Lo Barnechea is a commune located in the northeastern sector of the province of Santiago and its area corresponds to 48% of this province. Its urban boundaries are: to the north with Los Andes of the Valparaíso region, to the west with Colina, to the southwest with Vitacura and Huechuraba, to the south with Las Condes and to the east with San José de Maipo. It developed around the old rural town of Lo Barnechea. Its population is heterogeneous, as it is inhabited by high- and medium-high-income families in sectors such as La Dehesa, Los Trapenses and El Arrayán, and also by medium-low- and low-income families, mainly in the towns of Lo Barnechea, Población La Ermita and Cerro Dieciocho.

Lo Barnechea
Los Trapenses, Lo Barnechea
Los Trapenses, Lo Barnechea


Coat of arms of Lo Barnechea
Map of Lo Barnechea commune in Santiago Metropolitan Region
Lo Barnechea is located in Chile
Lo Barnechea
Lo Barnechea
Location in Chile
Coordinates (city): 33°21′S 70°31′W / 33.350°S 70.517°W / -33.350; -70.517
CountryChile
RegionSantiago Metropolitan
ProvinceSantiago
ConstituencyVIII - East Santiago
DistrictNo. 11
Founded9 March 1981
Government
 • MayorJuan Cristóbal Lira Ibáñez (UDI)
Area
 • Total1,024 km2 (395 sq mi)
Elevation
800 m (2,600 ft)
Population
 (2017 Census)[1]
 • Total105,833
 • Density100/km2 (270/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Barnecheíno, -a barnecheano, -a
Time zoneUTC−4
 • Summer (DST)UTC−3
Websitewww.lobarnechea.cl

History

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Commune of Lo Barnechea seen from the top of Cerro Dieciocho. The parish church, the Mapocho River and Cerro Alvarado can be seen in the background.

Lo Barnechea has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years. Before the Incas, it was occupied by the Llolleo culture and the Bato tradition, and after them,[2] the Aconcagua culture, the Promaucaes, the Incas and later the Spanish occupation.

Its pre-Hispanic inhabitants were called huaicoches (in Mapudungún: waykoche 'people who live in a landslide zone') because of the huaicos or huaycos of the region (in Quechua: wayqu 'stream'). Also called lloclla (in Quechua: lluqlla 'alluvium'), these are violent alluvial floods in which a large amount of material from the slopes is dislodged and dragged by the water downstream to the bottom of the valleys, causing enormous burial sites in its path. In modern scientific terms, according to the Multinational Andean Project, a huayco is known as a debris flow, or debris flow. A huayco is caused by the violent fall of water, which drags mud, stones, trees and anything else in its path. Its origin may be due to an intense rainfall or the overflowing of a river or lagoon at high altitudes.

The town of Lo Barnechea was created in the 19th century. So far, it has resisted conurbation with Greater Santiago.

The DFL 1-3260 of 9 March 1981 established the new commune of Lo Barnechea, from a subdivision of the commune of Las Condes;[3] however, until 1991, it was part of the communal grouping managed by the Municipality of Las Condes. By Decree with Force of Law No. 32-18.992 of 20 May 1991, the Municipality of Lo Barnechea was officially established, the same day as its neighbor Vitacura.[4]

Geography

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Terrain

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Rivers

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Stream

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Creeks

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Cityscape

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The urban center of Lo Barnechea is located in the areas below 1,000 meters above sea level, in the basin of the Mapocho River and the valley of La Dehesa. Its neighborhoods are composed of affluent sectors such as Los Trapenses, La Dehesa and El Huinganal (Molle Schinus polygamus, in Mapudungún Huingan), El Tranque, and middle class sectors such as the traditional Pueblo de Lo Barnechea, Cerro 18, San Enrique and El Arrayán.[5]

Many of its streets recall the old alleys owned by the seven founding families. El León Street recalls the old Parador and Hostería de El León, which used to welcome miners after their long days of work. On this street lived the Salfate sisters, now deceased, who knew the history of the town and its inhabitants: Blanca and Irene Griselda. Their stories about the mythical trips to the Laguna del Viento in the foothills of the Andes and the local mythology enlivened the village's social gatherings in the afternoons.

Towards the northwest there are neighborhoods with Spanish names: the Chin street that remembers the owner of the parcel with the surname Echeñique. In the Trapenses area, many of the landmarks of this congregation, which for many years was in this commune before selling its land for the capital gain, are remembered. Currently, at the end of the Trapenses there is a road that connects La Dehesa with the Chicureo sector and at the end of the road El Golf de Manquehue connects it with the unpopulated area of Huechuraba.

