CONCEPCIN

city, north-central Paraguay. It lies on the east bank of the Paraguay River. Founded in 1773 and one of Paraguay's 10 largest cities, Concepcin is the base of operations for the entire Chaco Boreal region of Paraguay. It is a transportation hub from which roads run in several directions; the General-Bernadino Caballero highway extends to Pedro Juan Caballero and to Brazil. The navigable Paraguay River creates commercial shipping activity in the city's port. The city contains sawmills, flour mills, cotton gins, sugar and castor-oil refineries, and tanneries that process hides from cattle raised in the region. Concepcin is also a free port for trade with Brazil. As seat of the bishop of the Chaco, it is a religious centre and has a Catholic Salesian school and church. Concepcin has a small airport. Pop. (1992 prelim.) 35,485. in full Concepcin De La Madre Santsima De La Luz, capital of Concepcin provincia and of Bo-Bo regin, south-central Chile. Concepcin lies near the mouth of the Bo-Bo River. Chile's second largest city, it was founded in 1550 on the site of what is now Penco and was shortly afterward burned twice by Araucanian Indians. It was struck by numerous earthquakes, two of them followed by tidal waves (1730, 1751), and in 1754 it was moved inland to its present site, 6 miles (10 km) from the river's mouth and 43 feet (13 m) above sea level. Despite frequent earthquakes, Concepcin has become a major commercial and industrial centre, its other geographic assets aiding its development. Concepcin Bay, to the north, is large and protected; and the Bo-Bo River provides a corridor through the coastal mountains to a valley region where agricultural and forest industries are well developed. The river's volume and hydroelectric potential are ample for the region's foreseeable requirements. Most of Chile's coal is mined near the city. The railway serving the major mines ends in Concepcin, as do the railways that follow the Bo-Bo and Itata rivers into the interior. The Itata railway links the industrial and resort towns on the eastern shore of Concepcin Bay, while a local railway serving the southwestern side of the bay joins the outport of Talcahuano (q.v.), Huachipato, and San Vicente with Concepcin. San Vicente is both a resort and a source of fresh and preserved seafood for Santiago, the nation's capital, 260 miles (420 km) northeast. The Huachipato steel mill (operational since 1950), a petroleum refinery (1966), and the San Vicente chemical complex (established in the early 1970s) were major additions to Concepcin's industries, which include textiles, food processing, woodworking, glassmaking, and brewing. South of the river is a paper factory, and upstream is a cotton mill. Concepcin is an episcopal see and the seat of an appellate court and has a university founded in 1919. Pop. (1993 est.) mun., 318,140.