View source for Valdivia

{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name          = Valdivia
| other_name             =
| native_name            =
| nickname               = The City of Rivers, The Pearl of the South of Chile, Chile's Brewery Capital
| named_for              = [[Pedro de Valdivia]]
| motto                  = ''Muy Noble y Muy Leal''<br />("Most noble and most loyal")
| settlement_type        = [[List of cities in Chile|City]] and [[Communes of Chile|Commune]]
| image_skyline          = Montaje de Valdivia.png
| image_caption          = '''From top to bottom, left to right''': Valdivia waterfront; town square; Hotel Naguilán (top); Sciences Building of Austral University (bottom); Los Canelos tower; [[Rodolfo Amando Philippi]] Museum; Historical and Anthropologic Museum Maurice van de Maele; St. Francisco Church; Prochelle House; Dreams Hotel & Casino; Los Lotos Lagoon on [[Teja Island]]; Mapuche's Rewe; and Botanical Garden of Valdivia
| image_flag             = Flag of Valdivia, Chile.svg
| flag_size              =
| image_shield           = Escudo de Valdivia.svg
| shield_size            =
| image_map              = Comuna de Valdivia.svg
| map_caption            = Location of the Valdivia commune in Los Ríos Region
| map_alt                = Location of the Valdivia commune in Los Ríos Region
| pushpin_map            = Chile
| pushpin_map_narrow    = yes
| pushpin_mapsize       = 150
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| pushpin_map_caption    = Location in Chile
| subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name = [[Chile]]
| subdivision_type1 = [[Regions of Chile|Region]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Los Ríos Region|Los Ríos]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[Provinces of Chile|Province]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Valdivia Province|Valdivia]]
| government_footnotes =<ref name="Munitel">{{cite web |url = http://www.munitel.cl/ |title = Asociación Chilena de Municipalidades |access-date = 23 February 2011 |language = es |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110419202659/http://www.munitel.cl/ |archive-date = 19 April 2011 |url-status = dead |df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="Official">{{cite web |url = http://www.munivaldivia.cl/ |title = Municipality of Valdivia |access-date = 23 February 2011 |language = es |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20001018115531/http://www.munivaldivia.cl/ |archive-date = 18 October 2000 |url-status = dead |df = dmy-all }}</ref>
| government_type         = [[Municipality]]
| leader_title            = [[Alcaldesa]]
| leader_party = [[Democratic Revolution|RD]]
| leader_name = [[Carla Amtmann]]
| established_title = Founded as
| established_date = Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia
| established_title2 = Founded
| established_date2 = 9 February 1552
| unit_pref               = Metric
| area_footnotes          =<ref name="INE">{{cite web |url= http://www.ine.cl/canales/chile_estadistico/censos_poblacion_vivienda/censo_pobl_vivi.php |title= National Statistics Institute |access-date= 7 February 2010 |language= es |archive-date= 6 January 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190106234357/http://www.ine.cl/404.html?aspxerrorpath=%2Fcanales%2Fchile_estadistico%2Fcensos_poblacion_vivienda%2Fcenso_pobl_vivi.php |url-status= live }}</ref>
| area_total_km2          = 1015.6
| elevation_footnotes     =
| population_footnotes    =<ref name="INE"/>
| population_total        = 150,048
| population_as_of        = 2017 Census
| population_density_km2  = auto
| population_demonym      = [[wikt:Valdivian|Valdivian]]
| population_blank1_title = [[Urban area|Urban]]
| population_blank1       = 129952
| population_blank2_title = [[Rural area|Rural]]
| population_blank2       = 10607
| demographics_type1      = Sex
| demographics1_footnotes =<ref name="INE"/>
| demographics1_title1    = Men
| demographics1_info1     = 68,510
| demographics1_title2    = Women
| demographics1_info2     = 72,049
| blank1_name             = [[Köppen climate classification|Climate]]
| blank1_info             = [[Oceanic climate|Cfb]]
| timezone = [[Time in Chile|CLT]]
| utc_offset = −04:00
| timezone_DST = [[Time in Chile|CLST]]
| utc_offset_DST = −03:00
| coordinates             = {{coord|39|48|50|S|73|14|45|W|region:CL-LR|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_m = 5
| postal_code_type = Postal code
| postal_code = 5090000
| area_code = ''country'' 56 + ''city'' 63
| website = [https://www.munivaldivia.cl/web/ Municipality of Valdivia] {{in lang|es}}
| footnotes =
}}
'''Valdivia''' ({{IPA|es|balˈdiβja}}; [[Mapuche language|Mapuche]]: Ainil) is a [[List of cities in Chile|city]] and [[Communes of Chile|commune]] in [[Southern Chile|southern]] [[Chile]], administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its [[Organizational founder|founder]], [[Pedro de Valdivia]], and is located at the confluence of the [[Calle-Calle River|Calle-Calle]], [[Valdivia River|Valdivia]], and [[Cau-Cau River|Cau-Cau]] Rivers, approximately {{convert|15|km|0|abbr=on|sp=us}} east of the coastal towns of [[Corral, Chile|Corral]] and [[Niebla, Chile|Niebla]]. Since October 2007, Valdivia has been the capital of [[Los Ríos Region]] and is also the capital of [[Valdivia Province]]. The national census of 2017 recorded the commune of Valdivia as having 166,080 inhabitants (''Valdivianos''),<ref name="INEcantidad">{{cite web |url=http://www.censo2017.cl/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cantidad-de-Personas-por-Sexo-y-Edad.xlsx |title=Censo 2017: Primera entrega de resultados definitivos - Cantidad de personas por sexo y edad |publisher=National Statistics Institute |date=2019 |access-date=November 1, 2020 |language=es |archive-date=January 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102064338/http://www.censo2017.cl/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cantidad-de-Personas-por-Sexo-y-Edad.xlsx |url-status=live }}</ref> of whom  150,048  were living in the city.<ref name="INE2017">{{cite web |url=https://geoarchivos.ine.cl/File/pub/Cd_Pb_Al_Cs_2019.pdf |title=Ciudades, pueblos, aldeas y caceríos 2019 |publisher=National Statistics Institute |date=2019 |access-date=November 1, 2020 |language=es |archive-date=July 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713152439/https://geoarchivos.ine.cl/File/pub/Cd_Pb_Al_Cs_2019.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The main economic activities of Valdivia include tourism, [[wood pulp]] manufacturing, [[forestry in Chile|forestry]], metallurgy, and [[Beer in Chile|beer production]]. The city is also the home of the [[Austral University of Chile]], founded in 1954 and the [[Centro de Estudios Científicos]].
The city of Valdivia and the [[Chiloé Archipelago]] were once the two southernmost outliers of the [[Spanish Empire]]. From 1645 to 1740, the city depended directly on the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]], which financed the building of the [[Valdivian fort system]] that turned Valdivia into one of the most fortified cities of the New World.<ref name="unesco" >{{cite web | url = https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1202/ | title = The Defensive Complex of Valdivia | work = Entry on the UNESCO Tentative List | access-date = 2007-08-15 | archive-date = 2022-12-27 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221227135327/https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1202/ | url-status = live }}</ref> In the mid-19th century, Valdivia was the port of entry for German immigrants who [[German colonization of Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue|settled in the city and surrounding areas]].
In 1960, Valdivia was severely damaged by the [[Great Chilean earthquake]], the most powerful earthquake ever recorded, at magnitude 9.5.<ref name="earthquake">U.S. Geological Survey (March 7, 2006).  [https://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1960_05_22.php Historic Earthquakes – Chile – 1960 May 22 19:11:14 UTC – Magnitude 9.5: The Largest Earthquake in the World.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007214246/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/events/1960_05_22.php |date=2009-10-07 }} Retrieved on 2007-01-09</ref> The earthquake caused c. 2 m of subsidence around Valdivia leaving large areas of former pastures and cultivated fields permanently flooded.<ref name=hipotesis2006>Ramirez, C., E. Carrasco, S. Mariani & N. Palacios. 2006. La desaparición del luchecillo (Egeria densa) del Santuario del Rio Cruces (Valdivia, Chile): una hipótesis plausible. Ciencia & Trabajo, 20: 79-86</ref> Today there are various [[Urban Wetlands Law|protected wetland]]s<ref name=Humedales-MMA>{{Cite web|url=https://humedaleschile.mma.gob.cl/humedales-urbanos/|title=Ley de Humedales Urbanos 21.202 y su Reglamento|access-date=2021-04-04|website=Ministerio del Medio Ambiente|publisher=[[Government of Chile]]|language=Spanish|archive-date=2021-03-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302041126/https://humedaleschile.mma.gob.cl/humedales-urbanos/|url-status=live}}</ref> within the urbanised area of Valdivia as well as in its outskirts.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Reconocen como humedales urbanos a Angachilla y el sector de Isla Teja en Valdivia] |url=https://www.biobiochile.cl/especial/aqui-tierra/noticias/2021/12/10/reconocen-como-humedales-urbanos-a-angachilla-y-el-sector-de-isla-teja-en-valdivia.shtml |last1=Vallejos |first1=Gabriel |date=2021-12-10 |access-date=2022-03-03 |work=[[Radio Bío-Bío]] |last2=Salgado |first2=Daniela |language=Spanish |archive-date=2022-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302213704/https://www.biobiochile.cl/especial/aqui-tierra/noticias/2021/12/10/reconocen-como-humedales-urbanos-a-angachilla-y-el-sector-de-isla-teja-en-valdivia.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>
==History==
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{{History of Valdivia}}
{{Main|History of Valdivia}}
===Pre-Hispanic times (12,000 BC – 1543)===
The area around Valdivia may have been populated since 12,000 – 11,800 [[Before Christ|BC]], according to archaeological discoveries in [[Monte Verde]]<ref>[[Dillehay, Tom]], ''Monteverde: A Late Pleistocene Settlement in Chile'' (Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, 1989)</ref> (less than 200&nbsp;km south of Valdivia), which would place it about a thousand years before the [[Clovis culture]] in North America. This challenges the [[models of migration to the New World|"Clovis First" model of migration to the New World]]. Researchers speculate that the first inhabitants of Valdivia and Chile travelled to America by [[watercraft]] and not across a land-bridge in the [[Bering Strait]].
