Coyhaique
Coyhaique, also spelled Coihaique in Patagonia, is the capital city of both the Coyhaique Province and the Aysén Region of Chile. Founded by settlers in 1929, it is a young city. Until the twentieth century, Chile showed little interest in exploiting the remote Aisén region. It lies east of the Andes mountain range, in Chilean Patagonia, at an average altitude of 310 m above sea level, at the confluence of the Simpson and Coyhaique rivers.
The city was founded on October 12, 1929 under the name Baquedano, in honor of the Chilean general Manuel Baquedano. Its name was changed to the current one in 1934 to distinguish it from another locality of the same name in the Antofagasta Region. Its establishment aimed to facilitate the colonization of the area, as well as to support the operations of the Sociedad Industrial de Aysén, which had maintained its facilities in the locality since 1906—currently protected as a National Historic Monument.
Shortly after its founding, the city experienced rapid growth, becoming a municipality in 1948 and the regional capital in 1974, within the framework of the regionalization process promoted by the military dictatorship.
Its communal territory covers more than 7,000 km² and includes the localities of Balmaceda, El Blanco, Villa Ortega, Villa Frei, Valle Simpson, Alto Baguales, Ñirehuao, and Lago Largo, among others. Within its urban area are located the headquarters of the Regional Government of Aysén and the regional council, the Regional Presidential Delegate, the Court of Appeals, as well as the corresponding regional ministerial secretariats and the main public services.
The city is connected to the rest of the region by various roads, mainly the Carretera Austral, opened in the 1980s—and to the rest of Chile via Balmaceda Airport, which handles almost all of Aysén’s air traffic.
Etymology
The name Coyhaique corresponds to the Spanish adaptation of a term in the Aonikenk or Tehuelche language, derived from qoj and ajke, meaning “camp by the lagoon.” This name originally referred to several places and was assigned to this one by non-Indigenous explorers.For many years, the city’s official name was written with an “i”, but the form Coyhaique continued to be preferred by local authorities and residents, as is also the case with Aisén/Aysén. In the mid-2000s, the orthography used by the Military Geographic Institute was changed, officially establishing the spelling Coyhaique.
History
Occupation of the territory
At the end of the 19th century, the occupation of the area began by Chileans who arrived mainly from two origins. On one hand, settlers came from Araucanía, via Argentine Patagonia, to the valleys of the Aysén, Simpson, and Cisnes rivers, and to the Lake General Carrera basin. On the other hand, many colonizers of the maritime coast and the Guaitecas Islands came from the Chiloé Archipelago. At the dawn of the 20th century, larger-scale economic activities began, led by livestock companies, which allowed the region to be permanently settled.The first recorded visit to the area that today constitutes the city of Coyhaique corresponds to Captain Enrique Simpson Baeza, who on December 19, 1872, observed part of the area after navigating up the Aysén River for eighty days as part of his third hydrographic expedition.
As part of the colonization process promoted by the Chilean state following the 1902 Arbitral Award, issued by British King Edward VII to set the border with the Argentine Republic, the occupation and settlement of the territory through private initiative was encouraged by leasing large tracts of land. Thus, in 1903, the valleys of the Coyhaique, Mañihuales, and Ñirehuao rivers were granted on a twenty-year concession to Luis Aguirre, a resident of Punta Arenas. He later transferred his rights to the Sociedad Industrial de Aysén, an entity formed by Magellanic capitalists led by Mauricio Braun.
Shortly after acquiring the land, clearing began for livestock use, a process that involved slash-and-burn or forest fires over vast areas of native forest, in some cases lasting years. In 1906, the company established its main facilities at a place known as “Pampa del Corral”, at the confluence of the Simpson and Coyhaique rivers, several of which are now protected as a historical monument. The site was strategically located, with overland connections to Puerto Aysén and the settlement of Balmaceda.
As part of its obligations, the S.I.A. was required to build works such as roads and to settle one hundred immigrants of Saxon origin in the territory. However, despite its economic successes, the company failed to fulfill this commitment. During the same period, many private individuals—known as free settlers—occupied parts of the lands leased by the company, mainly in the Simpson River Valley.
In the early 1920s, the Chilean state, prompted by figures such as diplomat and poet Víctor Domingo Silva—set aside its initial disinterest and intervened more decisively in the area, creating the Territory of Aysén in 1927, with its capital in Puerto Aysén. Shortly thereafter, in 1928, at the initiative of Intendant Luis Marchant González, the establishment of the town of Baquedano was ordered. The founding ceremony took place on October 12, 1929, although the settlement was effectively consolidated later.
Creation of Balmaceda
The establishment of an urban center in the central zone of the territory enabled rapid growth, eventually eclipsing the town of Balmaceda and, at the same time, creating an urban base in the region’s main livestock area. By the mid-1930s, the large leasing companies began to withdraw, as did spontaneous individual colonization, allowing the development of the new city. From then on, state action to settle population and invest in public works became dominant, a situation that continues in the Aysén Region to this day.The 1940 Chilean census recorded more than 4,000 inhabitants in the Coyhaique delegation—compared to 5,790 in the Puerto Aysén delegation. This sustained growth allowed for the establishment of the municipality, which was formalized on July 1, 1947. Later, in 1959, Law No. 13,375 created the Department of Coyhaique, at a time when the city had already surpassed the port as the region’s main population center.
In the 1970s, coinciding with the crisis in livestock farming, economic activity came to depend largely on public investment, with urban areas becoming the center and engine of regional activity. On May 21, 1971, television arrived in the city with the opening of Channel 8 of Televisión Nacional de Chile, initially an independent station that later formed a small regional network.
Regional capital
In 1974, as part of the administrative reorganization initiated by the military dictatorship following the coup d’état, the regional capital was transferred from Puerto Aysén to Coyhaique. Likewise, in 1976, Augusto Pinochet Ugarte and the Chilean Army strongly promoted the construction of the Carretera Austral, which significantly created, improved, and developed the region’s road connectivity, allowing for the first time—overland access for many families across much of the area.At the beginning of the 21st century, the city is seen to have grown steadily, while its isolation from the rest of Chile has been substantially reduced. Partly due to perceived neglect by the government in Santiago and the high cost of living resulting from ongoing connectivity problems, a series of protests occurred in February 2012, disrupting the city’s usual tranquility.
Geography
The commune of Coyhaique spans an area of. It is surrounded by rivers and by mountains. The mountains may be snow-covered throughout the year, thus Coihaique is sometimes called the city of eternal snow.Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, Coyhaique has an oceanic climate, though it is considerably less wet than coastal settlements like Puerto Montt or Puerto Aysén since the coastal mountains provide considerable shielding from the westerly winds. Temperatures are moderate during the months of November through April, while from May until October, temperatures are chilly and accompanied by the possibility of snowfall.Demographics
According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Coyhaique has 50,041 inhabitants. Of these, 44,850 lived in urban areas and 5,191 in rural areas. The population grew by 15.6% between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.Administration
As a commune, Coyhaique 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 2012-2016 alcalde is Alejandro Huala Canumán. He was preceded by Omar Muñoz Sierra from 2008 to 2012 and David Sandoval Plaza, who served from 2000 to 2008.Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Coyhaique is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by René Alinco and the former mayor David Sandoval as part of the 59th electoral district, which includes the entire Aysén Region. The commune is represented in the Senate by Antonio Horvath Kiss and Patricio Walker Prieto as part of the 18th senatorial constituency.