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Linares

City seal
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)
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.

Contents 1 Demography 2 Geography 3 Climate 4 History and current status 5 Religion 6 Main sights 7 Politics 7.1 Chilean presidential election, 2005-2006. Official and final results in Linares municipality 7.1.1 First Round: 11 December 2005 7.1.2 Runoff election. 15 January 2006 7.1.3 See also 7.2 Intendant (Intendente) of the Maule Region 7.3 Provincial Governor 7.4 Members of Parliament (Diputados) 7.5 Senators (Senadores) 8 Notable natives and residents of Linares (city and province) 8.1 Artists and intellectuals 9 Related links 10 See also

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.

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.

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.

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Avg temp. °F (°C)	70 (21)	69 (21)	63 (17)	57 (14)	52 (11)	48 (9)	47 (8)	49 (9)	52 (11)	57 (14)	62 (17)	68 (20)	58 (14)
Avg high °F (°C)	87 (31)	85 (29)	78 (26)	70 (21)	61 (16)	55 (13)	55 (13)	58 (14)	63 (17)	69 (21)	76 (24)	83 (28)	70 (21)
Avg low temperature °F (°C)	54 (12)	54 (12)	49 (9)	44 (7)	44 (7)	42 (6)	39 (4)	40 (4)	42 (6)	46 (8)	49 (9)	54 (12)	46 (8)
Rainfall inches (millimeters)	0.4 (10)	0.1 (3)	0.8 (20)	1.8 (45)	6.4 (163)	7.3 (187)	8.1 (206)	4.0 (61)	3.3 (83)	0,8 (20)	0,5 (13)	0,3 (8)	27.4 (694.13)
Source: Weatherbase

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.

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.

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 Errázuriz, 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 Corazón de María — a church declared a National Monument for its Gothic style and beauty
• The "Museo de Arte y Artesanía" (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 Colbún lake); rivers, and good camping and hiking areas.

Other cities and towns in the province include: Colbún, Panimávida, Longaví, Parral, Retiro, San Javier, Villa Alegre and Yerbas Buenas.

Ballot number	Candidate	Party/ Coalition	Votes	%	Result
1	Sebastián Piñera Echenique	RN	12,974	31.8%	Runoff
2	Michelle Bachelet Jeria	PS/CPD	16,338	40.0%	Runoff
3	Tomás Hirsch Goldschmidt	PH/JPM	1,418	3.5%
4	Joaquín Lavín Infante	UDI	10,123	24.8%

Source: Tricel [1]

Ballot number	Candidate	Party/ Coalition	Votes	%	National Result
1	Sebastián Piñera Echenique	RN/APC	22,385	53.8
2	Michelle Bachelet Jeria	PS/CPD	19,227	46.2	President

Source: Tricel [2] (PDF)|-

• Chilean presidential election, 2005-2006
• Maule Region. Final results: Chilean presidential election, 2005-2006

• Alexis Sepúlveda Soto

• Linares Province: Luis Suazo

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.

District number	Municipalities encompassed in the district	Members of Parliament (Political party)
District 39	Linares, Colbún, San Javier, Villa Alegre, Yerbas Buenas	Osvaldo Palma (RN), Jorge Tarud (PPD)

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)

Circumscription number and name	Municipalities encompassed in the Circumscription	Members of Parliament (Political party)
(11) Región del Maule (Sur)	Linares, Colbún, San Javier, Villa Alegre, Yerbas Buenas, Longaví, Retiro, Parral, Cauquenes, Pelluhue, Chanco	Jaime Naranjo Ortiz (PS), Hernán Larraín Fernández (UDI)

• 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

• 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
• 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
• Faruk Jose Nome Aguilera, PhD - Full Professor, Federal University of Santa Catarina - Brasil

• Museum of Arts and Crafts/Museo de Arte y Artesanía. In Spanish
• Diocese of Linares. In Spanish
• Aerial photo # 1 from Google Maps
• Aerial photo # 2 from Google Maps
• Aerial photo # 3 from Google Maps. The westernmost portion of Linares comuna, lying between the rives Putagán (north), Loncomilla, (west) and Achibueno (south).
• Linares in Multimap

• [3] Edilberto Domarchi, a poet from Linares. In Spanish.

v • d • e Maule Region
Cities	Talca | Constitución | Culenar | Villa Francia | San Clemente | Cauquenes | Curicó | Hualañé | Molina | Teno | Linares | Longaví | Parral | San Javier | Villa Alegre
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°51′S, 71°36′W