Note: For those will will take the Peruvian Inca Tours you may want to read this brief history. More detail and the geography will be added later. Click here: The Inkas
Chile's Geography & History
When describing Chile's geography, writers have used the adjectives of “string bean” or “long narrow” country squeezed between the Andes and the Atlantic Ocean. I prefer long and narrow as it sounds more elegant.
Chile's 2,880 mile (4630 Km) coast stretches from Arica in the north to Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) in the south before ending in the frigid waters of Antarctica. From the coast to the Andes its width is no more than 110 miles wide.
Officially, Chile is divided into 13 Administrative Regions with the capital, Santiago, being the 13th. The 13 regions with their regional capitals are:
I Tarapacá-------------------------Iquique
II Antofagasta----------------------Antofagasta
III Atacama--------------------------Copiapó
IV Coquimbo-------------------------La Serena
V Valparaíso-----------------------Valparaíso
VI LibertadorGeneral O'Higgins------Rancagua
VII Maule----------------------------Talca
VIII Bío Bío--------------------------Concepcíon
IX Araucanía------------------------Temuco
X Los Lagos------------------------Puerto Montt
XI Aisén----------------------------Coihaique
XII Magallanes y Antátida Chilena----Punta Arenas
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My Favorites:
I will use the older more romantic divisions (at least in Spanish)as follows:
Norte Grande--------------Far North
Norte Chico---------------Small North
Valle Central-------------Central Valley
Araucania-----------------Lake District
Patagonia-----------------Patagonia
Tierra del Fuego----------Land of Fire
Chile Before Columbus
Chile’s history begins thousands of years ago with indigenous groups that finally settled in various parts of the country.
In the dry desert geography of the Norte Grande an early culture inhabited the coast as fishing villages. They were best known for the practice of mummifying their dead more than 2,000 years before the Egyptians. We know about the Chinchorro Culture because the dry desert preserved this archeological history for us.
Likewise, another group, the Atacameno Culture is more commonly known in English as the San Pedro Culture. Today the town of San Pedro de Atacama has an outstanding museum, the Museo Arqueologico Gustavo Le Paige. This salt-flat oasis was a major stop on the trading route for the llama herders of the Altiplano (high basin) and the coastal fishing villages.
In the Norte Chico and the Central Valley there were other groups like the El Molle, Las Animas and the Diaguita cultures which left their imprint in these regions. But the most important group for us and present day Chile are the Mapuches. They played and continue to play an important part of Chile’s history. We will mention more about them in a few minutes.
There is one more group that influenced northern Chile but for a period of not more than 70-90 years. These were the Incas who extended their influence from what is now Peru down to the Central Valley. As you will see their control ended because of their own civil war and the new visitors to the New World.
The Spanish Arrive
The Spanish led by Francisco Pizarro made history with his small group of 189 soldiers by conquering the Incas near their capital of Cuzco. The year was 1532 AD.
Chile’s Spanish history begins with Diego de Almagro who set out from Cuzco with 400 men to find the gold and silver that the Incas said was to be found in the land to the south. Unfortunately, for Diego and his men they found none of the riches that they expected. The harsh geography of the desert north took its toll. After extreme hardship and no gold they returned to Cuzco more than a year later. There Diego fought with Francisco Pizarro and was killed by Pizarro’s brothers.
The man who played a more important part in Chile’s history was a trusted officer of Pizarro’s and he was given an official license to colonize Chile. Because Diego de Almagro’s experience was a disaster, Pedro de Valdivia left Cuzco with only 10 fellow Spaniards, a group of native porters and his mistress, Ines Suarez. This was 1540. Finding another 150 men on the way, they arrived in the Central Valley reaching the Río Mapocho (Mapocho River) on February 12, 1541. It was here that Pedro founded Santiago de la Nueva Extremadura, now simply Santiago.
What Pedro and his men found was a very fertile valley which they hoped would provide another type of fortune for them. The problem was keeping this new found land. To farm the land they would need slaves but the Mapuches that they found also occupying the land had other ideas. After many battles and massive insurrections starting in 1553 led to Valdivia’s death in that same year. It was not until 1683 when slavery was abolished did the Europeans and the Mapuches cautiously co-exist. And for many years the Río BíoBío formed the boundry between them and was called La Frontera.
