San Miguel, Chile

San Miguel (Spanish for "Saint Michael") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on August 10, 1896.

San Miguel
City and commune
City Hall
Coat of arms Map of the San Miguel commune within Greater Santiago San Miguel Location in Chile
Coordinates (alcalde's office): 33°29′09″S 70°38′58″W
Country	Chile
Region	Santiago Metro.
Province	Santiago
Founded	10 August 1896
Government [1][2]
• Type	Municipality
• Alcalde	Carol Bown (UDI)
Area [3]
• Total	9.5 km2 (3.7 sq mi)
	As of 2002 Census
Population  (2017 projection)[3]
• Total	107,954
• Density	11,000/km2 (29,000/sq mi)
• Urban	107,954
• Rural	0
Demonym	Sanmiguelino
Sex [3]
• Men	37,836
• Women	41,036
Time zone	UTC-4 (CLT[4])
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (CLST[5])
Area code	56 +
Website	Municipality of San Miguel

El Llano

Barros Luco Hospital

History

The history of San Miguel dates back to the 16th century when Gaspar Banda, assistant to the conquistador Diego de Almagro, created a hermitage to Saint Michael the Archangel in this territory in 1575. In 1881, the Iglesia de San Miguel Arcángel was built on the same site as the 1575 hermitage.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the place emerged as an agricultural area, with wheat, barley and wine plantations. The land was owned by Bernardo O'Higgins, liberator and father of the Chilean nation, who used it as his vacation home.

Ramón Subercaseaux brought wine strains directly from Bordeaux, France, and his wines acquired international prestige, notably at the Exposition Universelle of 1889 in Paris. His 1840 house is still preserved as a cultural center and is open to the public.

The commune of San Miguel was founded on August 10, 1896. At the beginning of the 20th century, the area began to be urbanized in the style of a European garden city, with large mansions, parks, squares and many trees in the streets. In later years, development followed a more middle-class urban style.

In the civic square in front of the city hall, a statue of José Miguel Carrera. The statue was designed by Auguste Dumont, the same sculptor who made the statue of Napoleon on the Vendôme Column in Paris.

Administration

As a commune, San Miguel is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The alcalde's office (alcaldía) is located at Gran Avenida No. 3418. The 2024–2028 alcalde is Carol Bown Sepúlveda (UDI). The communal council has the following members:

• Luis Sanhueza Bravo (RN)
• Felipe Guevara Stephens (RN)
• Claudia Rojas Miranda (UDI)
• Eva Merino Garcés (REP)
• Claudio Escobar Oyarzún (Ind)
• Gabriel Zúñiga Aravena (PS)
• Viviana Llambias Miranda (FA)
• Carla Santana Bustamante (PC)

San Miguel belongs to the 28th electoral division (together with Pedro Aguirre Cerda and Lo Espejo) and the 8th senatorial constituency (Santiago East). It is represented in the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress by the deputies Guillermo Teillier del Valle (PCCh) and Pedro Browne Urrejola (RN). It is represented in the Senate by senators Soledad Alvear (PDC) and Pablo Longueira (UDI).

Demographics

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, San Miguel spans an area of 9.5 km² (4 sq mi) and has 78,872 inhabitants (37,836 men and 41,036 women), and the commune is an entirely urban area. The population fell by 4.8% (3997 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.^[3] The demonym for a person from San Miguel is sanmiguelino for a man or sanmiguelina for a woman.

Statistics

• Average annual household income: US$39,670 (PPP, 2006)^{[6][failed verification]}
• Population below poverty line: 2.5% (2006)^[7]
• Regional quality of life index: 82.17, high, 6 out of 52 (2005)^{[citation needed]}
• Human Development Index: 0.765, 31 out of 341 (2003)^[8]

Notable sanmiguelinos

• Los Prisioneros
• Gepe
• Paulina Urrutia
• Ruben Palma
• Themo Lobos
• Francisco Dominguez
• Daniela Vega

José Miguel Carrera Ave.