Economy

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In 2018, the number of registered companies in Lo Barnechea was 10,072. The Economic Complexity Index (ECI) in the same year was 1.01, while the economic activities with the highest Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index were Retail Sale of Underwear and Personal Wear (42.14), Dance Instructors (27.49) and Amusement Parks and Similar Centers Activities (18.79).[6]

Demographics

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According to the 2017 census of the National Statistics Institute, Lo Barnechea spans an area of 1,023.7 km2 (395 sq mi) and has 105,833 inhabitants (50,500 men and 55,333 women). Of these, 103,134 (97.4%) lived in urban areas and 2,699 (2.6%) in rural areas. The population grew by 41.58% (31,084 persons) between the 2002 and 2017 censuses.[1] The 2024 projected population was 131,053.[7]

Administration

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Municipality

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The Municipality of Lo Barnechea is headed for the 2021-2024 period by Mayor Juan Cristóbal Lira Ibáñez (UDI), who is advised by the councilors:

  • Juana Mir Balmaceda (Evópoli)
  • Cristian Daly Dagorret (RN)
  • Michael Comber Vial (RN)
  • María Teresa Urrutia Greve (UDI)
  • Paulette Guiloff Hes (Evópoli)
  • Benjamín Errazuriz Palacios (REP)
  • Rodrigo Arellano Falcon (UDI)
  • Francisco Madrid Vera (Independent)

Parliamentary representation

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Lo Barnechea belongs to Electoral District No. 11 together with the municipalities of Las Condes, Vitacura, La Reina and Peñalolén and to the VII Senatorial District (Santiago Metropolitan Region).

It is represented in the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress for the 2022-2026 term by the following deputies:

In the Senate, Lo Barnechea is represented by Rojo Edwards (PSC), Luciano Cruz-Coke (EVOP), Manuel José Ossandón (RN), Fabiola Campillai (Ind.), and Claudia Pascual (PCCh) for the 2022-2030 term.

Architecture

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The architecture in the area of buildings is very scarce, with a few late colonial style houses located preferably in the so-called Pueblo de Lo Barnechea. As regards the commercial area, there are the shopping centers Portal La Dehesa, Espacio Urbano La Dehesa, Paseo Los Trapenses and Mall Vivo Los Trapenses. Also noteworthy is the large number of mansions and luxury homes that are established in this commune, especially in the sectors of Arrayán, Los Trapenses and La Dehesa, being these of various styles built mainly during the last twenty years and belonging to the so-called "upper class" of the country, making up one of the areas with the highest average housing prices in Chile.

In parallel to the construction of houses and luxury apartments, social housing was developed in Lo Barnechea, in addition to the processes of self-construction of the founding tenants of the town, along with their generations. For the same reason, in the commune of Lo Barnechea we can see a series of contrasts, not only architectural, but also of social character, given that in a few square meters, or crossing a street (Padre Alfredo Arteaga Barros with Comandante Malbec), neighborhoods of high socioeconomic strata can be seen, in opposition to sectors of low social strata, clearly delimited between them.

Transportation

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The commune has a low connection to the interconnected public transport of the city, consequently and being located at one end of the metropolitan area, together with Vitacura it leads the rate of motorization per capita (motor vehicles per inhabitant) in Greater Santiago. It was expected that by 2020, Lo Barnechea will have 3 stations of the Las Condes Tramway, which would give it a historic connection to the Santiago Metro, being currently one of the three communes of Greater Santiago (along with La Pintana and Lo Espejo) that does not have stations of the metropolitan railroad. However, the project was canceled by the authorities for not having the necessary subsidies for its execution.

Lo Barnechea was also part of the Transantiago feeder zone C, together with the districts of Providencia, Las Condes and Vitacura. It is currently served by units 4 and 6 of this transportation system.

There is an elevator on Cerro 18 operated by the Municipality of Lo Barnechea that connects this sector with Los Quincheros Street and the top of the hill, where the Parque de la Chilenidad is located.

Climate

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In general terms, Lo Barnechea participates in the semi-arid Mediterranean climate that affects the Metropolitan Region, characterized by a prolonged dry season and a winter season, which concentrates annual rainfall.

