Valparaíso (redirected from Valparaíso, Chile)

Valparaíso

City (pop., 2002 est.: 262,000) and port, central Chile. It was founded by the Spanish in 1536; few of its colonial buildings have survived a succession of pirate raids, storms, fires, floods, and earthquakes. After Chilean independence in 1818, the city's port developed with the growth of the Chilean navy. In 1884 a treaty was signed there by which Bolivia ceded to Chile a coastal region containing principal nitrate deposits (see War of the Pacific). As Chile's principal seaport, it handles the bulk of the country's imports, and it is still a naval facility. It also produces chemicals and textiles. Chile's bicameral parliament, the National Congress, has been situated there since it was reestablished in 1990.

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Valparaíso 

a city on Chile’s Pacific coast. Valparaiso encircles a bay of the same name and is located along the slopes of the Coastal Cordillera Mountains. It is the administrative center of the province of Valparaiso. The megalopolis formed by Valparaiso and the nearby city of Viña del Mar is second only to Santiago in population (286,100 in 1968) and industrial importance.

Valparaiso was founded by the Spanish in 1536. In 1674 the city was surrounded with fortifications to defend it against English and Dutch pirates. During Chile’s war for independence from Spain the Spaniards, who were abandoning the city, set it on fire and destroyed it. After Valparaiso was reconstructed in 1832, it became a major South American port. During the war with Spain in March 1866 the city was heavily bombarded by a Spanish squadron. The city has suffered from frequent earthquakes (1730, 1817, 1906, and 1960). At the end of the 19th century Valparaiso became an important center for the Chilean workers’ movement. (The largest demonstrations occurred in 1874, 1892, 1931-32, and 1948.)

As Chile’s most important port, Valparaiso handles more than half the country’s imports as well as a significant portion of its exports. It is the first stop on the Valparaiso-Santiago-Buenos Aires railroad line and the center of a highway network. Ten percent of the country’s industrial workers are employed in the city in industries including foundries, chemical and mechanical plants, and ship repair plants. There is also some light industry and a food-processing industry (fish canneries, sugar refineries, vegetable oil refineries, and others). Valparaiso, picturesquely situated on the hills, was built primarily in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its lower part includes important governmental buildings, boulevards, and wide streets. Among the city’s educational institutions are a university, a polytechnic institute, and a naval academy.