During at least the [[Archaic period in the Americas|Middle Archaic]], southern Chile was populated by indigenous groups who shared a common [[archaeological culture|lithic culture]] called the [[Chan-Chan|Chan-Chan Complex]], named for the archaeological site of [[Chan-Chan]] located some 35&nbsp;km north of Valdivia along the coast.<ref name=pino>[[Mario Pino Quivira|Pino, Mario]] and Navarro, Rayen. [http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0716-02082005000100004&script=sci_arttext "Geoarqueología del sitio arcaico Chan-Chan 18"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926141856/http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0716-02082005000100004&script=sci_arttext |date=2012-09-26 }} {{in lang|es}}. ''[[Andean Geology|Revista Geológica de Chile]]'', 2005.</ref>
According to the polygenetic theory of the French scholar Paul Rivet, people from Melanesia, Polynesia, Australia and northern Asia arrived, in a period between 30 and 4 millennia ago, to the coasts of the New World, sailing in improvised boats.
One of the most suggestive hypotheses of the entire polygenetic theory is the probable trip that some members of the Japanese Jōmon culture made to the New World and its strong influence on the Valdivia culture, which developed in present-day Ecuador in the third millennium BC.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Was Jōmon the origin of the Valdivia culture? • Neperos |url=https://www.neperos.com/article/s56ni3802925446e |website=Neperos.com|date=5 December 2023 }}</ref>  <!--Expand - tell something about this culture -->
There was also a very early [[Valdivia culture]] on the coast of [[Ecuador]], but it is not related to the city of Valdivia. This archaeological culture flourished near the small village of Valdivia in Ecuador between 3500 BCE and 1500 BCE.
====Ainil====
By the time of the arrival of the Spanish [[conquistador]]es, Valdivia was inhabited by the [[Huilliche]] ([[Mapudungun]] for ''People of the South''). The Huilliche and [[Mapuche]] were both referred to by the Spaniards as ''Araucanos''. Their main language was a variant of Mapudungun, the Mapuche language.
A large village called ''Ainil'' stood where present-day downtown Valdivia has been developed. The Huilliche called the river, ''Ainilebu'' (now known as the Valdivia River). ''Ainil'' seemed to have been an important trade center; it was a port on the sea and had access to the interior via the network of the [[Río Cruces|Cruces]] and [[Calle-Calle River|Calle-Calle]] rivers, both tributaries of the Valdivia. ''Ainil'' may be described as "a kind of little [[Venice]]," as it had large areas of wetlands and canals. Since that period, most of these waterways and wetlands have been drained or filled. The market in ''Ainil'' received [[shellfish]] and [[fish]] from the coast, [[legume]]s from [[Punucapa]], and other foods from [[San José de la Mariquina]], an agricultural zone northeast of Valdivia.<ref name="darwin"/> A remnant of this ancient trade is the modern ''Feria Fluvial'' (English: Riverside Market) on the banks of Valdivia River. The surroundings of Valdivia were described as extensive plains having a large population that cultivated [[potatoes]], [[maize]], [[quinoa]] and [[legumes]], among other crops.<ref name="marino">Mariño de Lobera, Pedro, ''Crónica del reino de Chile, Colección de historiadores de Chile'', Imprenta del Ferrocarril, 1865. Available in www.memoriachilena.cl</ref> The population has been estimated by some historians as 30 to 40 thousand inhabitants as of 1548,<ref>[[Gabriel Guarda|Guarda, Gabriel]]. ''Nueva historia de Valdivia'' (Editorial Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, 2001)</ref> based on descriptions made by the conquistadors. [[Pedro Mariño de Lobera]], an early conquistador and [[chronicler]], wrote that there were half a million Indians living within ten [[League (unit)#Spain|leagues]] (one league is roughly 4.2&nbsp;km) from the city.<ref name=marino/> Other historians consider these numbers too high and argue that early Spaniards usually exaggerated in their descriptions.
Later the British naturalist [[Charles Darwin]] observed that "there is not much cleared land near Valdivia."<ref name="darwin"/> This suggests that pre-Hispanic agriculture in Valdivia was far more extensive than the agriculture practiced in the early 19th century at the time of his visit.
===First Spanish city (1544–1604)===
{{See also|Dutch expedition to Valdivia}}
[[File:Juan Bautista Pastene.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Idealized illustration of [[Juan Bautista Pastene|Pastene]] from [[Alonso de Ovalle]]'s "Histórica relación del Reyno de Chile"]]
The first European to visit [[Corral Bay|Valdivia River's estuary]] was the [[Genoa|Genoese]] captain [[Juan Bautista Pastene]], who took possession of it in 1544 in the name of the Spanish king, [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]]. He named the river after the Governor of Chile [[Pedro de Valdivia]].<ref name=BHV/>
Pedro de Valdivia later travelled by land to the river described by Pastene, and founded the city of Valdivia in 1552 as ''Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia''.<ref name=BHV/> It was the southernmost Spanish settlement in the Americas at the time of the founding. Following the establishment of the church of ''Santa María la Blanca'' in Valdivia, more buildings were constructed. [[Mariño de Lobera]] described it as "the second city in the [[Kingdom of Chile]]".<ref name=marino/> Many of Chile's most influential conquistadors and future governors were granted land in Valdivia, such as [[Jerónimo de Alderete]], [[Rodrigo de Quiroga]], [[Francisco de Villagra|Francisco]] and [[Pedro de Villagra]], apart from Pedro de Valdivia himself.
[[Jerónimo de Vivar|Jerónimo de Bibar]], a chronicler who witnessed the founding wrote:<ref name="Vivar">[[Jerónimo de Vivar]] – Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reynos de Chile – Ended in 1558. Transcription of Irving Leonard published by ''Fondo Histórico y Bibliográfico José Toribio Medina'', Santiago de Chile, 1966</ref>
{{quote|"Having the governor seen such good [[comarca]] and site for populate a city and riverside of such good river, and having such good harbour he founded a city and named it ''ciudad de Valdivia'', and he assigned [[Alcalde]]s and a [[town council]]."}}
After Pedro de Valdivia's death, the war with the [[Mapuche]]s, called the [[Arauco War|War of Arauco]], continued. The Spanish made many attempts to defeat the Mapuche and defend the cities and forts built on their territory. On March 17 of 1575 the city was damaged by [[1575 Valdivia earthquake|a massive earthquake]]. It has since been likened to the [[Great Chilean earthquake]] of 1960 in terms of damage.<ref name="BHV">{{cite web | url = http://www.buscalibros.cl/libros.php?c=226 | year = 1971 | publisher = Editorial Francisco de Aguirre | title = Breve Historia de Valdivia | access-date = 2007-09-17 | archive-date = 2007-02-18 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070218034335/http://www.buscalibros.cl/libros.php?c=226 | url-status = live }}</ref>
Until 1575, the Huilliche of Valdivia did not organize any notable resistance against the Spanish. They had fought as ''[[Indios amigos]]'' with the Spanish against the northern Mapuche in the Arauco War.  But that year 4,000 Indians who had been fighting in Martín Ruiz de Gamboa's army rebelled after returning to the area of Valdivia.
[[File:Pedro de Valdivia.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Picture of [[Pedro de Valdivia]], conquistador of Chile and founder of Valdivia]]
During the 16th century, the economy of Valdivia was sustained by trade in agricultural products from nearby areas and by the coining and export of [[placer deposit|placer]] [[gold]] from [[Villarrica, Chile|Villarrica]], [[Madre de Dios Mine|Madre de Dios]] and [[Osorno, Chile|Osorno]]. In Lima and the rest of Chile, people referred to all the gold from these sources as "''gold from Valdivia.''" Many merchants of Lima had envoys in Valdivia, and the city developed a large ship building industry. It produced the largest ships in the [[Kingdom of Chile]].
After the demoralising [[Battle of Curalaba]] in 1598, in which the Mapuche killed [[governor of Chile|governor]] [[Martín García Óñez de Loyola|Óñez de Loyola]], the Mapuche and Huilliche made a mass rebellion. The Indians destroyed or forced the abandonment of all the Spanish settlements and forts in their lands, in what came to be known as the [[Destruction of the Seven Cities]]. On the morning of 24 November 1599, the Huilliche attacked the city and massacred its inhabitants, some few being rescued by the ships in the harbour. The border of the Spanish Empire shifted north of the [[Bío-Bío River]]. Valdivia was re-established but it was a Spanish enclave surrounded by native Huilliche territory. Together with [[Castro, Chile]] on the island of [[Chiloé Island|Chiloé]], it was one of the southernmost colonies of the Empire.
Eleven days after the first destruction of Valdivia, a group of 270 Spanish soldiers arrived from Perú.<ref name=BHV/> The commander of the troops, colonel Francisco del Campo was convinced that the city of Valdivia needed to be repopulated. After Francisco del Campo's expedition left, the [[Dutch people|Dutch]] corsair Sebastian de Cordes occupied the site of Valdivia for some months, giving the Dutch government information about this abandoned part of the Spanish Empire. The Spaniards returned on 13 March 1602, when captain Francisco Hernández Ortiz established a fort on the ruins of the city. On September 24 natives attacked the fort unsuccessfully, but laid siege. The Spaniards could not acquire food or supplies, and on 3 February 1604 abandoned the fort, with the last starving survivors rescued by ship.
===Ruins of Valdivia and Dutch occupation (1604–1645)===
{{Further|Dutch expedition to Valdivia}}
The [[Netherlands|Dutch]] governor of the [[East Indies]] [[Hendrik Brouwer]], learned about the situation in Valdivia, and decided to establish a base there for further attacks against the Viceroy of Peru.  This plan was well accepted as the Netherlands was at war with Spain.  The Dutch had previously taken the North of [[Brazil]] from the [[Iberian Union|Spanish-Portuguese crown]], and the idea of creating a South American empire was attractive.  In spite of his advanced age, Hendrik Brouwer left his post as governor in the East Indies to personally lead the expedition.  The Dutch fleet destroyed the Fort of [[Carelmapu]] and the city of [[Castro, Chile|Castro]] before arriving at [[Corral Bay]] at the mouth of the Valdivia River.  Hendrik Brouwer died the 7th of August in [[Puerto Inglés]] while waiting for better winds to sail north to Valdivia.  [[John Maurice of Nassau]] while in charge of the Dutch part of Brazil had equipped the expedition and had secretly appointed Elias Herckman as commander if Brouwer died.  Herckman finally occupied the ruins of Valdivia in 1643, renaming it '''Brouwershaven'''. The Dutch did not find the gold mines they expected and the hostility of the natives forced them to leave on 28 October 1643.<ref name=BHV/>
[[File:Torreon23.jpg|thumb|250px|Image of Torreón El Canelo restored in the 1850s. It is one of two remaining Spanish towers in Valdivia used to defend the city and one of the few remaining colonial structures.]]
