Lumaco

Lumaco is a town and commune in Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of Chile. Its name in Mapudungun means "water of luma". Lumaco is located to northeast of Temuco and from Angol. It shares a boundary to the north with the communes of Purén and Los Sauces, to the east with Traiguén and Galvarino, to the south with Cholchol and Carahue in Cautin Province, and the west with Tirúa and Contulmo in the Arauco Province of the Biobío Region.

The area of Lumaco and Purén is rich in Mapuche and early Spanish archaeological sites.

Geography

The epicenter of the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the largest earthquake ever recorded in the world, was near Lumaco.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Lumaco spans an area of and has 11,405 inhabitants (6,074 men and 5,331 women). Of these, 4,132 (36.2%) lived in urban areas and 7,273 (63.8%) in rural areas. The population fell by 7% (853 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.