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Cauquenes

City seal
Founded	May 9, 1742,
Original Name	Villa de Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes de José de Manso del Tutuvén
Region	Maule Region
Area  - Municipality	2,126 km²
Population  - City (estimated)  - Density (municipality)	41,217 Inhabitants 19.4 /km²
Time zone	Santiago Time Zone, UTC- 4
Telephone Prefix	73
Postal code	3690000
Gentilic	Cauquenino
Mayor	Mr. Guillermo Badilla (PDC) (2004-2008)
Map of Cauquenes municipality and comuna in the Maule Region.

Cauquenes, a city in Chile, is the capital of Cauquenes Province and is located in the Maule Region.

Contents 1 History 2 Demography 3 Geography 4 Local Government 5 External links

According to the historical records of Alonso de Ercilla, Cauquenes was originally inhabited by an indigenous community known as the Promaucaes, of the Maule area, who owned a settlement in the place where the city lies today. The city of Cauquenes was founded on May 9 1742, de "Villa of Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes de José de Manso del Tutuvén", in the land located between the rivers Tutuvén and Cauquenes, that the cacique promaucae Ascensio Galdámez and his wife Micaela de Araya donated to the Spanish kingdom. Cauquenes' founder was the then Governor of the Kingdom of Chile José Antonio Manso de Velasco. The name of the city changed with time: first it was changed to Villa de Cauquenes and eventually, to Cauquenes.

Cauquenes is a toponimic from the term "cauque", a salmonoid species extinct today, that inhabited the rivers of that area.

The municipality and comuna of Cauquenes has an area of 2,126 km² and, according to the 2002 Census of the Chilean National Institute for Statistics, its population is 41,217, of whom 21,125 are female and 20,092 are male. Roughly one quarter of the population lives in rural areas (10,446) while three quarters live in the city of Cauquenes (30,771).

Other localities in the municipality of Cauquenes, include the following ones:

• Sauzal, pop: 521
• Quella, pop: 346
• Santa Sofía, pop: 612

• Altitude: 136 meters
• Latitude: 35º 58' S
• Longitude: 072º 21' W

The governor of Cauquenes Province is Ms. María Angélica Sáez.

The mayor of Cauquenes is Mr. Guillermo Badilla (Christian Democrat Party of Chile) and the municipal council is composed by the following councillors:

• Juan Carlos Soto (Partido Comunista de Chile)
• Juan Carlos Canales (Renovación Nacional)
• Manuel José Vergara (Renovación Nacional)
• César Aravena (Christian Democrat Party of Chile)
• Hernán Valenzuela (Christian Democrat Party of Chile)
• Said Yamal Jiménez (Partido Radical Socialdemócrata)

• "Ilustre Municipalidad de Cauquenes", in Spanish
• "Ficha Comunal de Cauquenes", in Spanish
• Cauquenes in Google Maps

Maule Region
Cities	Cauquenes | Constitución | Curicó | Molina | Linares | Parral | San Javier | Talca | Teno | Curepto
Universities	Universidad de Talca | Universidad Católica del Maule | Universidad de Los Lagos
Culture & Sports	La Prensa de Curicó | Club Provincial Curicó Unido | Rangers

Coordinates: 35°58′S, 72°21′W