===Second Spanish city (1645–1810)===
[[Pedro Álvarez de Toledo y Leiva]] Viceroy of Peru (1639–1648) knew of the strategic importance of Valdivia and decided to repopulate and fortify it once and for all.  He financed partly the expedition to repopulate Valdivia with his own capital.<ref name=BHV/> The contingent in charge of the mission was organized in Peru and consisted of seventeen ships filled with building materials and supplies that astounded contemporaries by its magnitude.<ref name=unesco/> The local government of Chile could not secure Valdivia as it was engaged in continuous war with the Mapuches and was deeply dependent on the [[Real Situado]], an annual payment of silver from [[Potosí]] to finance the army of Chile. The Valdivia enclave was placed directly under the control of the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] that administered Valdivia from its repopulation in 1645 until 1740.<ref name=BHV/> [[Corral, Chile|Corral]], located on the river entrance to Valdivia, became [[Valdivian Fort System|one of the most fortified bay at the time]],<ref name="unesco"/> with 17 forts. During this time it was several times proposed to move the city of Valdivia to [[Mancera Island]]. Valdivia's original site, downtown of modern Valdivia was repopulated in 1684.
Once Spanish presence in Valdivia was [[Dutch expedition to Valdivia#Spanish response|reestablished in 1645]], authorities sent convicts from all-over the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] to construct the [[Valdivian Fort System]].<ref name=museoniebla>{{Cite web|url=https://www.museodeniebla.gob.cl/643/w3-propertyvalue-42964.html?_noredirect=1|title=Historia|access-date=2020-04-07|website=Museo de Sitio Castillo de Niebla|publisher=Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural|language=es|archive-date=2020-08-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804005645/https://www.museodeniebla.gob.cl/643/w3-propertyvalue-42964.html?_noredirect=1|url-status=dead}}</ref> The convicts, many of whom were [[Afro-Peruvian]]s, became later soldier-settlers once they had served their sentence.<ref name=museoniebla/> Close contacts with indigenous [[Mapuche]] meant many soldiers were bilingual in Spanish and [[Mapuche language|Mapudungun]].<ref name=Urbina2017>{{Cite journal |last1=Urbina C. |first1=María Ximena |author-link=Ximena Urbina |date=2017 |title=La expedición de John Narborough a Chile, 1670: Defensa de Valdivia, rumeros de indios, informaciones de los prisioneros y la creencia en la Ciudad de los Césares |trans-title=John Narborough expedition to Chile, 1670: Defense of Valdivia, indian rumours, information on prisoners, and the belief in the City of the Césares |url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-22442017000200011&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=es |journal=[[Magallania]] |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=11–36 |doi=10.4067/S0718-22442017000200011 |access-date=27 December 2019 |doi-access=free |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516145116/https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-22442017000200011&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=es |url-status=live }}</ref> A 1749 census in Valdivia shows that [[Afro-Chileans|Afro-descendants]] had a strong presence in the area by then.<ref name=museoniebla/>
Beginning in the mid-18th century, Valdivia left behind its past as an enclave and a period of agricultural expansion begun. The expansion, that mainly directed to the south, was done mostly by pacific means, but hostilities with indigenous Huilliches did occur. After the Valdivian colonization had reached [[Bueno River]], Spanish authorities pushed for connecting the city of Valdivia with the settlements at [[Chacao Channel]] by a road.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Couyoumdjian |first=Juan Ricardo |date=2009 |title=Reseña de "La frontera de arriba en Chile colonial. Interacción hispano-indígena en el territorio entre Valdivia y Chiloé e imaginario de sus bordes geográficos, 1600–1800" de MARÍA XIMENA URBINA CARRASCO |url=http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/334/33411422021.pdf |journal=[[Historia (history of the Americas journal)|Historia]] |volume=I |issue=42 |pages=281–283 |access-date=30 January 2016 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220070004/http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/334/33411422021.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Independence and growth (1810–1959)===
{{Further|German colonization of Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue|1960 Valdivia earthquake}}
[[File:Tomadevaldivia.JPG|thumb|250px|left|A painting of the assault on Corral fort]]
Self-governing juntas appeared in [[Spanish America]] and Spain after [[Napoleon]] occupied Spain and held the Spanish king [[Fernando VII]] captive. Many juntas, as was the case of Chile, declared plans to rule their territory in the absence of the legitimate king. At the time of the first governing junta of [[Chile]] in 1810 the Valdivian governor, an [[Irishman]], Albert Alexander Eagar, led the celebration of what was seen as an affirmation of the legitimacy of the Spanish king. However, Valdivian independentists, such as [[Camilo Henríquez]], saw an opportunity to gain absolute independence from Spain, organized a coup on 1 November 1811, and joined other Chilean cities that were already revolting against the old order.<ref name=BHV/> Four months after the coup, on 16 March 1812 a counterrevolutionary coup took control of the city and created a War Council. The War Council broke trade relations with the rest of Chile and confirmed Valdivia's loyalty to the Spanish government.<ref name=BHV/>
Even after several defeats of the Spanish troops during the [[Chilean Independence War]], Valdivia and [[Chiloé Island|Chiloé]] remained loyal to the Spanish King. By 1820 the newly created [[Chilean Navy]], commanded by [[Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald|Lord Thomas Cochrane]], [[Capture of Valdivia|captured Valdivia]], but failed to liberate Chiloé. Cochrane's land-based attack took the Spanish by surprise, avoiding a direct confrontation with the highly defended forts at the entrance to the Valdivia River. When loyal troops in Valdivia heard the news about the fall of Corral they sacked the city and fled south to reinforce Chiloé, passing by [[Osorno, Chile|Osorno]].<ref name=BHV/>
[[File:CamiloHenríquez.JPG|thumb|Friar [[Camilo Henríquez]], born in Valdivia, was one of the [[List of national founders|founding fathers]] of the Republic of Chile.]]
Chilean Supreme Director, and [[Libertadores|Libertador]], [[Bernardo O'Higgins]] founded the city of [[La Unión, Chile|La Unión]] south of Valdivia in 1821, to secure the way to Osorno, a city that had been repopulated in 1796 by his father [[Ambrosio O'Higgins]]. Valdivia had been a province of the [[Kingdom of Chile|General Captaincy of Chile]] and was in 1826 incorporated as one of the eight provinces of Chile.<ref name=BHV/>
On February 20, 1835, Valdivia was affected by the worst earthquake in the area in several decades, an event witnessed by [[Charles Darwin]].<ref name="darwin">{{gutenberg|no=3704|name=The Voyage of the Beagle ''by Charles Darwin''}}</ref> He also stated that ''"there is not much cleared land near Valdivia"''<ref name="darwin"/> which contrasted with the description made by early Spaniards of large fields and extensive croplands.
The expansion and economic development of the city were limited in the early 19th century. To jump-start economic development, the Chilean government initiated a highly focussed immigration program under [[Bernhard Eunom Philippi]] and later [[Vicente Pérez Rosales]] as government agents. Through this program, thousands of [[Germans]] settled in the area, incorporating then-modern technology and know-how to develop agriculture and industry. While immigrants that arrived to the [[Llanquihue Province|Llanquihue]] area were often poor farmers, Valdivia received more educated immigrants, including political exiles and merchants. Some of the immigrants that arrived in Valdivia established workshops and built new industries. One of the most famous immigrants was [[Carlos Anwandter]], an exile from [[Luckenwalde]] who arrived in Valdivia in 1850 and in 1858 founded Chile's first German school. Other Germans left the city and became settlers, drawn by the promise of free land. They were often given forested land, which they cleared to turn into farms.<ref>Otero, Luis, La Huella del Fuego: Historia de los bosques y cambios en el paisaje del sur de  Chile (Valdivia, Editorial Pehuen)</ref> Native [[Mapuche]] and [[Huilliche]] either sold their land or were pushed into [[Reservation (Chile)|reservation]]s. The Osorno department of Valdivia Province was moved to [[Llanquihue Province]] (created in 1853) as consequence of German immigration to the Llaquihue area.
{{quote|We shall be honest and laborious Chileans as the best of them, we shall defend our adopted country joining in the ranks of our new countrymen, against any foreign oppression and with the decision and firmness of the man that defends his country, his family and his interests.  Never will have the country that adopts us as its children, reason to repent of such illustrated, human and generous proceeding,... |[[Carlos Anwandter]]}}
Valdivia prospered with industries, including shipyards, the Hoffmann [[gristmill]], the Rudloff shoe factory, the Anwandter beer company and many more. The [[steel mill]]s of [[Corral, Chile|Corral]] were the largest recorded private investment in Chile at the time, and were the first steel mills in [[South America]]. In 1891 Valdivia became a [[Communes of Chile|commune]] according to a law that created such subdivisions. After the [[Malleco Viaduct]] was built in 1890 the railroads advanced further south, reaching Valdivia in 1895. The first passenger train arrived in 1899. In 1909 a fire destroyed 18 [[city block]]s in downtown Valdivia,<ref name=BHV/> which were rebuilt with modern concrete buildings. By 1911 lumber production, from clearing of native forests, became the most important industry. Cattle-raising was a growing industry, and wheat was grown on the cleared lands. Lumber, cattle, leather, flour and beer were exported. In 1895 the city's population was 8,062 inhabitants and was estimated at 9,704 in 1902.
{{quote|Valdivia, situated at some distance from the coast, on the Calle-calle river, is a German town. Everywhere you meet German faces, German signboards and placards alongside the Spanish. There is a large German school, a church and various ''Vereine'', large shoe-factories, and, of course, breweries...|[[Carl Skottsberg]]}}
The economic prosperity of Valdivia continued throughout the first half of the 20th century. In 1917 the first "Valdivian Week" (Spanish: ''Semana Valdiviana'') was celebrated. Chile's oldest beauty contest, "Queen of The Rivers" (Spanish: ''Reina de Los Ríos'') began the same year. The city evolved as an early tourist center in Chile, while popular songs that named Valdivia and the [[Calle-Calle River]] made it better known in Chilean popular culture. The [[Pedro de Valdivia Bridge]] crossing the Valdivia River was built in 1954. Valdivia came to be one of the most important industrial centers in Chile together with the capital [[Santiago de Chile|Santiago]] and the main port city, [[Valparaíso]].
