Vina del Mar - City of Chile

Viña del Mar is a Chilean commune and coastal city in Valparaíso Province, Valparaíso Region. With a population of 286,931 , it makes Chile's fourth largest city. It is also part of the Greater Valparaíso area, the country's second largest conurbation , which includes nearby Valparaíso and other cities.

Viña del Mar is best known as a tourist and beach destination . One of its key attractions are a gambling casino and a yearly music festival, Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar that is hosted in the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater. The city also hosts a yearly ATP clay-court tennis tournament .

The valley where Viña del Mar was founded was known as the valley of Peuco by the Changos, native inhabitants of the area dedicated to fishing. With the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores the valley was divided into two large haciendas. North of the Marga Marga creek up to the current location of Reñaca, Viña del Mar, and to the south up to the current Cerro Barón , the Hacienda Las Siete Hermanas .

Francisco Javier Álvarez authorized the construction of a railroad through his lands to join Santiago and the port of Valparaíso. The arrival of the railroad brought a young engineer Jose Francisco Vergara who married Francisco Javier Álvarez’s granddaughter, Mercedes Álvarez. It was José Francisco Vergara who instigated the idea of the creation of a new city independent of Valparaíso. Finally on May 30, 1878 the Chilean government authorized the creation of the new city of Viña del Mar.

Viña del Mar was one of the four host cities of the 1962 football World Cup. It is now home to CD Everton, a soccer team in the Chilean Premier division, which took its name from the English team.

The city has benefitted from major investments in infrastructure that have greatly improved the traffic flow in the downtown area, especially in routes connecting Viña del Mar with Santiago, Valparaíso and Quilpue. A modern and efficient subway connects Viña del Mar with the cities of Limache and Valparaiso, following the original railroad tracks between Valparaiso and Santiago.

Several educational institutions are located in the city such as Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and the School of Architecture of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, PUCV both located in the beach-suburb of Recreo. The PUCV's Faculty of Education is located in Sausalito near the lagoon of the same name. Also, the Universidad de Valparaiso has campuses in the city such as the one housing faculties of Marine Sciences and Engineering. The Universidad de Viña del Mar, a private university, has a number of campuses across the city. There is also the most prestigious University in Latin America 'Federico Santa Maria Technical University' Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria located in Valparaiso city and one of the Campus 'Jose Miguel Carrera' located in Viña del Mar.

There is a number of private secondary schools, such as Liceo Parroquial San Antonio, The Mackay School, Colegio Sagrados Corazones , Colegio Hebreo (Hebrew School) Colegio Seminario San Rafael and The Pan-American College, the latter in the suburb of Miraflores Bajo.

The Chilean Navy also operates several technical schools and a planetarium in Las Salinas, at the northwest edge of the city.