Los Lagos Region ( es, Región de Los Lagos , ''Region of the Lakes'') is one of Chile's 16 regions, which are first order

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

s, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains the country's second largest island, Chiloé, and the second largest lake, Llanquihue. Its capital is

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

; other important cities include Osorno, Castro, Ancud, and Puerto Varas. The mainland portion of Los Lagos Region south of

Reloncaví Sound Reloncaví Sound or ''Seno de Reloncaví'' is a body of water immediately south of Puerto Montt, a port city in the Los Lagos Region of Chile. It is the place where the Chilean Central Valley meets the Pacific Ocean. The Calbuco Archipelago c ...

(Palena Province) is considered part of

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and ...

. Historically, the Huilliche have called this territory between Bueno River and Reloncaví Sound Futahuillimapu, meaning "great land of the south". The region hosts Monte Verde, one of the oldest archaeological sites of the Americas. The largest indigenous group of the region are the

Huilliche The Huilliche , Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group of Chile. Located in the Zona Sur, they inhabit both Futahuillimapu ("great land of the south") and, as the Cunco subgroup, the north h ...

who lived in the area before the arrival of the Spanish. The Spanish crown settled

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago ( es, Archipiélago de Chiloé, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east an ...

in 1567 Hanisch, Walter. ''La Isla de Chiloé''. 1982. pp. 11–12. while the rest of the region begun to be slowly colonized by non-indigenous people only in the late 18th century. In the 1850s Germans arrived to colonize the shores of Llanquihue Lake under a Chilean state-sponsored program. Los Lagos Region economy is dominated by the

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector ( raw materials) and the sec ...

but based in

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

salmon aquaculture Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus ''Oncorhynch ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

farming. Tourism is economically important in The

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

where

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In N ...

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by c ...

s and

recreational fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing ...

are popular offers.

Geography

The region is bordered on the north by

Los Ríos Region The Los Ríos Region (Spanish: ''Región de Los Ríos'', , ''Region of the Rivers'') is one of Chile's 16 regions, the country's first-order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. It began to operate as a region on October 2, 200 ...

, on the south by

Aisén Region Aisén or Aysén may refer to: *Aisén (name), an African name for a boy or a girl Places *Aysén, Chile, a commune in Aysén Province *Aysén Region, one of Chile's administrative divisions *Aysén Province, a province in the Chilean region *Pu ...

, on the west by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

and on the east by

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

(provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro and

Chubut Chubut may refer to: * Chubut Province, Argentina * Chubut River in the Chubut Province * Chubut steamer duck The Chubut steamer duck or white-headed flightless steamer duck (''Tachyeres leucocephalus'') is a flightless duck endemic to Argenti ...

). Wild environments can be seen along the coastal area, such as Caleta Zorra.

Demography

The region has an area of and its population, according to the 2017 INE Census was 823,204, with a population density of 16.9 /km².

Principal Towns

This section is translated from the corresponding Spanish page The Región de Los Lagos has seventeen towns according to the 2017 census, of which eleven have more than 10000 inhabitants each.

Climate

The region, in general, has a natural vegetation of

Valdivian temperate rain forest The Valdivian temperate forests (NT0404) is an ecoregion on the west coast of southern South America, in Chile and Argentina. It is part of the Neotropical realm. The forests are named after the city of Valdivia. The Valdivian temperate rainforest ...

. The coastal part, except for the south of the

Chiloé Island Chiloé Island ( es, Isla de Chiloé, , ) also known as Greater Island of Chiloé (''Isla Grande de Chiloé''), is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern ...

, has a temperate climate with cold winter rain. To the south, the climate is characterized by constant rain and not having dry seasons.

Protected areas

Protected areas include 7 national parks, 2 private-owned parks and 2 natural monuments. ;National Parks * Alerce Andino * Chiloé * Corcovado * Hornopirén * Pumalín * Puyehue *

Vicente Pérez Rosales Vicente Pérez Rosales (; 5 April 1807 – 6 September 1886) was a politician, traveller, merchant, miner and Chilean diplomat that organised the colonisation by Germans and Chileans of the Llanquihue area. Vicente Pérez Rosales National Par ...

;Private parks * Tantauco Park * Las Vertientes – Reserva Natural Privada ;Natural monuments * Islotes de Puñihuil * Lahuen Ñadi

Economy

The region is the center of aquaculture in chile.

Transportation

El Tepual Airport El Tepual International Airport is a commercial and private aviation facility which serves the tourist area of Puerto Montt, Chile. It is one of the most important airports in Chile and is considered a gateway to the Chilean Patagonia. Histo ...

lies a few miles west of

and

Cañal Bajo Carlos Hott Siebert Airport Cañal Bajo Carlos Hott Siebert Airport ( es, Aeródromo Cañal Bajo Carlos Hott Siebert, ) is an airport serving Osorno, a city in the Los Lagos Region of Chile. The airport is southeast of the city. Airlines and destinations See also * Tr ...

a few miles east of Osorno. Also east of Osorno, the Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass is a major mountain pass across the

to Argentina via Route 215.

References

External links

*http://www.frutillar.com *http://www.regiondeloslagos.cl *https://web.archive.org/web/20060625023200/http://www.regionx.cl/
Satellite view of Puerto Montt (Google maps)Satellite view of the Chiloé archipielago (Google maps)Satellite view of Lake Llanquihue (Google maps)Satellite view of Osorno (Google maps)Satellite view of Valdivia (Google maps)Satellite view of Chaitén (Google maps)
{{Authority control Regions of Chile