The commercial and human flux Valdivia suffered two setbacks in the early 20th century, first the connection of [[Osorno, Chile|Osorno]] by railroad to central Chile which meant that Valdivia lost the quality of being the port that connected Osorno to [[Central Chile]].<ref>[http://mingaonline.uach.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-64281998000200006&lng=es&nrm=iso Investigación aplicada sobre Geografía Urbana: Un caso práctico en la ciudad de Valdivia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025010536/http://mingaonline.uach.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-64281998000200006&lng=es&nrm=iso|date=2014-10-25}} Víctor Figueroa, Jorge Gayoso, Edgardo Oyarzun, Lenia Planas[[Gestion Turistica]], [[UACh]].</ref> Later on 1911 the opening of the [[Panama Canal]] meant a decrease in ship traffic all over Chile since ships travelling from the north Atlantic to north Pacific no longer had to pass through the [[Straits of Magellan]] or visit any Chilean port.
{{clear}}
===Great Chilean earthquake and Los Lagos Region (1960–2006)===
{{See also|Great Chilean earthquake|Riñihuazo|Los Ríos Region}}
[[File:Valdivia after earthquake, 1960.jpg|thumb|250px|left|A street in Valdivia after the [[Great Chilean earthquake|earthquake]] of 22 May 1960]]
On May 22, 1960, Chile suffered the most powerful earthquake ever recorded, rating 9.5<ref name="earthquake"/> on the [[moment magnitude scale]], with Valdivia being the most affected city. The earthquake generated devastating [[tsunami]]s that affected Japan, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and [[Hawaii]]. Spanish-colonial [[Valdivian Fort System|forts around Valdivia]] were severely damaged, while soil subsidence destroyed buildings, deepened local rivers, and created wetlands of the [[Río Cruces y Chorocomayo]] – a new aquatic park north of the city.
Large sections of the city flooded after the earthquake, and a landslide near the [[Tralcán]] Mount [[riñihuazo|dammed the Riñihue Lake]]. Water levels in Lake Riñihue rose more than {{convert|20|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}}, raising the danger of a catastrophic break and of destroying everything downriver. Government authorities drew plans for evacuating the city, but many people left on their own. Danger to the city was reduced after a large team of workers opened a drainage channel in the landslide; water levels of the lake slowly returned to normal levels. There is evidence that a similar landslide and earthquake happened in 1575.<ref name=BHV/> After the Great Chilean earthquake Valdivia's economy and political status declined. Much of the city was destroyed and many inhabitants left.
The [[1973 Chilean coup d'état]] and the military's actions that followed brought dozens of detainees to Valdivia and saw the imposing of a nationwide [[curfew]]. In October a group of 12 young men, among them [[José Gregorio Liendo]], were brought from the [[Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli]] in the Andes to be executed in Valdivia by [[firing squad]] due to alleged participation in the [[Neltume#History|assault on Neltume police station]] and "guerrilla activities".
By 1974, the military junta reorganized the political divisions of Chile and declared Valdivia a province of the [[Los Lagos Region]] with [[Puerto Montt]] as the regional capital. Many Valdivians resented the decision, and felt theirs should have been the legitimate regional capital—while Valdivia was founded in 1552, and had resisted [[Corral Bay Forts|pirate attacks]], [[Arauco War|hostile natives]] and several earthquakes, Puerto Montt was a relatively new city founded only in 1853 (three hundred and one years later).
Since the liberalization of the economy in Chile in the 1980s the forestry sector in Valdivia boomed, first by exporting wood chips to Japan from [[Corral, Chile|Corral]] and then by producing [[woodpulp]] in Mariquina (50&nbsp;km northeast of Valdivia). This led to deforestation and substitution of native [[Valdivian temperate rainforests]] to plant pines and [[eucalyptus]], but also created new jobs for people with limited education. Valdivia also benefitted from the development of [[salmon]] [[aquaculture]] in the 1990s, but to a much lesser extent than places such as [[Puerto Montt]] and Chiloé.
==Culture==
[[File:Regiondelosrios.jpg|thumb|right|270px|Picture of [[Michelle Bachelet]]'s visit to Valdivia in 2007, in which she confirmed the creation of [[Los Ríos Region]]]]
Valdivia is often promoted for its unique characteristics, that make it different from other cities in Chile: Valdivia has an early Spanish colonial past, plus a later history of [[German colonization of Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue|German colonization]]. Both eras left visible landmarks such as the [[Valdivian Fort System|forts of Corral Bay]] and the German-style wood houses. The governments of Spain and Germany currently maintain honorary [[consul (representative)|consul]]ates in Valdivia. The city is commonly seen as a tourist magnet in Chile, and sometimes described as ''La Perla del Sur'' (''The Pearl of the South'') and as ''La ciudad mas linda de Chile'' (''Chile's most beautiful city'').
Every year during the summer months of January and February the municipality organizes many free cultural events along the river site, such as concerts, sporting events, and other entertainment. To mark and celebrate the end of the touristic summer months, halfway through February all entertainment reaches its climax with the celebration of ''noche Valdiviana'' (Valdivian night). During this night many local groups and communities present themselves on boats during a night parade over the river. Every boat has its own theme related with one theme of that year. At the end a jury picks the winners in different categories. The parade is by tradition started by a boat which presents ''la reina de los ríos''. In recent years Valdivians have showed an increasing interest in nature and [[ecotourism]]. An example of this was the formation of ''[[Acción por los Cisnes]]'' an ecologist group formed to protect black-necked swans and the natural environment that surrounds the city, particularly wetlands created or expanded by the [[Great Chilean earthquake]]. With the founding of [[Southern University of Chile|Universidad Austral]] in 1954 and the arrival of the [[Centro de Estudios Científicos|CECS]] research center, Valdivia is now considered a major research center in Chile, particularly in areas related to nature such a [[glaciology]] and [[ecology]]. The [[Great Chilean earthquake]] and the national government's creation of the [[Los Lagos Region]] were difficult for Valdivian society. Valdivians resented to be punished first by a major earthquake and then by being placed under the administration of what they perceived to be a less-deserving city, [[Puerto Montt]]. The recent creation of a new, smaller, but more independent region (Los Ríos), with Valdivia as its capital, reduced the previous stigma.
Valdivia's varied influences are reflected by its multicultural [[toponym]]s that include placenames of [[Mapudungun|Mapuche]], Spanish, [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]] and German origin.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bernales Lillo |first=Mario |date=1984 |title=Aspectos diacrónicos en la toponimia de Valdivia |url=http://www.anales.uchile.cl/index.php/ANUC/article/viewFile/23061/24411 |journal=[[Anales de la Universidad de Chile]] |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=79–94 |language=es |access-date=2017-02-23 |archive-date=2017-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224132844/http://www.anales.uchile.cl/index.php/ANUC/article/viewFile/23061/24411 |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Spanish colonial influences===
During much of the colonial period, Valdivia was essentially a military camp, a walled city surrounded by hostile natives. The coastal defenses and their garrisons made up a large part of the population. After several fires and earthquakes, nearly all buildings from this period were destroyed, with the exception of the military defenses. Valdivia's best known historical landmarks are now the two towers which were part of a former city wall, built by the Spaniards to defend the city, known as ''Torreones'': [[Torreón Los Canelos]] and [[Torreón del Barro]].
===German influences===
{{Main|German colonization of Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue}}
[[File:Entrada_Cervecería_Kunstmann.jpg|thumb|[[Kunstmann]] Brewery, Valdivia, Chile]]
Since the first [[German people|Germans]] migrated to Valdivia in the mid-1840s, German cultural influence has been visible in the city. Germans in Valdivia settled mostly in the [[Isla Teja]] and [[Collico]] suburban areas. Until the building of [[Pedro de Valdivia Bridge]], inhabitants of [[Isla Teja]] lived isolated from the city, where it was common that children first learned to speak [[German language|German]] before Spanish. Nowadays, the [[German language]] is preserved by the ''[[Instituto Alemán Carlos Anwandter]]'' one of [[Latin America]]'s oldest German schools. German descendants also form Valdivia's oldest fire station ''Germania,'' located in Isla Teja.
German immigrants and their descendants formed their social club ''Club Alemán,'' which after [[World War II]] changed names to ''Club la Unión''. German workers once had their own club simply called ''El Alemán'' (The German).
Valdivia also hosts ''Bierfest Valdivia'', a celebration that could be described as a small, regional [[Oktoberfest]], despite being celebrated in late January or February of every year (during the local summer, when there is the largest influx of tourists). The main sponsor and organizer is [[Kunstmann]], a local [[beer]] company, founded by German nationals, but since bought out by the largest beer and beverages company in Chile (CCU).