Independence From Spain
The next important page of history was written when the criollos, or those born in Chile became more and more upset with the officials sent from Spain, penisulares, to govern them. As the power and rulers changed in Europe there was a growing call for independence throughout Latin America. On September 18, 1810 a group of criollos met in Santiago to form a "junta" and declare their support for King Ferdinand but also "proclaimed Chile an autonomous republic within the Spanish monarchy." September 18th became Chile’s Independence Day and is now called Fiestas Patrias. I prefer to call it "El Dieziocho" or 18th in Spanish.
When Spain was able to again concentrate on South America it sent more troops to show the "Junta" and the Criollos that Spain was back in control. Not wanting to give control back to Spain, the "Junta" lead by Bernardo O’Higgins continued the struggle for independence but were defeated in 1817 and O’Higgins and his remaining army fled to Argentina. Fortunately, Argentina had just defeated the Spanish and their hero José de San Martín was now willing to help O’Higgins.
Geography now plays a part as the Spanish did not plan on O’Higgins and his army to cross the snow covered Andes to attack them. The Spanish likewise did not expect that he would be joined by José de San Martín and his army. Although crossing the Andes was very difficult the Spanish were finally defeated on March19, 1818 at the historic Battle of Maipú.
The War of the Pacific
Up until 1879 Chile’s northern border was a line from the coast to the Andes mountains just north of what is today the city of Chanaral. This was about to change as the Chileans realized the value of the Atacama Desert to the north. Because the Atacama is the driest desert in the world why would anyone be interested in it. Little did they know what really was hidden below the salt flats and desert sand. (See Copper below)
At this time in history nitrate deposits and silver brought business men and miners to the area. The nitrate from the bird droppings along the coast was used to make fertilizers which were in high demand in Europe and North America. Even though the land was recognized as belonging to Bolivia it was Chilean business interests and money that ran the main nitrate operations around Antofagasta up to land claimed by Peru near Iquique and Arica. When Bolivia disregarded its export tariff agreement with Chile and raised the fees, Chile decided to take action to protect its interests. This armed conflict is known as the War of the Pacific.
The war of Chile against Bolivia and Peru was at first a naval battle where Chile finally won by capturing Peru’s most important ironclad ship called the "Huáscar" which is now a museum in the port of Talcahuno near Concepción. It may be of interest that Bolivia did not have a navy at this time. With Chile controlling the Pacific waters the land fighting took on more importance but with a similar out come. When the Peruvians finally surrendered on the Moro de Arica the war was all but over. Some of the Chileans were very happy with their victories but others want Peru to pay the price and pay the price they did. In January 1881 The Chileans entered Lima and occupied the capital. The official surrender was not until 1883 but Chile’s fortunes had now changed, literally. Bolivia on the other hand lost its coast became landlocked. It also lost very valuable land that will be mentioned in the next paragraph. Peru lost valuable land along with its pride and its role a regional power.
Copper, the New King
Nitrate remained important until the first World War when synthetic nitrate was developed, but it played an important part in the economy and politics for many years. If nitrate was king until the early 1900s copper became the new King and remains very important until today. Lying beneath the Atacama desert new mineral riches were found and it was mainly copper. For those who bought or sold copper the name Chuquicamata would become a "household name" so to speak. This huge open pit mine became one of the largest in the world and still produces copper ore today. Southeast of the port city of Antofagasta a new mine, Mina la Escondida (the Hidden Mine) has become as important as Chuquicamata.
Governments Rise and Fall - 1920s to 1960s
As the price of copper on the world market rose and fell so did the politics and presidents of the country. Again geography was having its influence felt everywhere. From the 1920s until the early 1960s the governments, the president and congress would fight for power and the military played its part as we wll see again in the 1970s. Some famous names and flamboyant personalities marked this period. School boys and girls would memorize the names Arturo Alessandri Palma, General Carlos Ibañez del Campo and Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez called the "Lion of Tarapacá", after the northern province where he was from.
Democracy and Dictatorship
This section will be added soon.
Why Chile & Argentina?