Huachipato
district (neighbourhood)
Main entrance to Siderúrgica Huachipato
Main entrance to Siderúrgica Huachipato
Huachipato is located in Chile
Huachipato
Huachipato
Location in Chile
Coordinates (city): 36°44′53″S 073°05′55″W / 36.74806°S 73.09861°W / -36.74806; -73.09861[1]
CountryChile
RegionBiobío
ProvinceConcepción
CommuneTalcahuano
Area
[2]
 • Total13.2 km2 (5.1 sq mi)
Elevation
1 m (3 ft)
Population
 (2002 Census)[2]
 • Total9,665
 • Density730/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−4 (CLT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−3 (CLST)
Area code56 + 41

Huachipato is census district and neighbourhood in Talcahuano Commune, part of the conurbation of Greater Concepción in the Biobío Region of southern Chile.[1] It is the industrialized part of the commune supporting a steel mill and oil refinery.[3]

Etymology

The word huachipato is a Mapuche word meaning "a trap to catch birds".[4] It may be the result of a mixture of Spanish and Mapuche, where the local name for a snare is huache or huachi.

Demographics

The district is completely urban and had a population of 9,665 as of the 2002 census with 2,415 housing units.[2]

History

Because of the high cost of pig iron from the aging steel mill in Corral, the Chilean Development Corporation (CORFO) decided to support building a new steel mill in Huachipato. Compañía de Acero del Pacífico was formed[5] and began construction in 1947. The mill now named "Siderúrgica Huachipato" was completed in 1950.[6][7] From the 1960s to the 1990s the mine of El Romeral provided most of the iron to the mill.[8][9]

The same year that construction of the steel mill started, a football club, Club Deportivo Huachipato, was founded. As their initial fans were employees of the local steel company, they adopted the nickname Acereros ("Steelers").[4]

In 1966 Empresa Nacional del Petróleo (ENAP) opened an oil refinery in Huachipato.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Huachipato (Approved - N) at GEOnet Names Server, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
  2. ^ a b c "División Político Administrativa y Censal" (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas (INE). 2007. p. 177. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Hitos: Polo Industrial ENAP-HUACHIPATO" (in Spanish). Talcahuano. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  4. ^ a b Rojas, Diego (May 2013). "Huachipato: La historia del Campeón del sur". El Hincha (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 August 2015.
  5. ^ It was created with mixed ownership by CORFO, which retained a 33% interest for the government, the Autonomous Sinking Fund of Public Debt (Caja Autónoma de Amortización de la Deuda Pública) put up 14% and individual private shareholders purchased the remaining 53%. The steel mill is now run by their corporate division "CAP Acero". "CAP Acero". CAP S.A. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015.
  6. ^ Butland, Gilbert J. (1951). Chile : an outline of its geography, economics, and politics. London: Oxford University Press for the Royal Institute of International Affairs. p. 97.
  7. ^ Prebisch, Raúl, ed. (1954). Study of the Prospectsof Inter-Latin-American Trade (PDF). New York: United Nations. p. 101. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 August 2015.
  8. ^ Millán 1999, p. 153
  9. ^ Millán 1999, p. 154
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