Los Andes, Chile

Los Andes is a Chilean commune and city; it is the capital and main city of the Los Andes province, in the Valparaíso region.

History
Los Andes was founded in July 31, 1791 as Villa Santa Rosa de Los Andes by Ambrosio O'Higgins, Governor of Chile, in a place called Las Piedras Paradas ("The Standing Stones"). The town was named after Saint Rose of Lima, the first Catholic saint of the Americas.

Geography
The commune of Los Andes is in the upper part of the valley of the Aconcagua river, at and altitude of 833 m above sea level. The commune has an area of 1248.3 km2. It is at 15 km from San Felipe, at 84 km from the national capital of Santiago and at 146 km from Valparaíso, the capital of the region.

The commune is bordered on the north and northeast by the San Esteban commune, on the east by Argentina, on the south by the Calle Larga commune, on the southwest by the Rinconada commune and on the west and northwest by the San Felipe commune.

The city of San Felipe is along the Aconcagua river, the main river of the province and of the Valparaíso region.

Population
(last national census), there were 60,198 people living in the commune, giving it a population density of inhabitants/km².

The city of Los Andes has an urban area of 16.42 km2 and a population, in 2002, of 55,127 inhabitants.

Its inhabitants are called Andinos (women, Andinas).

Related pages

 * Communes of Chile
 * Provinces of Chile

Other websites

 * Territorial division of Chile
 * Gobierno Regional de Valparaíso Official website
 * Municipalidad de Los Andes website