Freire, Chile

Freire is a Chilean town and commune in Cautín Province, Araucanía Region.

According to the 2017 census of Population and Housing by the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas or INE) Freire had 25,514 inhabitants; of these, 10,979 (38.9%) lived in urban areas and 20,531 (92.1%) in rural areas.

[2] As a commune, Freire is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years.

The 2021-2025 alcalde is Luis Armando Arias Lopez, and the council has the following members:[1] Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Freire is represented in the Chamber of Deputies as a part of the 23rd electoral district (together with Cholchol, Temuco, Padre Las Casas, Nueva Imperial, Carahue, Cunco, Puerto Saavedra, Teodoro Schmidt, Pitrufquén, Nueva Toltén, Gorbea, Loncoche, Villarrica, Pucón, Curarrehue).

The commune is represented in the Senate as part of the 11th senatorial constituency (Araucanía-South).