Chile Cities

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Chile Cities by Population

126 cities shown of 126 total Chile cities that are over 1,000 in population...

1. Santiago 4,837,295
2. Puente Alto 510,417
3. Antofagasta 309,832
4. Vina del Mar 294,551
5. Valparaiso 282,448
6. Talcahuano 252,968
7. San Bernardo 249,858
8. Temuco 238,129
9. Iquique 227,499
10. Concepcion 215,413
11. Rancagua 212,695
12. La Pintana 201,178
13. Talca 197,479
14. Arica 185,999
15. Coquimbo 161,317
16. Puerto Montt 160,054
17. La Serena 154,521
18. Chillan 150,396
19. Calama 143,084
20. Osorno 135,773
21. Valdivia 133,419
22. Quilpue 130,263
23. Copiapo 129,280
24. Los Angeles 125,430
25. Punta Arenas 117,430
26. Lo Prado 104,316
27. Curico 102,438
28. Villa Alemana 97,320
29. Coronel 92,940
30. San Antonio 85,651
31. Chiguayante 82,545
32. Ovalle 77,138
33. Linares 69,535
34. Quillota 67,779
35. Penaflor 65,495
36. Melipilla 63,100
37. San Felipe 59,294
38. Los Andes 56,859
39. Buin 55,441
40. Talagante 51,764
41. Lota 49,763
42. Hacienda La Calera 49,106

43. Tome 46,698
44. Penco 46,091
45. Coihaique 45,787
46. Vallenar 44,895
47. Angol 44,856
48. Rengo 38,100
49. Constitucion 37,917
50. Limache 35,876
51. Santa Cruz 33,283
52. Paine 32,766
53. Villarrica 31,602
54. San Carlos 31,517
55. Cauquenes 31,362
56. Curanilahue 30,611
57. Las Animas 30,000
58. Castro 29,926
59. Lampa 29,250
60. Molina 28,775
61. Ancud 28,020
62. Machali 27,595
63. Pucon 26,953
64. Parral 26,904
65. La Union 26,298
66. Puerto Varas 24,958
67. La Ligua 24,857
68. Arauco 24,659
69. Victoria 24,555
70. Tocopilla 24,460
71. Graneros 23,301
72. El Monte 23,090
73. Illapel 22,816
74. San Vicente 22,572
75. San Javier 22,427
76. Lebu 22,345
77. Mulchen 22,170
78. Puerto Quellon 21,823
79. Lautaro 21,579
80. Nacimiento 21,220
81. Canete 20,158
82. Puerto Natales 20,000
83. Nueva Imperial 18,777
84. Cabrero 18,327

85. Diego de Almagro 18,137
86. Chimbarongo 17,356
87. Frutillar 16,939
88. Puerto Aisen 16,936
89. Llaillay 16,646
90. La Laja 16,550
91. Collipulli 16,392
92. Panguipulli 16,312
93. Loncoche 15,590
94. Rio Bueno 15,456
95. Villa Presidente Frei, Nunoa, Santiago, Chile 15,000
96. Traiguen 14,481
97. Monte Patria 13,945
98. Pitrufquen 13,743
99. San Clemente 13,656
100. Purranque 13,619
101. Vicuna 13,496
102. Salamanca 13,265
103. Bulnes 12,715
104. Chonchi 12,572
105. Calbuco 12,490
106. Carahue 11,875
107. Yumbel 11,111
108. Taltal 10,018
109. Vilcun 9,241
110. Freire 7,813
111. Coihueco 7,346
112. Teno 6,858
113. Longavi 6,325
114. Chaiten 4,065
115. Ostrov Paskhi 4,000
116. Corral 3,500
117. Hanga Roa 3,304
118. Cochrane 2,867
119. Puerto Cisnes 2,507
120. Chile Chico 2,500
121. San Pedro de Atacama 2,000
122. Futaleufu 1,826
123. Palena 1,690
124. Las Gaviotas 1,500
125. Puerto Chacabuco 1,243
126. La Junta 1,200

Chile History

Currently, Chile is one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations. Within the greater Latin American context it leads in terms of competitiveness, quality of life, political stability, globalization, economic freedom, low perception of corruption and comparatively low poverty rates. It also ranks high regionally in freedom of the press, human development and democratic development. Its status as the region's richest country in terms of gross domestic product per capita is however countered by its high level of income inequality, as measured by the Gini index.

There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile. According to one theory, the Incas of Peru called the valley of the Aconcagua Chili"" by corruption of the name of a Picunche tribal chief called Tili, who ruled the area at the time of the Incan conquest. Another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Other theories say Chile may derive its name from the indigenous Mapuche word chilli, which may mean ""where the land ends,"" ""the deepest point of the Earth,"" or ""sea gulls;"" or from the Quechua chin, ""cold,"" or the Aymara tchili, meaning ""snow."" Another meaning attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheelethe Mapuche imitation of a bird call. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas and the few survivors of Diego de Almagro's first Spanish expedition south from Peru in 1535-36 called themselves the ""men of Chilli.""",,"About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys and coastal areas of what is present day Chile. Example settlement sites from the very early human habitation are Cueva del Milodon and the Pali Aike Crater's lava tube. The Incas briefly extended their empire into what is now northern Chile, but the local indigenous population know as the Mapuche successfully resisted many attempts by the Inca Empire to subjugate them, despite their lack of state organization. They fought against the Sapa Inca Tupac Yupanqui and his army. The result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule river.

In 1520, while attempting to circumnavigate the earth, the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan, discovered the southern passage now named after him, the Strait of Magellan. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, who came from Peru in 1535 seeking gold. The Spanish encountered hundreds of thousands of Native Americans from various cultures in the area that modern Chile now occupies. These cultures supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarro's lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on February 12, 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the extensive gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chile's central valley, and Chile became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

Conquest of the land that is today called Chile took place only gradually, and the Europeans suffered repeated setbacks at the hands of the local population. A massive Mapuche insurrection that began in 1553 resulted in Valdivia's death and the destruction of many of the colony's principal settlements. Subsequent major insurrections took place in 1598 and in 1655. Each time the Mapuche and other native groups revolted, the southern border of the colony was driven northward. The abolition of slavery in 1683 defused tensions on the frontier between the colony and the Mapuche land to the south, and permitted increased trade between colonists and the Mapuche.

Cut off to the north by desert, to the south by the Mapuche, to the east by the Andes Mountains, and to the west by the ocean, Chile became one of the most centralized, homogeneous colonies in Spanish America. Serving as a sort of frontier garrison, the colony found itself with the mission of forestalling encroachment by Araucanians and by Spain's European enemies, especially the British and the Dutch. In addition to the Araucanians, buccaneers and English adventurers menaced the colony, as was shown by Sir Francis Drake's 1578 raid on Valparaso, the principal port. Because Chile hosted one of the largest standing armies in the Americas, it was one of the most militarized of the Spanish possessions, as well as a drain on the treasury of Peru.