Curicó

Curicó is a Chilean city and commune in the Maule Region, in the Chilean Central Valley. Curicó is the capital city of the province of Curicó.

Curicó means, in Mapudungun, "Land of Black Water".

History
Curicó was founded on 9 October 1743 by José Manso de Velasco when Chile was a Spanish colony with the name San José de Buena Vista. In 1747, the Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas moved the city about 5 km to the north, where it is now on the foot of the Buena Vista hill (now called "Cerro Condell"), because the original place was too humid.

Curicó got the title of "city" in 1830. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 1928 and rebuilt during the following year. It was badly damaged in the earthquake of February 2010.

Population
(last national census), there were 119,585 people living in the commune, giving it a population density of inhabitants/km². The urban population was 100,506 persons (84% of the total).

The people from Curicó are called Curican (in Spanish: Curicanos for men and Curicanas for women).

Geography
The commune has an area of 1328.4 sqkm and the city proper, 20.50 sqkm.

The city of Curicó is at 185 km south of Santiago and 50 km.

The rivers Guaiquillo and Mataquito are the main rivers that flow through the commune. Most of the territory of the commune is within the central plain (Valle Central de Chile). The valley is between low mountains to the west and east.

The commune of Curicó is bordered on the west by Rauco; on the north by Teno; on the east, by Romeral, and on the south, by Molina and Sagrada Familia.

Climate
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Curicó is a "dry-summer subtropical climate" (also known as Mediterranean Climate) and of the subtype "Csb".

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Curicó is 856 mm. The month with the most precipitation on average is July with 246.4 mm of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is January with an average of 5.1 mm.

The average temperature for the year in Curicó is 13.3 °C. The warmest month, on average, is January with an average temperature of 20 °C. The coolest month on average is July, with an average temperature of 6.1 °C.

Economy
The city's economy is based mainly on agriculture, because the Mediterranean climate creates comparative advantages with markets such as apples, wines, and cherries.

Related pages

 * Communes of Chile
 * Provinces of Chile

Other websites

 * Gobierno Regional del Maule Official website
 * Province of Curicó website
 * Municipality of Curicó