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Talca

City seal
City motto: (" Provehit Soli Leo" ) Also called "Talca, Paris and London"
Founded	February 17, 1742,
Original Name	Villa San Agustín de Talca
Region	Maule Region
Area  - Municipality	232 km²
Population  - City (2005)  - Density (city proper)	201,797 Inhabitants 869,81 /km²
Time zone	Santiago Time Zone, UTC- 4
Telephone Prefix	71
Postal code	3469001
Gentilic	Talquino
Day	17 February
Mayor	Patricio Herrera Blanco (Socialist Party) (2004-2008)
Official site	http://www.talca.cl
Map of Talca in the Maule Region.

Talca (2002 Census pop. 193,755) is a city in Chile, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile).

The city was founded as San Agustín de Talca in 1742. It was partially destroyed by earthquakes in 1742 and 1928, being rebuilt each time. The city played a relevant role in the chilean independence as Mgr. Jose Ignacio Cienfuegos lived in Talca as well as in 1818 Bernardo O'Higgins proclaimed the independence of Chile from Talca.( See the book " Talca en la Historia Social de Chile" by L.E. Silva de Balboa, Edit Sudamericana Publishers, and contains a resumé in english. At that time Talca was an important social and political center, founded by families from northern Spain, surnames like Silva, Donoso, Barros, Garcés, Gaete, Ramirez, Sepulveda, Cruz, Balboa, Cortés-Monroy, Mandiola, and french like, Parot, Letelier, Lagarde, Le Beuffe, and english like, Weston, Neale, Williams, etc. among others, were principals.

The city is an important economic center, with agricultural (wheat) and manufacturing activities, as well as wine production. It is also the location of the University of Talca and the Catholic University of Maule, and others.

The catholic church of Talca has a prominent participation in the chilean social history, its first diocesan bishop was Mgr. Carlos Silva Cotapos, then Mgr. Manuel Larraín, and Mgr. Carlos González Cruchaga, of high social profile.

The inhabitants of Talca have a saying, Talca, Paris & London, originated from a hat shop that placed a ribbon stating that it had branches in Paris and London.The shop was own by a french inmigrant Jean-Pierre Lagarde.This saying is part of the peoples's "pretending" profile.

Talca's main comercial street

Alameda Avenue of Talca

• Talca's Gate
• El aMaule
• La Prensa
• El Centro
• [1]La Región

Coordinates: 35°26′S, 71°40′W

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