Región de la Araucanía

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Araucanía
IX. Region of the
Araucanía
Arica y Parinacota Tarapacá Antofagasta Atacama Coquimbo Valparaíso Valparaíso Valparaíso Région Metropolitana Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins Maule Ñuble Biobío Araucanía Los Ríos Lagos Aysén Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena Peru Bolivien Paraguay Uruguay Argentinien Argentinien Falklandinselnlocation
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Symbols
flag
flag
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Chile
Capital Temuco
surface 31,842.3 km²
Residents 957,224 (2017)
density 30 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2 CL-AR
Website gorearaucania.cl
politics
Intendant Miguel Hernández Saffirio
In the Huerquehue National Park
In the Huerquehue National Park

Coordinates: 38 ° 41 ′  S , 72 ° 37 ′  W

The Araucanian region is the IX. Region of Chile . It is located in the Little South , also known as Chilean Switzerland , about 600 kilometers south of Santiago de Chile . The capital of the region is Temuco .

geography

The region lies between the Pacific and the Argentine border. In the north it borders on the VIII. Region ( Región del Bío-Bío ), in the south on the XIV. Region ( Región de Los Ríos ). The Río Imperial is the main river in the region.

The region is named after the araucaria trees, which are an outstanding feature of the landscape of the Chilean south. The Chilean araucaria is native to this part of Chile as well as to neighboring Argentina.

The chessboard-like capital Temuco has 270,000 inhabitants (as of 2012) and is the location of the Catholic University of Temuco , next to Valdivia the most important university in southern Chile. Many Mapuche (whose ancestors were called Araucans ) live in and around the city . The region is also considered the center of Chileans of German descent .

In the mountains near Temuco there are large volcanoes , such as the Villarrica volcano at 2840 m and the Volcán Llaima at 3125 m. The last activity of the Volcán Llaima was between January 2008 and June 2009.

32 km west of the Pacific coast is the island of Mocha with the national reserve Isla Mocha .

The climate is comparable to that of western Central Europe (e.g. Germany ). It rains a lot, especially in winter; However, except in the high mountains, snowfalls are relatively rare.

history

In 1552 Pedro de Valdivia reached the area around Temuco, but the establishment of settlements in the Mapuche area turned out to be fatal. Many settlers and soldiers died as a result of the armed conflict; Pedro de Valdivia died in the Battle of Tucapel in 1553. When Pelantaro was elected the new Toki of the Mapuche in 1597 , all settlements south of the Biobio River were destroyed. From 1602 the Spaniards withdrew from the area.

After Chilean independence, the Temuco fortress was founded on around February 24, 1881, in order to better control the newly conquered Mapuche area. Chilean colonization of the region did not begin until 1883.

On May 22, 1960, the port city of Puerto Saavedra was completely destroyed by a very strong earthquake .

Administrative divisions and cities

The region consists of two provinces:

Important cities:

economy

Bridge (Puente Colgante) at Carahue

The region lives mainly from agriculture and tourism. The cultivation of fruit, maize and rapeseed play an important role here.

Web links

Commons : Araucanía Region  - Collection of images, videos and audio files