== Literature ==
The Valdivia Book Fair is organized annually by the Municipal Cultural Corporation in Parque Saval.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Todo lo que necesitas saber sobre la 29° Feria del Libro de Valdivia |url=https://www.diariofutrono.cl/noticia/actualidad/2021/11/todo-lo-que-necesitas-saber-sobre-la-29-feria-del-libro-de-valdivia |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Diario Futrono |language=es |archive-date=2022-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203232625/https://www.diariofutrono.cl/noticia/actualidad/2021/11/todo-lo-que-necesitas-saber-sobre-la-29-feria-del-libro-de-valdivia |url-status=live }}</ref> Likewise, the Society of Writers of Chile, through its subsidiary Valdivia and with the collaboration of the [[Austral University of Chile]], regularly holds literary gatherings, a space in which books are presented and local letters are shared with the student community.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Invitan a nueva tertulia literaria Tren de letras bajo la lluvia |url=https://diario.uach.cl/invitan-a-nueva-tertulia-literaria-tren-de-letras-bajo-la-lluvia/ |website=Universidad Austral de Chile |access-date=2022-06-16 |archive-date=2022-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518123618/https://diario.uach.cl/invitan-a-nueva-tertulia-literaria-tren-de-letras-bajo-la-lluvia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Several authors born in the [[Los Ríos Region]] also stand out in the city, such as [[Maha Vial]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marimón |first=Guido Macari |date=2020-10-27 |title=Muere la poeta y actriz Maha Vial |url=https://www.latercera.com/culto/2020/10/27/muere-la-poeta-y-actriz-maha-vial/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=La Tercera |archive-date=2022-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616183920/https://www.latercera.com/culto/2020/10/27/muere-la-poeta-y-actriz-maha-vial/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Iván Espinoza Riesco,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iván Espinoza Riesco |url=https://comunidadcreativalosrios.cultura.gob.cl/catalogo/ivan-espinoza-riesco/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=comunidadcreativalosrios.cultura.gob.cl |archive-date=2022-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818060919/https://comunidadcreativalosrios.cultura.gob.cl/catalogo/ivan-espinoza-riesco/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[José Baroja]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fernández |first=Antonio Cazás |title="La escritura le aportó sentido, coherencia e identidad a mi vida" |url=https://www.elcorreogallego.es/el-correo-2/la-escritura-le-aporto-sentido-coherencia-e-identidad-a-mi-vida-AP10794051 |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=www.elcorreogallego.es |language=es-ES |archive-date=2022-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517180144/https://www.elcorreogallego.es/el-correo-2/la-escritura-le-aporto-sentido-coherencia-e-identidad-a-mi-vida-AP10794051 |url-status=live }}</ref> Aldo Astete Cuadra,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aldo Astete Cuadra – El Ser que acecha entre la Lluvia |url=https://comunidadcreativalosrios.cultura.gob.cl/galeriav/aldo-astete-cuadra-el-ser-que-acecha-entre-la-lluvia/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=comunidadcreativalosrios.cultura.gob.cl |archive-date=2022-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616183923/https://comunidadcreativalosrios.cultura.gob.cl/galeriav/aldo-astete-cuadra-el-ser-que-acecha-entre-la-lluvia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Efraín Miranda Cárdenas, among others.
==Demographics==
According to the 2002 [[census]] of the [[National Statistics Institute (Chile)|National Statistics Institute]], the commune of Valdivia spans an area of {{convert|1015.6|sqkm|0|abbr=on|sp=us}} and has 140,559 inhabitants (68,510 men and 72,049 women). Of these, 129,952 (92.5%) lived in [[urban area]]s and 10,607 (7.5%) in [[rural area]]s. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 15.1% (18,391 persons).<ref name="INE"/>
The city of Valdivia spans {{convert|42.39|sqkm|0|abbr=on|sp=us}} had a population of 127,750 and 35,217 homes, giving it a population density of {{convert|3013.7|PD/sqkm|0|abbr=on|sp=us}}. The commune is divided into 19 census districts with one recognized [[List of towns in Chile|town]], Niebla, with an area of {{convert|1.55|sqkm|sp=us}}, population of 2,202 (in 1,169 homes) and population density of {{convert|1420.6|PD/sqkm|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="INE"/>
Within the population, the presence of descendants of migrants of German origin and of Spanish origin also stands out, colonies that are grouped into different social, educational, sports and cultural institutions.
===Arts and Scientific research===
The Southern University of Chile ([[Universidad Austral de Chile]], UACh), one of the original eight Chilean state universities, has its main campus in Valdivia. In the last decade Valdivia gained prestige as an important cultural and scientific venue: the [[Valdivia International Film Festival|Valdivia Film Festival]] became the most important in Chile, and the [[Centro de Estudios Científicos]] (CECS) is now housed in the recently modernized, German-style hotel Schuster located by the Valdivia River. [[Claudio Bunster]], a physicist and winner of Chile's National Prize in Exact Sciences, is the Director of CECS. Some research areas where CECS and UACH have gained widespread recognition include:
*[http://www.agrarias.cl/noticias_archivo.htm/ Agronomy] (UACh)
*[http://www.cecs.cl/web/cecs_index.php?area=cecs&dep=biofisica&idioma=es&pagina=home/ Biophysics and molecular physiology] (CECS)
*[http://www.ciencias.uach.cl/instituto/ecologia_evolucion/index.htm/ Ecology] (UACh)
*[http://www.uach.cl/facultad/forestal/ Forestry] (UACh)
*[http://www.cecs.cl/web/cecs_index.php?area=cecs&dep=glaciologia&idioma=es&pagina=home/ Glaciology] (CECS)
*[http://www.cecs.cl/web/cecs_index.php?area=cecs&dep=fisica&idioma=es&pagina=home/ Physics] (CECS)
*[http://www.medicinaveterinaria.cl/ Veterinary] (UACh)
The city is surrounded by many nature reserves and large areas of forest plantations, wetlands and [[Valdivian temperate rainforest]] that, together with the numerous rivers that circle the city, have heightened the residents' awareness of living close to nature.
===Trivia===
In addition to being known as ''the City of Rivers'', Valdivia has also been called ''The pearl of the South,''  ''The key of the South seas'', ''Gibraltar of the Pacific'', and ''Chile's most beautiful city''. The nickname ''Valdilluvia'' is a mix of the Spanish word for rain – ''lluvia'' and Valdivia referring to the rainy climate of the city.
==Geography==
[[File:Txu-oclc-224571178-sj18-16.jpg|250px|thumb|Map of Valdivia and its surroundings]]
As part of the [[Chile]]an [[Patagonia]], the geography of the Valdivia area consists of wetlands and alluvial terraces. Several rivers, such as [[Cau-Cau River|Cau-Cau]], [[Calle-Calle River|Calle-Calle]] and [[Cruces River|Cruces]], join near the city forming the larger [[Valdivia River]]. Valdivia River in turn empties to [[Corral Bay]] in the [[Pacific Ocean]] just some 15&nbsp;km west of Valdivia. This river network made Valdivia a trade center even since [[Pre-Hispanic]] times. The city itself was built on a riverine terrace but expanded later over adjacent wetlands. Nowadays the city is virtually surrounded by hills by all sides except north where Valdivia's lowlands connect to the flatlands of San José de la Mariquina. Some hilly areas around Valdivia are covered with exotic forest species such as [[Douglas-fir]], ''[[Pinus radiata]]'' and ''[[Eucalyptus globulus]]''. Other places are used for recreational purposes or conservation of native ecosystems. Additional Northern Hemisphere exotic trees such as [[birch]], [[horsechestnut]] and [[Populus|poplar]] are common in residential areas. [[Palm (plant)|Palms]] are occasional.
Parts of city is built on poor soils made up of former wetlands or artificial fills that are prone to suffer during earthquakes as demonstrated in 1960 and [[2010 Chile earthquake|2010]].<ref name=rojasDiez2013>{{Cite journal|title=El terremoto chileno del 27 de febrero de 2010: Análisis preliminar de las consecuencias en la ciudad de Valdivia|journal=[[Investigaciones Geográficas]]|last1=Rojas Hoppe|first1=Carlos|volume=60|pages=139–153|last2=Díez Lorente|first2=Silvia|doi=10.14198/INGEO2013.60.08|year=2013|issue=60 |language=Spanish|doi-access=free|hdl=10045/34749|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
===Geology===
{{See also|Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex|Santo Domingo Formation}}
Within the context of [[plate tectonics]], the city lies at a [[Convergent boundary|convergent margin]] where [[Nazca Plate]], in the Pacific, is [[subduction|subducted]] beneath the [[South American Plate]]. Topographically Valdivia lies in a depression amidst the [[Chilean Coast Range]]. The [[basement (geology)|basement rocks]] that crops out in the hills around the city are of [[metamorphic rock|metamorphic type]]. The city itself is chiefly built upon terraces made up of hardened [[volcano|volcanic]] [[sand]]. This volcanic sandstone is known as "cancagua" and deposited during the late [[Pleistocene|Pleistocene epoch]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vega |first1=Rodrgo |last2=Mella |first2=Mauricio |last3=Nielsen |first3=Sven N. |last4=Pino |first4=Mario |author-link4=Mario Pino Quivira |date=2018 |title=Stratigraphy and sedimentology of a late Pleistocene incised valley fill: a depositional and paleogeographic model for "Cancagua" deposits in north-western Patagonia, Chile |url=http://www.andeangeology.cl/index.php/revista1/article/view/V45n2-3030/html |journal=[[Andean Geology]] |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=161–185 |doi=10.5027/andgeoV45n2-3030 |doi-access=free |access-date=2018-08-07 |archive-date=2018-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807190147/http://www.andeangeology.cl/index.php/revista1/article/view/V45n2-3030/html |url-status=live }}</ref> As terraces took shape during the [[interglacial]] preceding the [[Llanquihue glaciation]] —the [[last glacial period]]— this interglacial is known in Chile as the [[Eemian|Valdivia interglacial]].<ref>Astorga, G. and [[Mario Pino Quivira|Pino, M]]. (2011). [http://www.raco.cat/index.php/GeologicaActa/article/viewFile/240540/323050 "Fossil leaves from the last interglacial in Central-Southern Chile: Inferences regarding the vegetation and paleoclimate"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202235829/http://www.raco.cat/index.php/GeologicaActa/article/viewFile/240540/323050 |date=2016-12-02 }}. ''[[Geologica Acta]]''. '''9''' (1): 45–54.</ref>
[[File:Valdivia Vista.JPG|thumb|right|250px|View of Valdivia from west]]
A [[tectonic]]ally and [[eustatic]]ally stable period during the [[Oligocene]] and Early [[Miocene]] allowed erosion to create deep valleys in the Coast Range and peat swamps at what is now the [[estuary]] of the Valdivia basin.<ref name=leRouxElgueta/> About 23.5&nbsp;million years ago this stable period was interrupted by a major [[volcanic eruption]] and 23 mya ago an increase in convergence rate at the [[Peru–Chile Trench]] caused an uplift of the landscape and renewed erosion.<ref name=leRouxElgueta/> However basin [[subsidence]] and a marine [[transgression (geology)|transgression]] formed deep embayments, [[tidal flats]], bayhead deltas and beaches.<ref name=leRouxElgueta>{{Cite journal |title=Sedimentologic development of a Late Oligocene–Miocene forearc embayment, Valdivia Basin Complex, southern Chile |journal=[[Sedimentary Geology (journal)|Sedimentary Geology]] |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0037073899000962 |last1=le Roux |first1=J.P. |volume=130 |pages=27–44 |last2=Elgueta |first2=Sara |issue=1–2 |doi=10.1016/S0037-0738(99)00096-2 |year=2000 |bibcode=2000SedG..130...27L |access-date=2022-03-08 |archive-date=2022-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308104737/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0037073899000962 |url-status=live }}</ref>
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The city of Valdivia is situated above a sedimentary plain inside the [[Valdivian Coast Range]] (part of the larger [[Chilean Coast Range]]). The [[Cruces Rivers|Cruces]] and [[Calle-Calle River]]s penetrates from north respectively east. At the site of Valdivia they give origin to he range and reach the plains of Valdivia before turning west to [[Corral Bay]]. The backbone of the Valdivian Coast Range is the [[Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex]] which is a [[forearc]] high at the [[subduction]] front made of [[schist]]. Valdivia is above a sedimentary plain surrounded by low mountains of the coast range. Part of the sediments are [[volcaniclastic]] material such as [[clay]]s from the last [[interglacial]] period. Much of the sediments were carried as far as from the [[Andes]].<ref name="jara">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070630044726/http://www2.sernageomin.cl/pto_varas/Biblioteca/Articulos.pdf/JARA1.pdf Usos actuales y potenciales de los depositos sedimentarios del ultimo interglacial en Valdivia, X region, Chile] {{in lang|es}}</ref> Most of Valdivia's agricultural land corresponds to sedimentary deposits of the [[quaternary]].
