Temuco has recently been regarded as a university city as it houses two large universities: University of the Frontier and Temuco Catholic University. Both species are characterized by their orange-reddish bark and by having aromatic fruits and leaves which are commonly used by the Mapuche for medicinal purposes.
The blend between the words " temu " and " co " water , probably reflects the fact that these trees frequently grow beside water bodies. Manuel Recabarren , in charge of the project, named the place Fuerte Fort Recabarren.
Formed as a military encampment, Temuco had in its origins the attributes of a camp, and a year after its founding, the first major streets started to form in the downtown area. The city grew quickly; a census in indicated a population of 7, people, and when Cautin was declared a province, Temuco became its capital, with its population by that time of 16, people. Chilean poetry has deep roots in Temuco. Mistral was the principal of an all-girls school where Neruda would visit her and show her his first verses when he was around 15 years old.
Though landlocked Temuco avoided the tsunamis the earthquake caused, many very strong aftershocks throughout the country followed, including a 7. According to the census by the National Statistics Institute INE , Temuco had a communal population of , , men and , women. Of these, , The population grew by One of the distinctive features of Temuco is the strong presence of the Mapuche culture, who make up Temuco proper has a population of , The locals are called temuquenses.
Most inhabitants are of different origins. Temuco has a high percentage being of Basque ancestry other than Castilian and other Spanish nationalities. The main sources are from Switzerland, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the [lUnited Kingdom and other less numerous in many other parts of Europe such as Netherlands, Austria, Croatia , Armenia , Greece, [Portugal and others arrived after that first migration, especially during the World Wars, the Spanish Civil War s a large percentage being Aragonese , Asturians , Catalans , Galicians , Navarrese and Basques; reaching a significant number of immigrants from Europe mainly Germany and Spain.
