Valparaíso played an important geopolitical role in the second half of the 19th century when it served as a major stopover for ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Straits of Magellan.

The area experienced rapid growth during its golden age as a magnet for European immigrants, when the city was known by international sailors as "Little San Francisco" and "jewel of the Pacific".

Today, many thousands of people visit Valparaíso each month, from Chile and abroad, to enjoy the city's labyrinth of cobbled alleys and colorful buildings.

Typically held in March, in a recently-refurbished, 40,000-capacity amphitheater, "Viña" is one of the biggest annual economic boosts to the region, as the event usually sells-out completely, and thousands of attendees and workers will travel to and stay in the city and metro area.

In addition to showcasing numerous performers of many styles, and awarding various prizes, the internationally-televised and live-streamed festival is typically headlined by superstar musicians, from both the Spanish- and English-speaking worlds.

Firms such as Antony Gibbs & Sons, Duncan Fox, and Williamson-Balfour Company were doing business in the town, which had become a significant trading center by 1840, with 166 British ships, out of a total of 287, anchored in its port.

Captain David Porter, a survivor of this attack, would retire to Portersville, Indiana, and request changing the name to Valparaiso, commemorating the only naval battle he ever lost.

At 10:30 pm on the evening of 19 November 1822, Valparaíso experienced a violent earthquake that left the city in ruins; of the 16,000 residents, casualties included at least 66 adults and 12 children, as well as 110 people wounded.

On 6 June 1837, Minister Diego Portales was shot at the port outside of Baron Hill on suspicion of promoting conspirators who opposed the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, considered a turning point of Chilean public opinion and the purpose of the war.

[16] Taking advantage of the total lack of defenses, a Spanish fleet commanded by Casto Méndez Núñez bombarded the city during the Chincha Islands War in 1866.

Many immigrants settled there, mostly from Europe and North America, who helped include Valparaíso and Chile in the Industrial Revolution sweeping other parts of the world.

The lack of available land caused the city authorities and developers to reclaim low lying tidal marshland (polders) upon which to build administrative, commercial and industrial infrastructure.

The city in State of Siege.The twentieth century began with the first big protest of dockworkers, Chile on 15 April 1903, due to complaints by dockers about their excessive working hours and demands for higher wages, requests that were ignored by employers, creating a tense situation that led to serious violence on 12 May.

On 13 April 2014, a huge brush fire burned out of control, destroying 2,800 homes and killing 16 people, forcing President Michelle Bachelet to declare it a disaster zone.

[citation needed] Nicknamed "The Jewel of the Pacific", Valparaíso was declared a world heritage site based upon its improvised urban design and unique architecture.

Built upon dozens of steep hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Valparaíso has a labyrinth of streets and cobblestone alleyways, embodying a rich architectural and cultural legacy.

[30][31] As a commune, Valparaíso is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde (mayor) who is directly elected every four years.

The communal council has the following members:[1] Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Valparaíso is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Andrés Celis (RN), Hotuiti Teao (Ind./EVOP), Luis Sánchez (REP), Tomás Lagomarsino (PR), Tomás de Rementería (PS), Camila Rojas (FA), Jorge Brito (FA), and Luis Cuello (PCCh) for the 2022–2026 term, as part of the 7th electoral district, together with Juan Fernández, Isla de Pascua, Viña del Mar, Concón, Algarrobo, Cartagena, Casablanca, El Quisco, El Tabo, San Antonio, and Santo Domingo.

The Chilean Congress meets in a modern building in the Almendral section of Valparaíso, after relocation from Santiago during the last years of the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.

Although congressional activities were to be legally moved by a ruling in 1987, the newly built site only began to function as the seat of Congress during the government of Patricio Aylwin in 1990.

It extends along most of Gran Valparaíso, and is the second underground urban rail system in operation in Chile (after Santiago's), as it includes a tunnel section that crosses Viña del Mar's commercial district.

[32][37] Valparaíso's road infrastructure has been undergoing improvement, particularly with the completion of the "Curauma — Placilla — La Pólvora" freeway bypass,[38] which will allow trucks to go directly to the port facility over a modern highway and through tunnels, without driving through the historic and already congested downtown streets.

In addition, roads to link Valparaíso to San Antonio, Chile's second-largest port, and the coastal towns in between (Laguna Verde, Quintay, Algarrobo, and Isla Negra, for example), are also under construction.

The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 68 min.

The largest immigrant communities came from Britain, Germany, and Italy, each developing their own hillside neighbourhood, preserved today as National Historic Districts or "Zonas Típicas".

During the second half of the 20th century, Valparaíso experienced a great decline, as wealthy families de-gentrified the historic quarter, moving to bustling Santiago or nearby Viña del Mar.

But in the mid-1990s, a grassroots preservation movement blossomed in Valparaíso where nowadays also a vast number of murals created by graffiti artists can be viewed on the streets, alleyways and stairways.

The festival culminates with a "New Year's by the Sea" fireworks show, the biggest in all of Latin America, attended by a million tourists who fill the coastline and hillsides with a view of the bay.

A vivid guide to Valparaíso can be found in the novels of Cayetano Brule, the private detective who lives in a Victorian house in the picturesque Paseo Gervasoni in Cerro Concepción.

Riders race through the city streets tackling the steps and alleys, finding their own way through the ramps and jumps down to the "plan" (Valparaíso's "lowlands").