Climate and Geography

Reminiscent of a Mediterranean climate, the heart of Chile boasts a temperate and dry spring, a hot and dry summer, a rainy and temperate autumn, and a rainy and cold winter: Annual temperatures in the heart of Chile.

These climatic conditions are influenced by five geographic landscapes that exist in the region. From west to east there are the coastal plains, coastal cordillera, central valley, pre-cordillera, and the Andes Mountains.

History

The Pre-Inca native people in Chile are known as the Araucanians. Mapudungun was the language of the people and is incorporated today, especially as place names such as Curico (meaning “black water”) and Maule (meaning “fog river” or “rain river”). In the heart of Chile there was a specific tribe of the Araucanians known as the Mapuche. This particular tribe put up the fiercest resistance to both Inca and Spanish conquest. They successfully repelled the Incas but, unfortunately, not the Spanish.

Even though the Mapuche were not able to resist the Spanish, later generations of mixed heritage were able to defeat the Spanish in decisive battles that took place in this region. The critical battle of Cumpeo was won by the Liberation Army by suprise attack through the Planchon pass.