Forested ranges of the Valdivian Coast Range surrounds Valdivia's plain by all side except to the north where the plain connects to Mariquina's agricultural flatlands through the wetlands of Cruces River. Valdivia lost a considerable surface of arable land, as a result of the [[Great Chilean earthquake]], because the soil surface went down {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}}, creating and expanding existing wetlands and swamps. Many of the city's buildings are built over former wetlands and lagoons making their foundations unstable.
* Altitude: {{convert|5|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}}.
* Latitude: 39°48′00″S
* Longitude: 73°13′59″W
-->
==Climate==
Valdivia has an [[oceanic climate]]  with [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]] influences.<ref name="dmch">[http://www.meteochile.cl/climas/climas_decima_region.html Dirección Meteorológica de Chile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229070118/http://www.meteochile.cl/climas/climas_decima_region.html |date=2008-02-29 }} {{in lang|es}}</ref> The natural vegetation of the region is the [[Valdivian temperate rainforest]].
During the summer months (December, January and February) the average temperature is about {{convert|17|C|F|0}}, while in winter the temperature descends to {{convert|8.5|C|F|1}}. The annual average temperature for [[Los Ríos Region]] is {{convert|11|C|F|0}}, while the mean temperature amplitude is 8.8&nbsp;°C (47.8&nbsp;°F) and the daily is 11&nbsp;°C (51.8&nbsp;°F).<ref name="dmch" /> Average annual [[Precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]] is {{convert|1750|mm|in|-1|sp=us}}, distributed through the year, but primarily between March and October. Hail occurs with some frequency during winter, but snow falls rarely. The last times it snowed in Valdivia were in August 2020, July 2007, and in August 1995 during the so-called ''[[White Earthquake|Terremoto Blanco]]'' ([[Spanish language|Spanish]] for White Earthquake). The [[Seven Lakes (Chile)|Seven Lakes]] in the interior help to keep an average relative humidity of 80% for the region as whole and there are no months with less than 75% average humidity.<ref name="dmch" /> The precipitation is generated by [[frontal system]]s that cross the zone, which produce cloudiness and few clear days.<ref name="dmch" /> The [[leeward]] effect of the [[Valdivian Coast Range]] is minimal due to its low height (715 m at [[Cerro Oncol]]) and the gap in the range at [[Valdivia River]]'s outflow to the [[Pacific Ocean]].{{clear}}
[[Climate change|Decreasing precipitation]] has caused the city's water supply in [[Calle-Calle River]] to be contaminated with saline water from the coast.<ref name=intrusion>{{Cite news |title=Científicos proyectan en 80 años la llegada de mar a toma de agua en Valdivia para buscar soluciones |url=https://www.biobiochile.cl/especial/aqui-tierra/noticias/2020/09/21/cientificos-proyectan-en-80-anos-la-llegada-de-mar-a-toma-de-agua-en-valdivia-para-buscar-soluciones.shtml |last1=Jara |first1=Yonatan |date=2020-09-21 |access-date=2022-03-07 |work=[[Radio Bío-Bío]] |last2=Stuardo |first2=Manuel |language=Spanish |archive-date=2022-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308104738/https://www.biobiochile.cl/especial/aqui-tierra/noticias/2020/09/21/cientificos-proyectan-en-80-anos-la-llegada-de-mar-a-toma-de-agua-en-valdivia-para-buscar-soluciones.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> The effects of saline water entering the water supply of Valdivia were particularly noticeable in March 2015 when there was a surge in complains about the taste of the water.<ref name=intrusion/><ref name=Laraintrusion>{{Cite news |title=El mar se acerca a principal toma de agua dulce en Valdivia y amenaza calidad del recurso |url=https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/nacional/region-de-los-rios/2020/09/16/agua-salada-se-acerca-a-principal-toma-de-agua-en-valdivia-y-amenaza-calidad-del-recurso.shtml |last=Lara |first=Emilio |date=2020-09-16 |access-date=2022-03-07 |work=[[Radio Bío-Bío]] |language=Spanish |archive-date=2022-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308104744/https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/nacional/region-de-los-rios/2020/09/16/agua-salada-se-acerca-a-principal-toma-de-agua-en-valdivia-y-amenaza-calidad-del-recurso.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> The saltwater in the rivers near Valdivia during autumn is expected to increase in the future.<ref name=Laraintrusion/> Estimations indicate that whenever the sum of the water discharge of Cruces and Calle-Calle rivers falls below {{convert|74|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} saltwater reaches the supply site at Cuesta Soto.<ref name=Laraintrusion/>
{{Weather box
|location = Valdivia, Chile ([[Pichoy Airport]]) 1991–2020, extremes 1966–present
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|Jan record high C = 35.2
|Feb record high C = 38.5
|Mar record high C = 32.0
|Apr record high C = 27.5
|May record high C = 21.2
|Jun record high C = 18.2
|Jul record high C = 19.2
|Aug record high C = 20.0
|Sep record high C = 25.9
|Oct record high C = 29.2
|Nov record high C = 31.2
|Dec record high C = 33.2
|year record high C = 38.5
|Jan high C = 24.0
|Feb high C = 24.1
|Mar high C = 21.5
|Apr high C = 17.0
|May high C = 13.5
|Jun high C = 11.0
|Jul high C = 10.8
|Aug high C = 12.4
|Sep high C = 14.8
|Oct high C = 16.9
|Nov high C = 19.2
|Dec high C = 21.8
|year high C = 17.3
|Jan mean C = 16.4
|Feb mean C = 16.3
|Mar mean C = 14.5
|Apr mean C = 11.7
|May mean C = 9.8
|Jun mean C = 8.0
|Jul mean C = 7.4
|Aug mean C = 8.3
|Sep mean C = 9.4
|Oct mean C = 11.1
|Nov mean C = 13.0
|Dec mean C = 15.0
|year mean C = 11.7
|Jan low C = 8.8
|Feb low C = 8.5
|Mar low C = 7.5
|Apr low C = 6.3
|May low C = 6.0
|Jun low C = 5.0
|Jul low C = 4.0
|Aug low C = 4.2
|Sep low C = 4.1
|Oct low C = 5.3
|Nov low C = 6.8
|Dec low C = 8.2
|year low C = 6.2
|Jan record low C = -0.7
|Feb record low C = -0.2
|Mar record low C = -1.9
|Apr record low C = -3.8
|May record low C = -6.0
|Jun record low C = -6.8
|Jul record low C = -7.2
|Aug record low C = -5.2
|Sep record low C = -5.0
|Oct record low C = -3.0
|Nov record low C = -1.4
|Dec record low C = 0.0
|year record low C = -7.2
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 40.5
|Feb precipitation mm = 39.1
|Mar precipitation mm = 68.0
|Apr precipitation mm = 125.0
|May precipitation mm = 231.5
|Jun precipitation mm = 329.3
|Jul precipitation mm = 265.0
|Aug precipitation mm = 241.8
|Sep precipitation mm = 123.4
|Oct precipitation mm = 107.3
|Nov precipitation mm = 84.7
|Dec precipitation mm = 66.8
|year precipitation mm = 1722.4
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 4.7
|Feb precipitation days = 4.7
|Mar precipitation days = 7.1
|Apr precipitation days = 10.5
|May precipitation days = 14.7
|Jun precipitation days = 18.8
|Jul precipitation days = 17.0
|Aug precipitation days = 16.8
|Sep precipitation days = 12.0
|Oct precipitation days = 11.9
|Nov precipitation days = 8.7
|Dec precipitation days = 7.1
|year precipitation days = 134.1
|Jan humidity = 63
|Feb humidity = 64
|Mar humidity = 72
|Apr humidity = 80
|May humidity = 87
|Jun humidity = 89
|Jul humidity = 87
|Aug humidity = 83
|Sep humidity = 76
|Oct humidity = 72
|Nov humidity = 68
|Dec humidity = 65
|Jan sun = 295.8
|Feb sun = 259.7
|Mar sun = 211.2
|Apr sun = 127.9
|May sun = 71.6
|Jun sun = 46.8
|Jul sun = 70.6
|Aug sun = 100.3
|Sep sun = 151.0
|Oct sun = 194.6
|Nov sun = 219.3
|Dec sun = 262.7
|year sun = 2011.5
|source 1 = Dirección Meteorológica de Chile (humidity 1970–2000)<ref name=climatenormals>
{{cite web
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230523194458/https://climatologia.meteochile.gob.cl/application/historico/datosNormales/390006
| archive-date = 23 May 2023
| url = https://climatologia.meteochile.gob.cl/application/historico/datosNormales/390006
| title = Datos Normales y Promedios Históricos Promedios de 30 años o menos
| publisher = Dirección Meteorológica de Chile
| language = es
| access-date = 23 May 2023}}</ref><ref name=records>
{{cite web
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230523194817/https://climatologia.meteochile.gob.cl/application/historico/temperaturaHistoricaAnual/390006
| archive-date = 23 May 2023
| url = https://climatologia.meteochile.gob.cl/application/historico/temperaturaHistoricaAnual/390006
| title = Temperatura Histórica de la Estación Pichoy, Valdivia Ad. (390006)
| publisher = Dirección Meteorológica de Chile
| language = es
| access-date = 23 May 2023}}</ref><ref name=DMC>
{{cite web
| url = http://164.77.222.61/climatologia/publicaciones/Estadistica_ClimatologicaII.pdf
| title = Estadistica Climatologica Tomo II
| access-date = December 25, 2012
| publisher = Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil
| language = es
| date = March 2001
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180012/http://164.77.222.61/climatologia/publicaciones/Estadistica_ClimatologicaII.pdf
| archive-date = March 3, 2016
| url-status = dead
| df = mdy-all}}</ref>
|source 2 = [[NOAA]] (precipitation days 1991–2020)<ref>{{cite web
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230806113055/https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-3-WMO-Normals-9120/Chile/CSV/Pichoyvaldiviaad_85766.csv
| archive-date = 6 August 2023
| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-3-WMO-Normals-9120/Chile/CSV/Pichoyvaldiviaad_85766.csv
| title = Pichoy Valdivia Climate Normals 1991–2020
| work = World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020)
| publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]
| access-date = 6 August 2023}}</ref>
|date=August 2010}}
==Government and politics==
The commune of Valdivia is a third-level [[administrative division of Chile]] governed by a directly elected [[mayor]] (''[[alcalde]]'') and a [[municipal council]] (''consejales''). The city's current mayor is [[Carla Amtmann|Carla Andrea Amtmann Fecci]] of the [[Democratic Revolution]] party.  The prior mayor was Omar Sabat Guzmán of the [[Independent Democratic Union|Independiente UDI]].
