Climatic characteristics and historic events have strongly influenced settlement patterns and population distribution in Chile. The early settlement by Spaniards occurred in the temperate part of the country, known as the Central Nucleus, or Zona Central, where the agriculture, industry, and main population centres developed. The area’s traditional agriculture developed on the basis of large landed estates, the haciendas, which covered about three-fourths of Chile’s arable land. The agrarian reform initiated by the Christian Democratic president Eduardo Frei Montalva in 1965, and continued by the Socialist president Salvador Allende Gossens into the early 1970s, resulted in a redistribution of the land. Agrarian productivity to boost exports was accentuated.

In the Central Nucleus are the major cities of Chile. Santiago was founded there and grew into the country’s major metropolis. Seventy miles west of Santiago is the port city of Valparaíso and the neighbouring resort city of Viña del Mar, which form the second largest population centre of Chile. In the Central Valley, south of the Santiago basin, stretches a series of secondary cities, the development of which has been tied to the agricultural success of central Chile. Among them are Rancagua, Curicó, Talca, Chillán, and Los Angeles. All of these cities are connected by rail and the Pan-American Highway.

Most of Chile’s cities were founded during the colonial era, and they were arranged around a central square (plaza de armas). The original buildings were made of adobe (sun-dried brick) and wood, materials that would deteriorate or burn. Most of the colonial buildings fell prey to earthquakes and fires; much rebuilding took place and the cities of central Chile have become showcases of modern urbanization, high population density, and bustling commercial and industrial activities. On the coast of the southern Central Nucleus lies Concepción and its port city of Talcahuano, both industrial centres.

Norte Chico, the semiarid north-central part of Chile, developed in close association with the Central Nucleus. Agricultural production and mining characterize this region, of which La Serena, near the coast, and the port of Coquimbo are the major centres. The population is primarily concentrated in the irrigated valleys of the Copiapó, Huasco, Elqui, and Limarí rivers or else dispersed in the mountains, where there are mining activities. The main cities, somewhat smaller than those of central Chile, are located in the valleys: they include Copiapó, in the valley of that name, the most important mining centre of the country during the 19th century; Vallenar, Ovalle, and Vicuña. Agriculture, goat raising, and iron and copper mining are the main economic activities. From this region come the famous pisco (a white brandy distilled from sun-dried grapes), fine wines, and high-quality fruits for export.

During colonial times, the fringe of territory at the southern extreme of the Central Nucleus was bitterly contested by Spaniards and Araucanians, the original Indian population, which gave the northern part of south-central Chile its name, La Frontera (“The Border”). After the pacification of the Araucanians in the 1880s, the area was gradually settled by Chileans and by European colonists who had already begun immigrating there in the 1850s. It developed in modern times as a region of grain growing and commercial pine forestry for cellulose manufacture. The regional capital is Temuco, and in the surrounding countryside still live—in rather precarious conditions—a concentration of Araucanians, locally called Mapuche.

Colonization of the Lake District, located south of La Frontera, began after 1850 with immigrants from Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. Homesteads, rather than large haciendas as in the Central Nucleus, became the pattern of rural settlement. Although the land has been consolidated in recent times, land fragmentation is still visible. The largest city of this region is Valdivia, founded in early colonial times. This once active industrial centre for footwear, textiles, brewing, and shipbuilding declined after most of its manufacturing installations were destroyed by a 1960 earthquake. Osorno and Puerto Montt are other regional centres, specializing in dairy and flour production. The scenic piedmont lakes and the snow-capped volcanoes attract a steady flow of tourists.

The extreme north and the extreme south could be considered the population and resource frontiers. Both are sparsely populated and rich in natural resources. Settlement of the arid Norte Grande in northernmost Chile began in the middle of the 19th century in response to the exploitation of minerals in the interior. A string of coastal cities emerged as export centres for nitrates, borax, and copper. Iquique, once an exporter of nitrates, has become the capital of Chile’s fish meal industry. Antofagasta, the railroad terminus to Oruro, Bolivia, is an active administrative and trading centre and an export facility for the Chuquicamata copper mine. Arica, which acts as a port for Bolivia at the end of the railroad to La Paz, supports fish meal plants and oversees the agricultural production of the Azapa Valley. Once the automobile assembly centre of Chile, Arica has lost its prominence as an industrial city. The only city of significance in the interior of the Norte Grande is Calama, adjacent to the Chuquicamata copper mine, the world’s largest open-pit mine. Still, the rest of the area remains picturesque. Old Indian towns, scattered oases, and spectacular desert scenery attract tourists. At the Shrine of La Tirana, on the Tamarugal Plain, Indian and mestizo pilgrims from northern Chile, Bolivia, and southern Peru gather for a colourful festival each July.

The extreme south encompasses three natural units: the Chiloé island group, the Channels region, and Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Chiloé and its neighbouring islands are among the most undeveloped regions of the country; rudimentary agriculture and algae (used in making confectionary products) and shellfish gathering are the main activities. The small towns of Castro and Ancud are the main population centres of the mostly rural habitat. The Channels region is characterized by islands, separated by glacially carved channels, where colonization has been unsuccessfully attempted since the 1920s. Outlying towns such Puerto Aisén and Coihaique are the only population centres. The region of Magallanes, hinged on the Strait of Magellan, is the most developed area of Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Sheep raising estancias (ranches), which have exported wool since the late 19th century, and oil and natural gas, which have been exploited since 1945, are the pillars of its economy. These activities, combined with meat-packing plants and the trading functions of Punta Arenas, have made this one of the more modernized parts of Chile.