Introduction Arica-Parinacota Region Tarapacá Region Antofagasta Region Atacama Region Coquimbo Region Valparaíso Region O´Higgins Region Maule Region Bío Bío Region La Araucanía Region Los Ríos Region Los Lagos Region Aysén Region Magallanes & the Chilean Antartic Region Metropolitan Region

Capital: Puerto Montt

Area: 48,584.5 km2 

Population: 716,739 inhabitants (2002 Census)

Population density: 14.8 inhab/km2

Principal economic activities: Agriculture, forestry, fishing, manufacturing and tourism.

 

This region has some of Chile's most beautiful countryside, often with the appearance of having been designed specially for a postcard. There are lakes and fields, gently rolling plains and tree- clad hills, almost always with the backdrop of a volcano, and deep, green rivers flowing down from the mountains through virgin forests. The picturesque islands of Chiloé also have wooden churches and houses built on stilts.

The region comprises four provinces. The first two from north to south --Osorno and Llanquihue-- are geographically similar and owe their origins to the German colonizers who began to arrive in 1850.

However, the history of the Chiloé province is very different. Even during the Spanish colony, it maintained a cultural identity that still survives today. Its people are friendly and heirs to unique myths and culinary traditions.

The province of Palena is another unique area. It forms part of the vast territory that Chile only began to occupy at the beginning of the last century and, although it continues to struggle against its isolation, it has great economic potential and, above all, largely unexplored landscapes.

The Los Lagos Region is home to the Puyehue and Rupanco Lakes and the large Llanquihue Lake, with shores dotted with farming communities. The Todos los Santos Lake is also known as the Emerald Lake because of the color of its waters. 

In addition to its natural beauty, the region's population is another attraction. The most characteristic figure is the Chilote --the name given to the inhabitants of the Chiloé Archipelago-- descended from the native Huilliche people and the Spaniards. Skilled in working with wood, the Chilotes are great boat builders.

In this land of myths and legends, the Trauco is an ugly dwarf that attacks men and seduces women while the Pincoya, the goddess of the fertility of the shore and the sea, emerges from the depths of the waters with her long golden hair and incomparable sweetness, to dance on the beach clad only in seaweed.

In Chiloé, house moving --the minga-- is a community activity. It is the house itself that is moved, sometimes even by water. It is mounted on tree trunks and pulled by oxen while the homeowner provides food and drink for the helpers.

Textile work in Chiloé is highly skilled. Carpets, blankets and shawls are woven from sheep's wool on a horizontal loom placed on the floor over which the weaver crouches.

The typical Chilote dish is the curanto made by steaming shellfish, fish, meat and vegetables in a hole in the ground over hot stones.

The architecture, traditions and cuisine of Puerto Varas, Frutillar and most other towns along the shores of Lake Llanquihue bear the hallmark of the German immigration of the nineteenth century.

 

Area

The Los Lagos Region covers 48,584.5 km2, representing 6.42% of the total area of continental Chile. It comprises four provinces: Osorno with 19.0% of the region's area, Llanquihue (30.6%), Chiloé (18.9%) and Palena (31.5%). These provinces are, in turn, divided into some 30 municipalities.   

 

Land formation

The Chacao Channel divides the Los Lagos Region into two distinct areas. To the north are the provinces of Osorno and Llanquihue characterized by the predominance of the Intermediate Depression between the Cordillera de la Costa and the Andes Mountains. To the south, this Depression is covered by the sea, giving rise to the myriad of islands, fjords and sea channels that form the Chiloé Archipelago where the Cordillera de la Costa forms the province's characteristic rolling hills. The most southern province, Palena, is formed basically by the Andes Mountains. 

 

Climate

The region has a wet temperate climate with temperatures moderated by the large expanses of water. Rainfall, which is present throughout almost all the year, increases from west to east and, depending on the specific area, ranges from 1,600 mm to 2,500 mm a year.  

 

Water resources

The region's latitude and physical geography, mountain snow and high rainfall explain its numerous rivers and lakes. To the north of the Chacao Channel, the rivers that rise in the western slopes of the Andes include the Valdivia, Bueno, Maullín and Petrohué while, to the south of the Reloncaví Sound, the Puelo, Yelcho and Palena Rivers rise in the eastern Andean slopes and flow into the Pacific through large fjords. The most important lakes are Rupanco, Riñihue, Puyehue, Llanquihue, Todos los Santos and Palena. 

 

Population

According to the 2002 Census, the region had a population of 716,739 inhabitants, representing 4.7% of the country's total population. They are distributed among its four provinces: Llanquihue (44.9%), Chiloé (21.6%), Osorno (30.9%) and Palena (2.6%). 

 

Economic sectors

The region's main economic activities are arable and livestock farming, wood production and fishing, all of which incorporate industrial processes. Dairy farming, canned foods, particularly seafood, extensive cereal growing, the exploitation of forests and tourism are particularly important activities.

The region has many natural attractions, all located close to urban areas that serve as service centers and facilitate the development and diversification of tourism. Although the region faces important competition from other tourist areas, it has the key advantage of vast, still virgin areas where the sea, woods, lakes and the mountains are close enough to visit them all in the space of a few hours along tourist routes, as well as an interesting history and culture.

 

Administrative divisions

REGIONAL CAPITAL	PROVINCES	MUNICIPALITIES
Puerto Montt	Osorno	Osorno San Pablo Puyehue Puerto Octay Purranque Río Negro San Juan de la Costa
	Llanquihue	Puerto Montt Puerto Varas Cochamó Calbuco Maullín Los Muermos Fresia Llanquihue Frutillar
	Chiloé	Castro Ancud Quemchi Dalcahue Curaco de Vélez Quinchao Puqueldón Chonchi Queilén Quellón
	Palena	Chaitén Hualaihué Futaleufú Palena

Foreign Direct Investment DL 600 Statistics in the Los Lagos Region (1974 - 2008), (Excel, 48 Kb.)