late colonial times Corral became not only the main port of entrance to the interior of Valdivia but also of Osorno that was founded in 1796. Hydraulic sawmills were built in Corral in 1847–1848, various other hydraulic sawmills where established around Valdivia in the 1840s. Decline The economic activity of Corral suffered several setbacks in the 20th century that led it to become a minor port by international and Chilean standards. The Panama Canal opened in 1914, and Valdivia and Osorno became connected to central Chile by train in 1906 and 1905 respectively. This changed the trade and human traffic circuits in the region, resulting in Corral losing most of the international traffic that anchored there, but also of the Chilean goods and human traffic that was diverted by the railroads. In 1910 after a huge investment Altos Hornos y Acerías de Corral opened in Corral the largest steel mill at that time in South America. It produced high-cost pig iron using charcoal, and was labour-intensive. The steel mill proved to be an economical failure and was finally closed in 1958. Corral was for a while an important whaling port. The outbreak of the First World War disrupted whaling as it was not possible to import supplies needed, but whaling resumed afterwards. Whaling in Chile declined dramatically in the 1960s and ended altogether in 1983. Remnants of whaling infrastructure are still visible on land. The decline of Corral culminated with the 1960 Valdivia earthquake that destroyed houses, roads and port facilities. Currently (2015), there is only one pier and it is privately owned by a local company and used for shipping wood chips. The maximum permissible draught is 12.20 metres. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Corral spans an area of and has 5,463 inhabitants (2,864 men and 2,599 women). Of these, 3,670 (67.2%) lived in urban areas and 1,793 (32.8%) in rural areas. The population fell by 5.2% (302 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. Administration As a commune, Corral 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 2008–2012 alcalde is Gaston Peréz González (ILE). Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Corral is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Alfonso De Urresti (PS) and Roberto Delmastro (RN) as part of the 53rd electoral district, together with