% as Latter-day Saints. Approximately 4.95% of the population declared to be atheist or agnostic, while 2.59% declared to follow other religions.

Linares is a see of a Diocese of the Catholic Church. There are currently 9 Catholic parish churches and a large number of chapels in the comuna. There are also many places of worship that serve the various protestant denominations as well as the Jehovah's witnesses and the Latter-day Saints.

Main sights

The city and its surroundings have many attractions, for example:

The Cathedral Church of San Ambrosio de Linares. This is one of the finest religious buildings built in Chile in the 20th Century. It was conceived after the Basilica of Saint Ambrose, in Milan, a noble building in the Romanesque style. The Cathedral of Linares was built after the old cathedral had been destroyed by an earthquake. Mgr. Juan Subercaseaux Errazuriz, a visionary churchman and second bishop of the Diocese of Linares, was the bright mind that conceived the new Cathedral and gave beginning to its works.
The Parish church Corazon de Maria — a church declared a National Monument for its Gothic style and beauty
The "Museo de Arte y Artesania" (Museum of Arts and Crafts)
Some old houses of colonial style
A main library

Some natural attractions in the surrounding area include the piedmont of the Andes mountains, with forests of pines and other trees; lakes (the artificial Colbun lake); rivers, and good camping and hiking areas.

Other cities and towns in the province include: Colbun, Panimavida, Longavi, Parral, Retiro, San Javier, Villa Alegre and Yerbas Buenas.

Politics

Chilean presidential election, 2005-2006. Official and final results in Linares municipality

!!! First Round: 11 December 2005

Source: Tricel

!!! Runoff election. 15 January 2006

Source: Tricel (PDF)|-

!!! See also

Chilean presidential election, 2005-2006

Intendant (Intendente) of the Maule Region

Alexis Sepulveda Soto

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.

Senators (Senadores)

The Maule Region is divided into two senatorial circumscriptions. One (Circunscription North) is composed by the provinces of Curico 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 Guaraculen, a farm located in Villa Alegre comuna.
Carlos Ibanez 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
Manuel Francisco Mesa Seco, poet and writer
Eduardo Anguita, writer
Ruben Campos Aragon, poet
Max Jara, poet
Jeronimo Lagos Lisboa, poet
Gustavo Gonzalez Rodriguez, journalist and university professor
Juan Enrique Coeymans Avaria, civil engineer, PhD and university professor
Manuel Astica Fuentes, writer

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Linares,_Chile

Linares, Chile