- Talcahuano
Talcahuano is a
municipality and port city in theBio-Bio Region ofChile . It is part of theGreater Concepción conurbation.Geography
Talcahuano is located in the south of the central zone of
Chile . Together with ten other municipalities, it forms part of the Province of Concepción, which in turn is one of four provinces that forms the VIII Region or Bío-Bío Region.The municipality of Talcahuano has an area of 148.29 km² and, according to the 2002 Census, has a population of 250,348 inhabitants. With a population density of 1,873 inhabitants per square kilometre, it is the seventh most populated city of the country.
History
The official foundation date of Talcahuano is
November 5 ,1764 whenAntonio Guill y Gonzaga declared an official port. However, Talcahuano began to appear in history books as early as1544 whenGenoese captainJuan Bautista Pastene discovered the mouth of the Bio-Bío river while exploring the coast in his ships “"San Pedro"” and “"Santiaguillo"”.The city is named after an Araucanian chief, Talcahueñu, who inhabited the region at the arrival of the Spanish. In
Mapudungun , the language of the indigenousMapuche s, Talcahuano means “Thundering Sky”.The port was well known to American whaleships of the 19th century. They often put in for fresh water, food, and various forms of entertainment for the crews.
Economy
Talcahuano contains Chile's main naval base which is home of the historical relic, the "Huascár", a Peruvian
ironclad ship (British-made), which was captured in1879 during theWar of the Pacific . It is also the base of the Chilean submarine fleet and the ASMAR shipyard.Culture
ports
Talcahuano entered football history when
Ramón Unzaga Asla , a player for the local club Estrella del Mar, invented the famousbicycle kick (also known as "chilena") there in 1914.The city is home to
Club Deportivo Huachipato , a football club in Chile's , playing atEstadio Las Higueras .In literature
It featured prominently in
Miles Smeeton 's book "Once Is Enough", a sailor's classic. ["Once Is Enough", by Miles Smeeton. International Marine Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-07-141431-2]It is mentioned by the character
Charlie Marlow inJoseph Conrad 's book "Lord Jim ".External links
*http://www.talcahuano.cl
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=talcahuano+chile&t=k Satellite view of Talcahuano] (Google Maps)References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
