The north of today’s Chile was originally under the control of the Incas, the south was controlled by the nomadic Araucanos. In 1541, Pedro de Valdivia, a Spaniard, founded Santiago. Chile gained its independence from Spain under Bernardo O’Higgins and an Argentine, José de San Martín in 1818. O’Higgins ruled as dictator until 1823 and […]
Colonial period Before the Spanish colonization, the long coastal strip that is today Chile was sparsely populated. In the 1400s, the Incarct penetrated south of the Andes region, but was unable to establish itself in the areas further south, which were bitterly defended by the Araucan Indians. The Spaniards arrived in 1530, and in 1541 […]