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Valparaíso is located near the center of Chile at latitude 33° 01´S, longitude 71° 38´W, two hours by highway from the capital Santiago.
The Chilean Congress is located here, having been moved from Santiago de Chile during the last years of the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. Although It was moved by an act of 1987, It was not until the first democratic government of Patricio Aylwin in 1990 that began to function as the seat of Congress.
Valparaíso's bay was populated by the Changos, an old ethnic group dedicated to fishing and farming. Spaniards arrived to Valparaíso 1536, with a ship (Santiaguillo) sent by Diego de Almagro, discoverer of Chile. The captain of this ship was Juan de Saavedra and it carried men and groceries for Almagro's expedition.
During colonial time, Valparaíso remained as a little village with only a few houses and church. But after Chilean Indepedence, Valparaíso became the first Chilean fleet harbour and there was opened to free trade. So, it turned into the most important harbour in Southern Pacific. It was an obligatory scale during the cross between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean via the Strait of Magellan and Cape HornCape Horn is often said to be the southernmost point of South America. It is located in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. The southernmost point on the mainland is Cape Froward. The cape was first rounded on January 26, 1616 by a Dutch expedition of Wille.
During the golden age, Valparaíso received many immigrants. The most important colonies were from Britain, Germany and Italy. Also there were many other people from other European country. German, French, Italian and English were commonly spoken and newspapers in these languages were published.
The influence of all the colonies was important. Football was introduced in Chile by English people, the two first private schools were founded (The Mackay School and Deutsche Schule), they created and joined many firemen companies (voluntary activity in Chile), and the buildings reflected the european tendences.
The golden age of Valparaíso ended a few years after the inaguration of the Panama CanalThe Panama Canal is a large canal, 51 miles (82 kilometers) long, that cuts through the isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Because of the S shape of Panama, the Atlantic lies to the west of the canal and the Pacific to the east: ships did not favor the Strait of Magellan anymore and the harbour's movement came down.
Today Valparaíso is one of the most important Chilean harbours, and the Gran Valparaíso, ChileThe Gran Valparaiso (Great Valparaiso) is the third largest Conurbation in Chile, after Santiago and the Gran Concepcion. It takes this name after the city of Valparaiso, the oldest city of the group and the most important harbour in Chile. The aglomerati (including Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Quilpué and Villa Alemana , whose naturally joined together as they grew) is third biggest population concentration in the country.
In 2003 Valparaíso was declared a World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain range, lake, desert, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated for the international World Heritage program administered by UNESCO. The program aims to catalogue, name,, due of his historical importance, natural beauty, particular architecture and urbanisation.
Valparaíso's newspaper, El Mercurio de Valparaíso , is the oldest spanish-written newspaper still in circulation.
The city has second biggest university concentration of the nation. It's home of four traditional high studies houses:
Valparaíso is the birthplace of many Chilean historical persons such as Augusto Pinochet and Salvador AllendeSalvador Allende Gossens (pronounced, SAMPA: [salvaDor aj\EndE]; IPA: salado aεnde) ( July 26, 1908 September 11, 1973) was president of Chile from 1970 until 1973, when he was overthrown in a military coup d'etat (see Chilean coup of 1973), durin. It has also been the residence of many artists like Pablo NerudaPablo Neruda ( July 12, 1904 September 23, 1973), Chilean poet, considered one of the most important Latin American literary figures of the 20th century. His real name was Neftali Reyes Basoalto (in full, Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto . He used t and Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío.