Total population | |
---|---|
' [1] 120,000 [2] [3] [4] 0.6% population of Chile | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Punta Arenas, Valparaíso, Temuco, Santiago de Chile | |
Languages | |
Chilean Spanish, German, French, Italian, Romansh | |
Religion | |
Christianity (Protestantism and Roman Catholic), Jewish minorities | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Swiss people, Swiss diaspora, German Chileans, Italian Chileans, and French Chileans |
Swiss Chileans are Chilean citizens of Swiss ancestry. There are currently 15,000 Swiss citizens residing in Chile, with approximately 120,000 descendants of the 19th century immigrants. [5]
Due to confusion with that of German, Italian, and French immigrants, the actual number of Swiss Chileans varies from one source to another. In 1881, 28 years after colonization by Germans in southern Chile, special agencies were authorized to recruit Swiss emigrants. These arrived in three key periods:
Years | Number of immigrants | Areas settled |
---|---|---|
1876 to 1877 | 119 families (from Fribourg canton) | Magallenes region |
1883 to 1900 | 36,621 (primarily from Valais canton) | Southern region (Victoria and Traiguén in Araucanía) |
1915 to 1950 | 30,000 | Central region (Santiago and Valparaiso) |
Between April 1876 and May 1877, a contingent received government land grants consisting of hectares of forest, woodland, and scrub land in the Magallanes Region (Agua Fresca, next to Punta Arenas). These farmers proceeded to transform the region into agricultural lands suitable for pasture and crop farming.
In 1880, Don Francisco De B. Echeverría was appointed to lead the Agency for Colonization and Immigration. [6] Agent General Benjamin Davila Larrain was entrusted with the recruitment of settlers.
Following the end of resistance to occupation by indigenous Mapuche in the 1880s, large areas of land were advertised to European settlers, many of whom were experiencing economic hardship. The Chilean government invited Swiss emigrants on the condition they settle in Araucanía, to cultivate it and create arable land for crops and livestock. [5] [7] The first contingent departed in November 1883; their success would direct future emigration authorizations. Land grants were awarded to an estimated 8,000+ families . [8]
The preparation of the convoys meant the operation of a real network. Shipping companies, especially the English "Company of the Pacific", ensured the French port of Bordeaux as a regular line which had the steamships Valparaíso Cotopaxi, Potosi, Sorata, The Valparaíso, Aconcagua and Britain, among others, as the main boats that sailed Swiss settlers. [9]
The first large group of immigrants composed of 1,311 families landed in Valparaíso on 19 December 1883. Between 1883 and 1886 they were shipped to the territory of Araucanía; 12,602 Swiss, representing 7% of emigration Switzerland overseas.[ citation needed ] The operations continued to evolve until 1890, when 22,708 Swiss were spread over the 31 colonies in the heart of the Araucania; 72.7% of emigrants settled in the 7 most important colonies of the time: Victoria, Traiguén, Faja Maisan, Temuco, Quino, Galvarino, Ercilla, and Pitrufquen. [5]
The last recorded mass exodus of Swiss to Chile, during 1915 to 1950, recorded 30,000 residents installed in the central region, primarily in Santiago and Valparaíso. [10]
Eduardo Alfredo Juan Bernardo Frei Ruiz–Tagle is a Chilean politician and civil engineer who served as president of Chile from 1994 to 2000. He was also a Senator, fulfilling the role of President of the Senate from 2006 to 2008. He attempted a comeback as the candidate of the ruling Concertación coalition for the 2009 presidential election, but was narrowly defeated. His father was Eduardo Frei Montalva, president of Chile from 1964 to 1970.
The Araucanía, La Araucanía Region is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions, and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south. Its capital and largest city is Temuco; other important cities include Angol and Villarrica.
Nueva Helvecia is a city in Colonia Department of Uruguay.
The Occupation of Araucanía or Pacification of Araucanía (1861–1883) was a series of military campaigns, agreements and penetrations by the Chilean army and settlers into Mapuche territory which led to the incorporation of Araucanía into Chilean national territory. Pacification of Araucanía was the expression used by the Chilean authorities for this process. The conflict was concurrent with Argentine campaigns against the Mapuche (1878–1885) and Chile's wars with Spain (1865–1866) and with Peru and Bolivia (1879–1883).
German Chileans are Chileans descended from German immigrants, about 30,000 of whom arrived in Chile between 1846 and 1914. Most of these were from Bavaria, Baden and the Rhineland, and also from Bohemia in present-day Czech Republic, which were traditionally Catholic. A smaller number of Lutherans immigrated to Chile following the failed revolutions of 1848.
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.
The Swiss diaspora refers to Swiss people living abroad, also referred to as "fifth Switzerland", alluding to the fourfold linguistic division within the country. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) cares for Swiss people living abroad.
British Chileans are Chilean residents with fully or partial antecedents from the United Kingdom. The British have been very important in the formation of the Chilean nation. They include Chileans of English, Scottish, Ulster Scots, (Northern) Irish and Welsh ancestry. The numbers of Scottish and Welsh are higher in Patagonia, in Aysén and Magallanes regions. The highest percentage of British Chileans is found in Punta Arenas, followed by Santiago, Valparaíso, Concepcion, Viña del Mar and Antofagasta.
English Chileans are citizens of Chile who are descended from English emigrants.
Victoria is a city and commune in Malleco Province of La Araucanía Region, Chile. It is the second most populous city in the Malleco Province, and is the gateway to the area known as Araucanía Andina, with attractions such as the Tolhuaca National Park, the Tolhuaca Hot Springs, Malalcahuello National Reserve, and the communes of Curacautín and Lonquimay. The climate is influenced by the vicinity of the temperate rainforest in Chile.
Swiss Argentines are Argentine citizens of Swiss ancestry or people who emigrated from Switzerland and reside in Argentina. The Swiss Argentine community is the largest group of the Swiss diaspora in South America.
Capitán Pastene is a town founded by Italian immigrants, located in the commune of Lumaco in the Araucanía Region of Chile.
Gastón Gori (1915–2004) was an Argentine essayist and poet.
From 1850 to 1875, some 30,000 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.
Gregorio Urrutia Venegas was a Chilean military official who made a career in the Chilean Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He held several military positions and participated in four military conflicts. He was also a deputy and businessman of a company that built railway lines.
The last major rebellion of the indigenous Mapuches of Araucanía took place in 1881, during the last phase of the Occupation of Araucanía (1861–1883) by the Chilean state. It was planned by Mapuche chiefs in March 1881 to be launched in November the same year. Mapuche support for the uprising was not unanimous: Some Mapuche factions sided with the Chileans and others declared themselves neutral. The organizers of the uprising did however succeed in involving Mapuche factions that had not previously been at war with Chile. With most of the attacks repelled within a matters of days Chile went on the next years to consolidate its conquests.
German-Chilean relations are foreign relations between Germany and Chile. Around 12,300 kilometers separate Chile and Germany but both nations still share a wide range of bilateral relations. Over the course of the last 150 years many Germans have settled in Chile for several different reasons. Migrating in the opposite direction, several thousand Chileans sought refuge in Germany during Pinochet's dictatorship.
Santiago Otto Schaerer Kuenzli was a Swiss emigrant, trader, settler and important colonizer in South America. He was the founder and administrator of several Swiss colonies, most prominently Nueva Helvecia in Uruguay and San Bernardino in Paraguay. He was the father of the 25th president of Paraguay Eduardo Schaerer and grandfather of businessman and journalist Arturo Schaerer.
Agriculture in Chile has a long history dating back to the Pre-Hispanic period. Indigenous peoples practised varying types of agriculture, from the oases of the Atacama Desert to as far south as the Guaitecas Archipelago. Potato was the staple food in the populous Mapuche lands. Llama and chilihueque herding was practised by various indigenous groups.
[Chile] is rich in pastures and cultivated fields, in which all kind of animals and plants can be breed or grown, there is plenty of very beautiful wood for making houses, and plenty of firewood, and rich gold mines, and all land is full of them...
Giorgio Ricci was an Italian entrepreneur known for bringing Italian immigrants to Araucanía in Chile under fraudulent conditions. Araucanía had been recently incorporated to Chile (1861-1883) when Ricci in 1904 brought to Chile a group of Italian immigrants from Emilia-Romagna, promising good lands for agriculture. Once in Chile immigrants were disappointed by the fact the lands he granted them were hilly forest not suitable for agriculture. The colony was initially called Nueva Italia but changed in 1907 name to Capitán Pastene. Soon however, many left for nearby towns such as Temuco and Traiguén or even farther away into Santiago. In 1906 Ricci repeated the scheme bringing Italian immigrants in Brazil to Nueva Etruria west of Gorbea. As with Capitán Pastene immigrants were lured into lands not particularly suitable for agriculture. By 1908 very few Italians remained in Nueva Etruria. Ricci was rewarded by the Chilean state with lands for helping colonizing the country.