Santa Cruz (Chile)

Santa Cruz is a Chilean city and commune, located in the Colchagua valley, in the O'Higgins Region, located on the southern shore of the Tinguiririca river, 110 miles from Santiago, Chile's capital city and 27 miles from San Fernando.HistoryThere is no exact data about the founding of the city, although there is an official date when the city became a municipality in the year 1891, the same year that Pichilemu did.From its beginnings, the town was a center of handcrafted artifacts and agricultural development, with wheat, tomatoes, and wine being the main products of the area. Because of the relation with countryside traditions from its beginning, Santa Cruz offers an authentic look at the rural traditions of Chilean culture expressed in the wine, the food, and the traditional sports such as the rodeo.The city of Santa Cruz was among those affected by the 2010 Chile earthquake.DemographicsAccording to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Santa Cruz spans an area of 419.5sqkm and has 32,387 inhabitants (16,160 men and 16,227 women). Of these, 18,603 (57.4%) lived in urban areas and 13,784 (42.6%) in rural areas. The population grew by 10.7% (3,129 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.