Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command.
The Huilliche, Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group of Chile. The Huilliche are the principal indigenous population of Chile from Toltén River to Chiloé Archipelago. According to Ricardo E. Latcham the term Huilliche started to be used in Spanish after the second founding of Valdivia in 1645, adopting the usage of the Mapuches of Araucanía for the southern Mapuche tribes. Huilliche means 'southerners'
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake or the Great Chilean earthquake on 22 May 1960 is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Various studies have placed it at 9.4–9.6 on the moment magnitude scale. It occurred in the afternoon, and lasted approximately 10 minutes. The resulting tsunamis affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia, and the Aleutian Islands.
Austral University of Chile is a Chilean research university based primarily in Valdivia, with a satellite campus in Puerto Montt. Founded on September 7, 1954, it is one of the eight original Chilean Traditional Universities. It operates as a nonprofit self-owned corporation under private law, and receives significant state-funding.
The Los Ríos Region is one of Chile's 16 regions, the country's first-order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. It began to operate as a region on October 2, 2007, having been created by subdividing the Los Lagos Region in southern Chile. It consists of two provinces: Valdivia and the newly created Ranco Province, which was formerly part of Valdivia Province.
Valdivia is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau Rivers, approximately 15 km (9 mi) east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla. Since October 2007, Valdivia has been the capital of Los Ríos Region and is also the capital of Valdivia Province. The national census of 2002 recorded the commune of Valdivia as having 140,559 inhabitants (Valdivianos), of whom 127,750 were living in the city. The main economic activities of Valdivia include tourism, wood pulp manufacturing, forestry, metallurgy, and beer production. The city is also the home of the Austral University of Chile, founded in 1954 and the Centro de Estudios Científicos.
The Valdivia River or Río Valdivia, as it is known locally, is a major river in southern Chile. It is the continuation of the Calle-Calle River, from the point where it meets the Cau-Cau River in the city of Valdivia. The Valdivia river ends in Corral Bay, on the Pacific coast. Other tributaries are the Cruces River, the Tornagaleones River and the Futa River. Pedro de Valdivia Bridge crosses the river in downtown Valdivia.
Huilo-Huilo Biological Reserve is a private for profit natural reserve and ecotourism area in southern Chile. It is by the community of Neltume along the international road to Hua Hum Pass near the border to Argentina. The reserve has unique hotels, including Montana Mágica, the Nothofagus hotel, cabins, and a lodge for backpackers. The grounds also include a brewery, various animal habitats, a funicular, and many miles of trails. The reserve includes many waterfalls and the eastern slopes of Mocho-Choshuenco, a glacial compound stratovolcano.
The Fort System of Valdivia are a series of Spanish colonial fortifications at Corral Bay, Valdivia and Cruces River established to protect the city of Valdivia, in southern Chile. During the period of Spanish rule (1645–1820), it was one of the biggest systems of fortification in the Americas. It was also a major supply source for Spanish ships that crossed the Strait of Magellan.
Calle-Calle River also called Gudalafquén in Mapudungun, is a river in Valdivia Province, southern Chile. It drains waters from the San Pedro River to the Valdivia River, which in turn flows into Corral Bay on the Pacific Ocean.
The Zona Sur is one of the five natural regions on which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. Its northern border is formed by the Bío-Bío River, the limit with the Central Chile Zone. By west with the Pacific Ocean, by the east with the Andean mountains and Argentina. Its southern border is the Chacao Channel, beyond it lies the Austral Zone. While Chiloé Archipelago belongs geographically to Zona Austral in terms of culture and history it lies closer to Zona Sur.
Teja island is an island in the city of Valdivia, Chile surrounded by three rivers: Cau-Cau river to the north, Cruces river to the west and Valdivia river to the southeast. Prior to the mid-19th century the island was known as isla Valenzuela after Francisco de Valenzuela, an encomendero that settled there in 1552. In the second half of the 19th century the island became known for its roof tile and brick factory, hence the name isla Teja. Initially it was outside the proper city, but with the arrival of German immigrants many of them settled there and since 1939 the island is directly connected to downtown Valdivia through the Pedro de Valdivia bridge. A large section of the island's western riverside sank below water level due to the Great Chilean earthquake of 1960.
German Chileans are Chilean citizens who derive their German ancestry from one or both parents. They are chiefly descendants of about 30,000 immigrants who arrived between 1846–1914, most following the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states.
The Conquest of Chile is a period in Chilean historiography that starts with the arrival of Pedro de Valdivia to Chile in 1541 and ends with the death of Martín García Óñez de Loyola in the Battle of Curalaba in 1598, and the destruction of the Seven Cities in 1598–1604 in the Araucanía region.
Pishuinco is a hamlet in the commune of Valdivia, Chile. It lies at the northern end of the Calle-Calle River between the city of Valdivia and Antilhue.
Valdivia is one of the few cities in southern Chile with a more less continuous and well documented history from its foundation in the 16th century onwards.
Tornagaleones River is a river and eastuarine channel in Los Ríos Region, Chile. Together with Valdivia and Futa River it encloses the fluvial island of Isla del Rey. The fresh waters of Tornagaleones comes from Futa, Naguilán and Valdivia River. During high tide brackish waters from Corral Bay enters the channel.
From 1850 to 1875, some 6,000 German immigrants settled in the region around Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue in Southern Chile as part of a state-led colonization scheme. Some of these immigrants had left Europe in the aftermath of the German revolutions of 1848–49. They brought skills and assets as artisans, farmers and merchants to Chile, contributing to the nascent country's economic and industrial development.
Las Ánimas is a large sector of the Chilean city of Valdivia. It lies to the east of the city center, from which it is separated by the Calle-Calle River, and extends along the western bank of the Calle-Calle to the city's northern limits. Downtown Valdivia is connected to Las Ánimas by the Calle Calle Bridge. The sector contains several neighborhoods and commercial and industrial sites.
Mulpún is a coal mine and locality in Los Ríos Region, Chile. Mulpún lies in the commune of Máfil a few kilometers to the west of the Chile Route 5 and north of the Calle-Calle and San Pedro River.
