The Battle of Punta Gruesa was a naval action that took place on May 21, 1879, during the War of the Pacific between Chile and Peru. This may be labelled as the second part of the Naval Battle of Iquique, although it is described in many sources as a separate battle.
Punta Arenas is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. Although officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, the name was changed back to Punta Arenas in 1938. The city is the largest south of the 46th parallel south and the most populous southernmost city in Chile and the Americas. Due to its location, it is also the coldest coastal city with more than 100,000 inhabitants in Latin America. Punta Arenas is one of the world's most southerly ports and serves as an Antarctic gateway city. Punta Arenas is the world's southernmost city with more than 100,000 inhabitants and claims the title of southernmost city in the world, although this title is also claimed by Ushuaia in Argentina, which lies farther south but is slightly smaller than Punta Arenas.
British Latin Americans are Latin Americans of British ancestry.
Immigration to Chile has contributed to the demographics and the history of this South American nation. Chile is a country whose inhabitants are mainly of Iberian, mostly of Andalusian and Basque origin, and Native American, mostly descended from Mapuche peoples. A moderate numbers of European immigrants settled in Chile during the 19th and 20th centuries, mainly Spanish, as well as Germans, British, French, Southern Slavs, and Italians who have made additional contributions to the racial complex of Chile. However, this immigration was never in a large scale, contrasting with mass migrations that characterized Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil, and therefore, anthropologically, its impact with lesser consequence. At the same time, some separate cultural aspects, such as German cakes, British afternoon tea, and Italian pasta, were preserved. The fusion is also visible in the architecture of Chilean cities. This intermarriage and mixture of cultures and races have shaped the present society and culture of Chile.
British Peruvians are Peruvians of British descent. The phrase may refer to someone born in Peru of British descent. Among European Peruvians, the British were the fifth largest group of immigrants to settle in the country after the Spanish, Germans, Italians, the Swiss or/and the French.
English Chileans are citizens of Chile who are descended from English emigrants.
Scottish Chileans are Chileans of Scottish descent who came from Scotland and, in some cases, Scots-Irish people from Northern Ireland. A large proportion of Scottish Chileans are sheep farmers in the Magallanes region of the far south of the country, and the city of Punta Arenas has a large Scottish foundation dating back to the 18th century.
Irish Chileans are the inhabitants of Chile who either came from some part of the island of Ireland or are descendants of immigrants from there. Generally coming in the 18th century and early 19th century, the generally Catholic Irish were seeking refuge from the oppression of the Protestant-run government of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Spain, being a Catholic power, enticed many Irish to move to Latin America. Immigration diminished later in the 19th century as Catholic Emancipation made emigration to a Catholic nation less of a vital consideration and as the United States and Canada established themselves as more viable lands for settlement.
Welsh Chileans are Chileans of Welsh descent whose family roots came from Wales. The Welsh did not settle in Chile. Generally, they were identified with the other British groups in Chile. About 30,000 residents of Chile have Welsh surnames.
Carlos Arnaldo Condell De La Haza was a Chilean naval officer and hero of the Battle of Punta Gruesa during the start of the War of the Pacific.
Swiss Chileans are Chilean citizens of Swiss ancestry. There are currently 15,000 Swiss citizens residing in Chile, with approximately 90,000 descendants of the 19th century immigrants.
The Maritime history of Chile started when Chile gained independence, but traces it origin in the colonial era and has ultimately origin in the seafaring tradition of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and the Mediterranean as well as from indigenous peoples of Chile.
Between 1830 and 1850, Chilean silver mining grew at an unprecedented pace which transformed mining into one of the country's principal sources of wealth. The rush caused rapid demographic, infrastructural, and economic expansion in the semi-arid Norte Chico mountains where the silver deposits lay. A number of Chileans made large fortunes in the rush and made investments in other areas of the economy of Chile. By the 1850s, the rush was in decline and lucrative silver mining definitively ended in the 1870s. At the same time, mining activity in Chile reoriented to saltpetre operations.
Mateo Martinić Beroš is a Chilean historian, politician and lawyer of Croatian descent. He has primarily dealt with the history of the Magallanes Region. He entered the University of Chile in 1953 studying briefly pedagogy before moving on to study law and then continued his law studies in the Catholic University of Chile. He finally became a lawyer in 1983. From 1964 to 1970 he served as intendant of Magallanes Region. He received the National History Award in 2000.
The corvette Magallanes was ordered by the Chilean government after the disastrous consequences of the War against Spain in 1864-1866 and the rising border conflict with the neighboring countries at the end of the 1870s.
In Colonial times the Spanish Empire diverted significant resources to fortify the Chilean coast as a consequence of Dutch and English raids. During the 16th century the Spanish strategy was to complement the fortification work in its Caribbean ports with forts in the Strait of Magellan. As attempts at settling and fortifying the Strait of Magellan were abandoned the Spanish began to fortify the Captaincy General of Chile and other parts of the west coast of the Americas. The coastal fortifications and defense system was at its peak in the mid-18th century.
Chilean expansionism refers to the foreign policy of Chile to expand its territorial control over key strategic locations and economic resources as a means to ensure its national security and assert its power in South America. Chile's significant territorial acquisitions, which occurred mostly throughout the 19th century, paved the way for its emergence as a thalassocracy and one of the three most powerful and wealthiest states in South America during the 20th century. It also formed Chile's geopolitical and national identity as a tricontinental state and one of the countries with the longest coastlines in the world.
Álvaro Casanova Zenteno was a prominent marine painter and of historic naval warfare, a statesman his art is classified as realist, expressionist, classical, and romantic.
Juan Bravo was a Chilean Navy sailor of Mapuche origin, hero of the naval Battle of Punta Gruesa during the War of the Pacific. Juan Bravo distinguished himself in the Battle of Punta Gruesa where he, while on board the schooner Covadonga, sniped down numerous Peruvians on board the ironclad Independencia.
