Maipú, battlefield, central Chile, a few miles S of Santiago. On Apr. 5, 1818, San Martín routed the Spanish royalist army at Maipú and assured Chilean independence. The victory made possible his liberating expedition to Peru.

Maipú is a census-designated city and commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region, integrated into the Greater Santiago conurbation. It was founded on February 16, 1821 and it is the place of the Battle of Maipú (April 5, 1818), where Chile's independence was consolidated. Inhabitants are mostly part of a young middle class.

According to the 2002 census, Maipú was the second largest commune in Chile, behind Puente Alto. However, the National Statistics Institute estimates that as of 2006, Maipú has surpassed the latter in population.

Stats

• Area: 133 km²
• Population: 663,276 (2006 proyection)
• Average annual household income: US$25,817 (PPP, 2006)
• Population below poverty line: 9.1% (2006)
• Regional quality of life index: 76.67, mid-high, 21 out of 52 (2005)
• Human Development Index: 0.782, 20 out of 341 (2003)

References

External links

• Municipality homepage
• Maipú a su servicio journal