Table of Contents
Who settled in Chile first?
The territory of Chile has been populated since at least 3000 BCE. By the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors began to colonize the region of present-day Chile, and the territory was a colony between 1540 and 1818, when it gained independence from Spain.
How long was Chile a colony?
Chile remained a colony of Spain for close to 300 years until Napoleon Bonaparte’s conquest of Spain weakened the country’s imperial grip on their South American colonies. Under Spanish colonial rule, northern and central Chile were part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
How long have the Mapuche lived in Chile?
For over 2,000 years the indigenous Mapuche people have occupied southern regions of South America as their ancestral land.
Was there slavery in Chile?
Slavery was a legal labour form in Chile from 1536 to 1823 but it was never the dominant way of arranging labour. Slavery of black people bloomed from 1580 to 1660.
When did Europeans discover Chile?
1520
The first European to discover Chile was Ferdinand Magellan, in 1520, following the passage in the Strait which bears his name on a wall, at the southern tip of Latin America.
Why is Chile so long?
Chile’s length is largely a product of colonial expansion and modern military campaigns. Chile conquered the bottom one-third of the country around the same time, amassing the long strip of land below the Biobío River that belonged for centuries to an indigenous people known as the Mapuche.
How did Spanish get to Chile?
The first Spanish subjects to enter the territory of what would become Chile were the members of the Magellan expedition that discovered the Straits of Magellan before completing the world’s first circumnavigation. Gonzalo Calvo de Barrientos left Peru for Chile after a quarrel with the Pizarro brothers.
Was Chile a British colony?
Facing the Pacific Ocean, Chile had for many years an important British presence. Around 32,000 English settled in Valparaíso, influencing the port city to the extent of making it virtually a British colony during the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
How did Mapuche get to Chile?
The Spanish expansion into Mapuche territory was an offshoot of the conquest of Peru. In 1541 Pedro de Valdivia reached Chile from Cuzco and founded Santiago. The northern Mapuche tribes, known as Promaucaes and Picunches, fought unsuccessfully against Spanish conquest.
How did the Mapuche of Chile manage to resist European conquest?
Although the primary focus is on the middle 16th to middle 17th centuries during the Arauco War (~AD 1551 to 1641), the Mapuche successfully resisted the Spanish conquest for more than 250 years by forming a confederated proto-state or polity comprised of partner domains (i.e., Catiray, Arauco, Tucapel, Puren) and …
What percent of Chile is black?
Genetics studies fluctuate between 51.6% and 67.9% European; between 32.1% and 44.3% amerindian; and 2.5%—6.3% African ancestry percentages.
When did slavery end in Chile?
1823
Chile abolished slavery in 1823.
What was the early settlement pattern in Chile?
Settlement patterns. Climatic characteristics and historic events have strongly influenced settlement patterns and population distribution in Chile. The early settlement by Spaniards occurred in the temperate part of the country, known as the Central Nucleus, or Zona Central, where the agriculture, industry, and main population centres developed.
When did Chile gain its independence from Spain?
By the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors began to subdue and colonize the region of present-day Chile, and the territory was a colony between 1540 and 1818, when it gained independence from Spain. The country’s economic development was successively marked by the export of first agricultural produce,…
Why did people come to Chile in the 19th century?
Both are sparsely populated and rich in natural resources. Settlement of the arid Norte Grande in northernmost Chile began in the middle of the 19th century in response to the exploitation of minerals in the interior. A string of coastal cities emerged as export centres for nitrates, borax, and copper.
What kind of land did the people of Chile live on?
The area’s traditional agriculture developed on the basis of large landed estates, the haciendas, which covered about three-fourths of Chile’s arable land.