  • Annual rainfall 360 mm
  • Average temperature 14 °C
  • Average Maximum Temperature 22 °C
  • Average Minimum Temperature 7 °C

These climatic patterns present, in this commune, very important variations due to its condition as a foothill area, subjected to the altitude factor. It is estimated that in a mountainous environment, rainfall increases by about 22 mm every 100 m of altitude, while the temperature decreases by about 0.5 °C every 100 m. According to this, being the urban area of the town of Lo Barnechea located at 850 m a.s.l., it receives 65 mm more rainfall than in the commune of Santiago. This varies according to the size of the rural territory of the commune. In the annual distribution of rainfall, and considering the entire mountainous area, when it rains several days in a row, large flows are produced in the riverbeds, which causes flooding by accumulation and its consequent transfer according to slopes (1982-84-87). The impact was regrettable, with loss of life, interruption of activities, damage to infrastructure and equipment, due to the permanence of inhabitants on the banks of the Mapocho River.

In addition to the reality of the Mapocho River and its location, there is a natural climatic event that will have to be taken into account in planning the future population of the Commune.

Flood of 1982

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The incursion of warm winter fronts in 1982 caused a rise in the lower limit of the snowpack, from 1800 to 2400 m above sea level, generating a large increase in the volume of water and sediment runoff, resulting from the melting of snow, which caused saturation and subsequent overflow of the natural and artificial water drainage systems.

The repetition of a similar event, under the current conditions of occupation and urban expansion in Lo Barnechea, could cause even more catastrophic situations, due to the high degree of intervention and modification to which the natural system has been subjected by the construction that has taken place on increasingly higher ground.

Education

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Higher Education

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Municipal Schools

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Colegio Lo Barnechea with three campuses:

  • Eduardo Cuevas Valdes Campus (Early childhood, pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade)
  • San José Campus (Intermediate, 3rd through 6th grade)
  • Instituto Estados Americanos Campus (from 7th to 4th grade Polyvalent)

Subsidized Schools

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Private Schools

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Soccer

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Currently, Lo Barnechea is home to two soccer teams that participate in official competitions, one at the professional level and one at the amateur level.

Team Establishment Competition Stadium
  AC Barnechea 1929 Primera B Lo Barnechea Municipal Stadium
  Atlético Oriente 2020 Tercera B

Sister cities

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See also

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History
Localities
Entidades y personas

Notes

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  1. ^ Twinning since 2006.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Plantilla Censo 2017". CENSO (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Realizan el que podría ser el mayor hallazgo arqueológico en la Región Metropolitana". El Mercurio (in Spanish). 22 March 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  3. ^ "DFL 1-3260 Determina límites en la Región Metropolitana de Santiago; crea nuevas comunas, establece y describe sus límites". LeyChile. Comprende el área de la actual comuna de Las Condes ubicada al norte y oriente de: la línea de cumbres que limita por el poniente la hoya del estero Las Gualtatas, las calles Raúl Labbé y San Francisco de Asís, la avenida Las Condes y el camino a Farellones, entre el cerro Manquehue y el meridiano astronómico del cerro Arrayán Sur (cota 1202), el meridiano citado y la línea de cumbres entre el cerro Arrayán Sur y el cerro Las Lagunas, pasando por el morro Guayacán y el cerro de La Provincia. [It comprises the area of the current municipality of Las Condes located to the north and east of: the ridgeline that limits on the west the Las Gualtatas estuary, Raúl Labbé and San Francisco de Asís streets, Las Condes Avenue and the road to Farellones, between Manquehue hill and the astronomical meridian of Arrayán Sur hill (elevation 1202), the aforementioned meridian and the ridgeline between Arrayán Sur hill and Las Lagunas hill, passing through Guayacán hill and La Provincia hill.]
  4. ^ Ministerio del Interior (20 May 1991). "DFL 30-18992 DETERMINA FORMA Y TIEMPO DE CONSTITUCION DE LA MUNICIPALIDAD DE LA COMUNA DE LO BARNECHEA". LeyChile. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  5. ^ Lo Barnechea Community Development Plan
  6. ^ "ADALYTICS". adalytics.cl. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Reporte Comunal 2024: Lo Barnechea". Library of the National Congress of Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  8. ^ Colegio Diferencial
  9. ^ Colegio Farellones
  10. ^ "Colegio HUinganal".
  11. ^ "学校概要 Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine." Instituto de Enseñanza Japonesa (サンチャゴ日本人学校). Consultado el 19 de enero de 2015. "LA DEHESA 1340, LO BARNECHEA, SANTIAGO, CHILE"
  12. ^ "Interactive City Directory". Sister Cities International.

Bibliography

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  • León Echáiz, René. ÑuÑohue, Historia de Ñuñoa, Providencia, Las Condes, Vitacura y La Reina, Editorial Francisco de Aguirre, primera edición, 1972.
  • Piwonka Figueroa, Gonzalo. Las aguas de Santiago de Chile, 1541-1999.
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