According to abbreviationfinder, Valparaiso is a city in Chile and is the capital of the region and of the homonymous province.
Discovered in 1536 by the Spanish captain Don Juan de Saavedra, who arrived by land to locate one of the ships sent by Diego de Almagro on his conquest expedition. Find the caravel “Santiaguillo”, anchored in the small bay of Quintil and call the whole place “Valparaíso” in homage to Valparaíso (Valle Paraíso de Cuenca) – Spain.
Valparaíso sealed its destiny tied to the sea. It grew as a village and became important. Already in the 19th century, Valparaíso was transformed into a bustling place of economic activity, one of the main ports in the Pacific, at the obligatory stop after crossing Cape Horn and a springboard to reach the shores of North America. The city grows and is agitated, becoming a cosmopolitan and dynamic city.
Valparaíso is considered the “Jewel of the Pacific”, an open-air amphitheater with which architects, poets, painters, cartoonists, musicians and many more have fallen in love and succumb to the charms of this colorful cultural landscape.
Location
Located on the central coast of the continental territory of Chile, at 33º South latitude and 71º West Longitude. Located 120 kilometers from Santiago, it is the capital of the fifth of the twelve regions into which the country has been administratively divided.
Located facing the sea, it is not a city like any other, because the buildings go hand in hand with the dreams that gave rise to it, the streets are alive and are not only commercial transit passages or transport routes, it is a loaded city magnetism and color that was never founded but was born from its people. This Chilean city and commune is located on the Central Coast of the country’s continental territory, 92 km northwest of the city of Santiago.
Borders
The Valparaíso commune limits to the north with the Pacific Ocean, to the south with the commune of Casablanca, to the east with the communes of Quilpué and Viña del Mar and to the west also with the Pacific Ocean.
Demography
It has an area of 401.6 km² and has a population of 290,848 residents. See population of Chile.
Geography
Climate
It has a Mediterranean climate of great cloudiness with dry and warm summers and humid and temperate winters with an average annual temperature of 13 ° C (Csb) in the Köppen climatic classification influenced by the Humboldt Current which moderates the temperatures in summer and winter, causing the annual thermal amplitude to be attenuated. In July, which is the coldest month, the average temperature is 11.6 ° C, while in summer it is around 18 ° C. Temperatures very rarely exceed 30 ° C although in the city up to 36 ° C have been recorded. Rainfall is concentrated in autumn and winter, the rainiest month being July (118 mm); the total annual average of precipitations is of 472 mm. Snow has rarely occurred in the highest parts of the city. Valparaíso is also characterized by strong winds that during winter can produce thermal sensations below the freezing point. The climate of Valparaíso resembles that of San Francisco in the state of California, United States, at a similar latitude in the northern hemisphere.
Climate
Regarding its climate and geography, the region is characterized by steppe climates with abundant cloudiness, warm temperate with winter rains, temperate steppe with winter precipitation, cold mountain steppe and high mountain tundra. The average annual temperature is 14 degrees C °.
In the month of January, the minimum temperatures range between 13 ° C and 18 ° C, while the maximum temperatures range between 20 ° C and 26 ° C, very rarely the temperature exceeds 30 ° C, although in the city it is have recorded temperatures of up to 34 ° C. In the month of July, the minimum temperatures vary between 6 ° C and 10 ° C, while the maximums vary between 11 ° C and 16 ° C, with temperatures below 5 ° C being very rarely seen. The precipitations fall mainly in autumn and winter, being the wettest month July (112 mm); the total average annual rainfall is 372mm.7
Economic activity
Its economic activities include food processing, clothing and the manufacture of fabrics, petrochemical, metallurgical and leather products.
In the region, the industrial sector stands out with various activities: Tobacco, canned food, automotive and cement. Mining refineries in Las Ventanas and Catemu, and oil in Concón.
In agriculture, crops of vines, avocados, custard apples, vegetables and flowers. In the commercial sector, hotels and gastronomic establishments, those that together make a tourist panorama that offers casino games, racetrack, song festivals, handicrafts in fabrics (Valle Hermoso and La Ligua and the typical one from Easter Island). Port activity is one of the most important in the country. There are also copper deposits in Río Blanco.
Education
It is a university city, it has a large number of higher education centers in the city. In the city there are the most important universities in Chile, such as the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, Federico Santa María Technical University. This last university is visible from a large part of the city, as it is located on the front of Cerro Placeres, and has a characteristic Gothic and Tudor Renaissance style construction. Other important universities in the city are the University of Valparaíso (the only one that teaches medicine and dentistry in the region) and the University of Playa Ancha, with a long tradition in teaching careers.
The primary and secondary education of Valparaíso has several schools, such as the Liceo Eduardo de la Barray and the Colegio Salesiano de Valparaíso. The latter owns one of the or the oldest war and instrumental band in Chile founded in 1896. It was the cradle of multiple private schools founded by the European colonies, such as the Colegio Alemán, the Alliance Française and the Scuola Italiana.
