Coyhaique

Coyhaique (Spanish pronunciation: [koˈʝajke]), 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.