Tucapel | |
|---|---|
|
 Coat of arms  Location of Tucapel commune in the Bío Bío Region   Tucapel Location in Chile | |
| Coordinates (town): 37°17′S 71°57′W / 37.283°S 71.950°W | |
| Country | Chile |
| Region | Bío Bío |
| Province | Bío Bío |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Alcalde | Jaime Sergio Veloso Jara (RN) |
| Area | |
• Total | 914.9 km2 (353.2 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 331 m (1,086 ft) |
| Population (2012 Census)[3] | |
• Total | 13,427 |
| • Density | 15/km2 (38/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 8,827 |
| • Rural | 3,950 |
| Demonym | Tucapelino |
| Sex | |
| • Men | 6,403 |
| • Women | 6,374 |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (CLT[4]) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-3 (CLST[5]) |
| Area code | 56 + 43 |
| Website | Municipality of Tucapel |
Tucapel is a town and commune in the Bío Bío Province, Bío Bío Region, Chile. It was once a region of Araucanía named for the Tucapel River. The name of the region derived from the rehue and aillarehue of the Moluche people of the area between the Lebu and the Lleulleu Rivers, who were famed for their long resistance to the Spanish in the Arauco War. Tucapel is also the name of a famous leader from that region in the first resistance against the Spanish mentioned in Alonso de Ercilla's epic poem La Araucana. Formerly belonging to the Ñuble Province, in the Yungay Department. Near the town of Tucapel is the Plaza de San Diego de Tucapel. The capital of the commune is the town of Huépil, moving the municipality from Tucapel in 1967. In Mapudungun the name Huépil means "To seize or to take by force".
The main economic activities of the commune are commerce, agriculture and forestry.
- ^ "Asociación Chilena de Municipalidades" (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ "Municipality of Tucapel" (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ a b c "National Statistics Institute" (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 December 2010.
- ^ "Chile Time". WorldTimeZones.org. Archived from the original on 13 July 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
- ^ "Chile Summer Time". WorldTimeZones.org. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2010.