Paracas

Paracas is the largest city and capital of The Granadine Confederation. The city is located within the centre of the country  in a huge valley.

Paracas has about 9,450,200 people living within the city and about 12 million living in the entire metro.

Geography, Climate and Environment
The city lies in the centre of the Paracas Basin, a large bowl-shaped valley consisting of a broad and fertile plain surrounded by mountains. It is flanked by the main chain of the Cordón de Chacabuco to the east and south east.

The Urban area strechs over 1,112Km2. The basin is incredibly flat and is only interupted by a few hills.

The Maipo river runs into the basin from the high mountains, it is very polluted due to industry and agriculture that pumps wastewater, illegally into it.

To the south is the San José Volcano that rises over 5,780 Metres above the city and is active. It last erupted an estimated 600 years ago and is a threat most Paracasians ignore. Another threat are earthquakes that have shook the city since it was founded and have caused widespread destruction and this is why the city has very few old, colonial buildings.

Climate
Paracas has a Mediterranean climate woth hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.

The temperature can range from 35 degrees in the summer to about 1 degree in the winter and snowfall can occur but it is very rare.

The city has a fairly small amount of precipitation due to the huge mountains that rim the basin and protect it.

The basin also is the reason for the warmer climate as it traps in heat.

Environment


Paracas has very high levels of air and water pollution. Thermal inversion (a meteorological phenomenon whereby a stable layer of warm air holds down colder air close to the ground) causes high levels of smog and air pollution to be trapped and concentrate within the Central Valley during winter months. The amount of pollution has dropped from 2000 to 2006 but then increased slightly.

As of 2008 only 70% of the cities wastewater is treated but the Maipo river is still very polluted. The river is polluted from other sources outside the city as copper mines in the upper mountains dump waste into it causing lot's of pollution.

There are now a number of large wastewater processing and recycling plants under construction. There are ongoing plans to decontaminate the river and make it navigable.

Noise pollution is also a problem with over 1 million cars and over 10,000 busses and many other lorries and motorbikes but the local government has said that it is to replace the entire bus system with new hydrogen and LPG busses that should reduce noise and air pollution.

How ever a major source of pollution is the Santiago Copper and Aluminium smelter but because it is not within The Greater Paracas Urban Area little is being done to curb the pollution.

Administrative Divisions
The City is made up of 19 Communes. The Greater Paracas Urban Area is also split up into 24 Communes that extend over an area of 8,450Km2. There is no single government that runs the city, instead each Commune has it's own governement.

Economy
Paracas is Granadine’s financial and industrial centre with about 45% of the countries economy created within the metro area. The city has a growing urban area with large suburbs, many large shopping centres and skyscrapers.

Paracas' GDP in 2009 was $148.7 Billion, one of the highest on Montia

Due to the robust and growing economy of the Granadine Confederation many TNC’s have located regional HQ’s in the city along with many factories and other commercial buildings.

Currently the Castrama Centre is being built, the centre comprises of four towers one 330m tall and is to be fully commercial, another will become a hotel and there is two twin residential towers both 170m tall and a huge mega mall around the base of the hotel and office building.

Industry
Paracas is an industrial centre with most of the Granadine Confederation's industry located within the city.

Talagante is a major textiles area with about 500 textile factories making everything from sandals to jeans. Alameda has a paper factory and has many food processing plants that supply the city with 29% of it's food.

Other operations around the city include Copper mining, Aluminuim mining, cattle raising, gypsum and limestone quarrying and many other crops including grapes, corn and potatoes.

Transport
Paracas has an extensive transport system consisting of a Metro, Commuter Trains, Busses and over 20,000 Taxi’s

Air
Paracas is served by San Fernando Paracas International Airport it is a 20 minute drive along the San Fernando Expressway.

Rail
Paracas has a small commuter rail line that leads from the CBD to Las Condes about 96Km from the CBD within the Metro. Over 12 trains operate on the line

Metro
Paracas has one of the largest and most extensive Metro systems in Montia. It comprises of 138Km of track and 99 stations.

The system has 5 lines with another two under construction. About 3,500,000 people use it daily as it reaches 12 of the 19 most built up communes.

Bus
Transparacas is the bus system that operate in Paracas. It works by combing all public transport on one card so it makes transferring between them easy