Concepcion - City of Chile

Concepción is a city in Chile, capital of Concepción Province and of the Bío-Bío Region. Greater Concepción is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants . Individually, it is the 11th largest commune in the country, with a population of 212,003.

Concepción was founded by Pedro de Valdivia in 1550 north of the Bío-Bío River, at the site which is today known as Penco. At that time it was given the name Concepción del Nuevo Extremo. The new settlement of Concepcion was just a few kilometers north of La Frontera , the limit between the Chilean-Spanish territory and the land of the Mapuche, an ethnic group that was not subjugated until the 1870s. The settlement was formally recognized by the Spanish authorities as a city two years later by a royal decree and given its coat of arms which is still in existence today.

The city was a significant military settlement for the Kingdom of Chile but was still overrun and destroyed in 1554 and again after being reestablished in 1555 by Mapuche armies during the Arauco War in the early period of Spanish colonialism. It was recovered during the governorship of García Hurtado de Mendoza when he landed there and built a fort on the Alto de Pinto in 1557.

The new site for the city of Concepción became the head city of the Intendancy of Concepción, whose jurisdiction extended from the Maule River to La Frontera. The first Intendant of Concepción was the Irishman Ambrose O'Higgins, Marquis of Osorno, who later became Royal Governor of Chile and Viceroy of Peru.

When the First National Government Board met in Santiago on September 18, 1810, citizens of Concepción joined up. Concepcion was used as the point of entry by the Spanish Army in the attempt by the Viceroyalty of Peru to re-conquer Chile. Concepción politicians and soldiers became a significant political force in the newly-independent country.

Today Concepción is the second largest city of the country. The Universidad de Concepción, founded in 1919, and with its main campus in the city became the first private university in Chile. The neighbouring harbour of Talcahuano holds the largest naval base in the country.

To an outsider, there may be confusion between the demonyms of the inhabitants of Concepción and the nearby city of Penco. Due to the previous location of Concepción being where Penco currently stands, inhabitants of Concepción are called penquistas while inhabitants of Penco are known as pencones.

The University of Concepción , one of the Chilean Traditional Universities, is one of Chile's oldest and most prestigious universities, and one of the most important outside of the capital, Santiago. Its founder was Enrique Molina Garmendia.

The Federico Santa María Technical University , situated in Valparaíso, is one of the most reputed engineering universities in Chile.