Within the [[electoral divisions of Chile]], Valdivia is represented in the [[Chamber of Deputies of Chile|Chamber of Deputies]] by Alfonso De Urresti ([[Socialist Party of Chile|PS]]) and Roberto Delmastro (RN) as part of the 53rd electoral district, together with [[Lanco, Chile|Lanco]], [[San José de la Mariquina|Mariquina]], [[Máfil]] and [[Corral, Chile|Corral]]. The commune is represented in the {{Current senators (16th senatorial constituency of Chile)}} as part of the 16th senatorial constituency (Los Ríos Region).
The creation of [[Los Ríos Region]] and [[Environmentalism|environmental]] issues have dominated the political scene of Valdivia in recent years. The communist lawyer Wladimir Riesco headed the legal actions against pulp mill enterprise [[CELCO]] after the deaths of [[black-necked swan]]s in [[Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary]] in 2004.
===Ecological action===
In response to the alleged contamination of Cruces River by the [[Celulosa Arauco y Constitución|Celco]] cellulose pulp mill, a group of citizens formed the  ''Accion por los Cisnes'' (''Action for the Swans'') ecology group. Action for the Swans attracted the attention of the national newspapers and succeeded in temporarily closing down [[Valdivia Pulp Mill]] through a court order.<ref>Forbes List of Billionaires 2006</ref>
==Economy and tourism==
The city and commune of Valdivia rely heavily on [[silviculture]], the [[pulp and paper industry]] and other forestry-related activities (the harvesting and processing of wood from nearby plantations of [[Eucalyptus globulus|eucalyptus]] and [[Douglas fir]]s). Large businesses such as [[CELCO]], [[Bomasil]] and [[Louisiana-Pacific]] have established wood processing factories near Valdivia. [[Metallurgy]], [[naval construction]] and repairs are also important industries, with the companies of [[Asenav]] and Alwoplast based in the area.<ref>[http://www.inelosrios.cl/archivos/files/pdf/SistemaEstadisticoRegional/Los%20R%C3%ADos%20en%20Cifras_V4_Diciembre_2010(1).pdf INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ESTADÍSTICAS DIRECCIÓN REGIONAL DE LOS RÍOS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040056/http://www.inelosrios.cl/archivos/files/pdf/SistemaEstadisticoRegional/Los%20R%C3%ADos%20en%20Cifras_V4_Diciembre_2010(1).pdf |date=2016-03-04 }} {{in lang|es}} INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ESTADÍSTICAS DIRECCIÓN REGIONAL DE LOS RÍOS. October 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2014.</ref> [[Agroforestry]]/[[agriculture]], [[livestock]], [[aquaculture]] and [[food processing]] are lesser but also important industries that contribute to the region's economy. The [[chocolate]] company ([[Entrelagos]]) contributes to the image of the region, as does the [[brewery|brewing]] industry, a symbol of the area and another important part of the local economy, with [[Kunstmann]] the most famous brewery in Valdivia. [[Beer]], along with [[cold cut]] meat and [[sausages]], is part of the city's German heritage and is preserved as part of the local heritage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gobiernodechile.cl/canal_regional/datos_geograficos.asp?veregion=14#6 |title=Gobierno de Chile |publisher=Gobiernodechile.cl |access-date=2012-05-22 |archive-date=2012-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207180549/http://www.gobiernodechile.cl/canal_regional/datos_geograficos.asp?veregion=14#6 |url-status=live }}</ref> Trade, restaurants and hotels link to the tourism industry which represent an important part in Valdivia's growing economy.<ref>[http://www.inelosrios.cl/noticia.aspx?opc=ShowNew&id=294 El Indicador de Actividad Económica Regional (INACER) presentó alza de 3,4% respecto a doce meses] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209164417/http://www.inelosrios.cl/noticia.aspx?opc=ShowNew&id=294 |date=2015-02-09 }} {{in lang|es}}. February 18, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2014.</ref>
===Tourism===
{{See also|Ecotourism in the Valdivian Temperate Rainforest|Black Beer Festival}}
Valdivia is a historic tourist destination in Chile, valued for the beauty of the city and surrounding areas, the area's culture and its history. It is an all season city, but during the summer months in particular (December, January, February) tourism is a major source of income for Valdivia's economy. "Valdivian Week" (Spanish: ''Semana Valdiviana''), as it has been known since 1917, is a long-held tradition that dates back to the foundation of the city. Starting  February 9 each year,<ref>[http://www.munivaldivia.cl/www/municipal_valdivia/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1390&Itemid=803&lang=es CULTURA E IDENTIDAD DE VALDIVIA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425035207/http://www.munivaldivia.cl/www/municipal_valdivia/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1390&Itemid=803&lang=es |date=2014-04-25 }} {{in lang|es}}. munivaldivia.cl. Retrieved February 18, 2014.</ref> it commemorates the city's anniversary and also gives Valdivia the chance to promote itself as a tourism center. "Semana Valdiviana" features an allegorical parade of ships – a tradition that began in the seventeenth century as a protest against the Spaniard authorities – and also includes a big artisan market, fairground rides, and the election of the "queen" of [[Los Rios region|Los Rios]]. The week ends with [[Pyrotechnics|fireworks]] and theatre performances on the closing night, known as "Noche Valdiviana" (Valdivian Night).
The center of the city has a rich architectural heritage. One of its most visited buildings is the "Mercado Municipal" ("municipal market"),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.valdivia.cl/chile/valdivia_turismo/Mercado_de_Valdivia.shtml |title=Mercado Municipal de Valdivia |access-date=2014-04-24 |archive-date=2014-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425001712/http://www.valdivia.cl/chile/valdivia_turismo/Mercado_de_Valdivia.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> a local produce market that is also now a gastronomic and cultural attraction. Also popular are the "Convento San Francisco" (Saint Francis Convent) and the European-style buildings dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, used today by the city's universities, cultural centers and government.
[[File:Faro Morro Niebla.JPG|thumb|right|270px|Picture of [[List of lighthouses in Chile|Niebla lighthouse]] situated just above the Niebla fort]]
==Education==
===Universities and colleges===
Valdivia is home to several public and private [[school]]s and [[university|universities]]. The largest and oldest university is the [[Universidad Austral de Chile]] (UACh) that was founded by decree in 1954 as one of Chile's seven original [[Chilean Traditional Universities]]. Its main campus is located in [[Isla Teja]] but it has other minor campus and properties spread through the city and [[Zona Sur|southern Chile]]. Since the liberalization of higher education in Chile in the 1980s other universities have established campuses in Valdivia, including [[Universidad Arturo Prat]], [[Universidad San Sebastián]], [[Universidad Santo Tomás]] and [[Universidad de Los Lagos]].
===Schools===
Like in the rest of Chile, most of Valdivia's best schools are private. [[Instituto Alemán Carlos Anwandter]] (Deutsche Schule Valdivia) founded in 1858 is Chile's second oldest German school after the Instituto Alemán de Osorno (1854). Other notable private schools are [[Windsor School, Chile|Windsor School]] and Colegio San Luis de Alba. Among public schools [[Instituto Salesiano de Valdivia]], [[Liceo Rector Armando Robles Rivera]] and [[Liceo Comercial]] have reached good results.
==Sports==
Facilities for playing [[association football|football]], [[tennis]], [[Rowing (sport)|rowing]], [[Rugby football|rugby]], [[golf]], indoor [[swimming (sport)|swimming]], indoor and outdoor [[basketball]] and some other sports are available throughout the area. Rowing is practiced in Valdivia in three clubs: Club Deportivo Phoenix Valdivia, Club Centenario de Remeros and Club Arturo Prat. Valdivian rowers [[Cristian Yantani]] and [[Miguel Cerda]] won the first place in Men's Lightweight Coxless Pair-Oared Shells at the world championship in [[Seville]], 2002.<ref name="sevilla">{{Cite web |url=http://www.hickoksports.com/history/worldrowing.shtml |title=World Rowing Medalists |access-date=2012-12-05 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205021902/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/worldrowing.shtml#mdsculls |archive-date=2012-12-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[Club Deportivo Valdivia]] is Valdivia's main basketball team and plays in Chiles first division, [[División Mayor del Básquetbol de Chile|DIMAYOR]] where it won the 2001 season. In 1977 and 2001 Valdivia hosted South Americas Men's Basketball Championship.<ref name="basketball">[http://www.dimayor.cl/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12735 DIMAYOR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707010015/http://www.dimayor.cl/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12735 |date=2011-07-07 }} {{in lang|es}}</ref>
The football club [[Deportes Valdivia|Club Deportivo Deportes Valdivia]], founded in 2003, plays currently in the [[Liga Chilena de Fútbol: Tercera División|Chilean third division]] and {{As of|2013|lc=y}}, will play in the Primera B (or Second Division)
==Transport==
===Roads and bridges===
[[File:Valdivian sea lions.JPG|thumb|right|[[Pedro de Valdivia Bridge]] and the city's [[South American sea lion|sea lion]] colony]]
Most of Valdivia lies on the southern side of the [[Valdivia River|Valdivia]] and [[Calle-Calle River]]s but other areas of the city, such as [[Isla Teja]] and [[Las Animas, Chile|Las Animas]], are connected to it by bridges. The main access points to the city are [[Calle-Calle Bridge]] from the north and a southern route. Both connect the city with the [[Pan-American Highway]] and run through forested areas and wetlands. [[Chile Route 207|Route 207]] runs from Valdivia southeast connecting the city with the town of [[Paillaco]] at the [[Chile Route 5|Route 5]].<ref name=burford2005>{{Cite book |title=Chile: The Bradt Travel Guide |last=Burford |first=Tim |year=2005 |isbn=9781841620763 |pages=475|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides }}</ref>
Calle-Calle Bridge, the first bridge built in the city, connects Valdivia with Las Animas and forms the northern highway access to the city. [[Pedro de Valdivia Bridge]] was built in 1954 and connects the city with [[Isla Teja]], where many German immigrants once lived. During the Great [[1960 Valdivia earthquake]] only the minor [[Caucau Bridge]] (connecting Las Animas with Isla Teja) was destroyed,{{dubious|date=March 2022}} while all other bridges were repaired and are still in use. In 1987 [[Augusto Pinochet]] opened [[Río Cruces Bridge]], making the coastal town of [[Niebla, Chile|Niebla]] as well as [[Torobayo]] and [[Punucapa]] accessible by road. Calle-Calle Bridge, the main access to the city, was enlarged in the 1990s.
