- Valparaiso
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/val'peuh ruy"zoh, -soh/, n.1. Spanish, Valparaíso /bahl'pah rddah ee"saw/. a seaport in central Chile. 248,972.2. a city in NW Indiana. 22,247.
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City (pop., 2002 est.: 262,000) and port, central Chile.It was founded by the Spanish in 1536; few of its colonial buildings have survived a succession of pirate raids, storms, fires, floods, and earthquakes. After Chilean independence in 1818, the city's port developed with the growth of the Chilean navy. In 1884 a treaty was signed there by which Bolivia ceded to Chile a coastal region containing principal nitrate deposits (see War of the Pacific). As Chile's principal seaport, it handles the bulk of the country's imports, and it is still a naval facility. It also produces chemicals and textiles. Chile's bicameral parliament, the National Congress, has been situated there since it was reestablished in 1990.* * *
city, seat of Porter county, northwestern Indiana, U.S. It lies just east-southeast of Gary. Laid out in 1836 as the county seat, it was first called Portersville but was renamed the following year for Valparaíso, Chile. It was originally a point on the old Sauk Trail, which was a thoroughfare for Sauk Indians traveling to Detroit to engage in the fur trade and later to collect annuities from the British for services in the War of 1812. Valparaiso is situated in a dairy and popcorn-seed-growing area. Its manufactures include magnets, steel products, packaging products, fire-protection equipment, and food-processing machinery. It is the site of Valparaiso University (1859; Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod) and the university's Brauer Museum of Art. Pines Peak Ski Area, Indiana Dunes State Park, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and Flint Lake are nearby. Inc. 1865. Pop. (2000) 27,428; (2005 est.) 29,102.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