[[File:Puente Caucau, Valdivia, 20190216 - 12.jpg|thumb|The New Cau Cau bridge in Valdivia has been restored and fixed.]]
The new Caucau bridge was intended to provide a faster route from the city centre to the Pichoy airport via Isla Teja, but the faulty construction made it unusable.
===Waterways===
Until highway bridges were built, Valdivia's economy and citizens depended on boat traffic on the surrounding rivers, but with a contraction of bridges and highways, the river has lost its importance. Today, the rivers are used by the commercial ships built or repaired in [[Asenav]], one of Chile's most important shipyard companies, and by tourist boats. Some of the locations that are regularly reached by tourist boats include [[Mancera Island]] and [[Punucapa]].
Fishing boats also travel inland from the coast to the River Market. Today, just one ferry is still in operation, the [[Niebla, Chile|Niebla]]–[[Corral, Chile|Corral]] line, as it is much quicker to reach Corral by [[ferry]] than by road.
Although in recent years the rivers have not had a major role in Valdivia's public transportation, a new private project is being developed by "Los Solares",<ref>[http://www.solaresdevaldivia.cl/muelles-y-horarios/ Rutas de Los Solares Transportes TFS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425000822/http://www.solaresdevaldivia.cl/muelles-y-horarios/ |date=2014-04-25 }} Solaresdevaldivia.cl retrieved on February 17, 2014</ref> an environmentally friendly company that operates solar-powered river taxis on [[Valdivia River]]. The project is called Transporte Fluvial Sustentable (TFS, or "Sustainable Water Transportation" in English). So far, the company has a fleet of three river taxis,<ref>[http://www.elnaveghable.cl/etiquetas/valdivia-barrio-flotante Barrio Flotante en Valdivia ya está en marcha] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425000807/http://www.elnaveghable.cl/etiquetas/valdivia-barrio-flotante |date=2014-04-25 }} elnaveghable.cl January 27, 2013</ref> and a small, sustainable and locally designed floating village that includes a pier, a café and the company's offices. The community produces its own electricity, water supply and processes its own wastewater with a bacterial solution.<ref>[http://www.livingatlaschile.com/?s=River+neighbourhood Valdivia’s River neighbourhood Short documentary with English subtitles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425002728/http://www.livingatlaschile.com/?s=River+neighbourhood |date=2014-04-25 }} www.livingatlaschile.com released on February 18, 2014 retrieved on February 23, 2014</ref>
===Airports===
The city is served mainly by [[Pichoy Airport]], lying 32&nbsp;km northeast of the city via the north entrance road that connects the city with the [[Pan American Highway]]. The smaller but much closer [[Las Marías Airport]] is used primarily by small aircraft, with no [[airline]]s operating there.
== Twin towns – sister cities ==
{| class="wikitable" "text-align:left;font-size:100%;"|
|-
! style="background:#39e; color:white; height:17px; width:120px;"| Country
! ! style="background:#39e; color:white; width:140px;"| City
! ! style="background:#39e; color:white; width:150px;"| State / Region
! ! style="background:#39e; color:white; width:40px;"| Since
|- style="color:black; background:white;"
|! !| [[Argentina]]
|! !| [[Neuquén, Argentina|Neuquén]]
|! !| [[Neuquén Province]]
|! !| 2003
|- style="color:black; background:white;"
|! !| [[Romania]]
|! !| [[Cluj-Napoca]]
|! !| [[Cluj County]]
|! !| 2009
|- style="color:red; background:white;"
|! !| [[United States]]
|! !| [[Mount Pleasant, Michigan|Mount Pleasant]]
|! !| [[Michigan]]
|! !|
|- style="color:black; background:white;"
|! !| United States
|! !| [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]]
|! !| [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]]
|! !|
|- style="color:black; background:white;"
|! !| [[Australia]]
|! !| [[Hobart]]<ref>''CSRIO'', AGSO - Marine And Petroleum Division, ''South Pacific Continental Report Annual 1998'', p23</ref>
|! !| [[Tasmania]]
|! !|
|- style="color:black; background:white;"
|! !| [[Germany]]
|! !| [[Hamburg]]
|! !| Hamburg
|! !|
|- style="color:black; background:white;"
|! !| [[Spain]]
|! !| [[Ateca]]
|! !| [[Aragon]]
|! !|
|}
==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Canal haferbeck.JPG|Haverbeck Canal
File:Vista calle Beauchef.JPG|Libertad Walk & Valdivia [[cathedral]]
File:Puentecruces.jpg|[[Isla Teja]] and [[Torobayo]] connected by the [[Río Cruces Bridge]]
File:Puentepedrodevaldivia.jpg|[[Pedro de Valdivia Bridge]]
File:UACh-Jardín botánico-entrada.JPG|[[UACh]] Botanical Garden
File:Plaza de Valdivia.JPG|Plaza de la República
File:Lobos en la feria.JPG|[[South American sea lion|Sea lion]]s by the riverside market
File:Obelisco de Valdivia.JPG|An [[obelisk]]
File:Casas UACh.JPG|[[Universidad Austral de Chile]] housing
File:A German-styled house on General Lagos Street, Vadvia.jpg|A German-styled house on General Lagos Street
File:Canal Haverbeck.JPG|Haverbeck Canal of the [[Valdivia River]]
File:Vista_Valdivia,_20190216_-_11.jpg|Valdivia, Chile
</gallery>
{{Geographic location
| Centre = ''Valdivia''
| Northwest =
| North = [[Mariquina, Chile|Mariquina]]
| Northeast = [[Máfil]]
| East = [[Los Lagos, Chile|Los Lagos]]
| Southeast = [[Paillaco]]
| South = [[Corral, Chile|Corral]]
| Southwest =
| West = [[Pacific Ocean]]
}}
==See also==
* [[Ecotourism in the Valdivian Temperate Rainforest]]
* [[Flag of Valdivia]]
* [[Iglesia San Francisco de Valdivia]]
* [[Pilolcura]]
* [[Punucapa]]
* [[Valdivian Coastal Reserve]]
==References==
{{EB1911|wstitle=Valdivia|volume=27|page=844}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
===Notes===
{{notelist}}
==Sources==
*Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CYYCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&q=Valdivia#PPA859,M1  ''Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile'' (Geographic dictionary of the Republic of Chile), SEGUNDA EDICIÓN CORREGIDA Y AUMENTADA, NUEVA YORK, D. APPLETON Y COMPAÑÍA, 1899. pg. 859–862 '''Valdivia''' – Ciudad]
*[[Juan Brüggen|Brüggen, Juan]]. ''Fundamentos de la geología de Chile'', Instituto Geográfico Militar 1950.
==External links==
{{wikivoyage|Valdivia}}
https://www.munivaldivia.cl/web/
* {{in lang|es}} [https://www.munivaldivia.cl/web/ Ilustre Municipalidad de Valdivia]
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.australvaldivia.cl Diario Austral de Valdivia], Valdivian newspaper
* {{in lang|es}} [http://geovaldivia.blogspot.com Geology and geomorphology of Valdivia and Los Ríos Region]
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.macvaldivia.uach.cl/ Museo de Arte Contemporanea (MAC)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011205609/http://www.macvaldivia.uach.cl/ |date=11 October 2011 }}, a modern art museum
* {{in lang|es}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080518032106/http://www.dibam.cl/sdm_msf_niebla/ Museo Fuerte Niebla], Niebla fort's museum
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.fundacionraphilippi.cl/PROYECTOS.html Museo Philippi], a museum about the naturalist [[Rodolfo Armando Philippi]]
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.lalibreriadevaldivia.cl La Librería de Valdivia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721174348/http://www.lalibreriadevaldivia.cl/ |date=21 July 2009 }}, biggest bookstore in south of Chile
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.vrpanoramas.cl/panoramicas/chile360/valdivia.php Panorámicas de Valdivia en 360°]
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.valdiviaonline.com Valdivia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422072014/http://www.valdiviaonline.com/ |date=22 April 2016 }}
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.mut.museum Museo de las Telecomunicaciones]
* {{in lang|es}} [http://wmforo.com Anime related internet forum made in Valdivia]
* [http://www.alwoplast.cl/ Alwoplast], Valdivian designer/builder of custom catamarans
* [http://www.cerveza-kunstmann.cl/english.htm Cerveza Kunstmann], local beer maker
* [https://valdiviaguide.com/ Valdivia Guide], an introductory guide for moving to Valdivia and Chile
{{Communes in Los Ríos Region}}
{{Large cities of Chile}}
{{American Capital of Culture}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Valdivia| ]]
[[Category:Populated places in Valdivia Province]]
[[Category:Capitals of Chilean regions]]
[[Category:Communes of Chile]]
[[Category:Capitals of Chilean provinces]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1552]]
[[Category:1599 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Port cities in Chile]]
[[Category:Destroyed populated places]]
[[Category:1552 establishments in the Spanish Empire]]
[[Category:South American sea lion colonies]]