The Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region (, ), often shortened to O'Higgins Region (), is one of Chile's 16 first order

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

s. It is subdivided into three

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

. It is named in honour of Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, one of Chile's founding fathers. The Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region is bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean, to the east by the Republic of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, to the north by the

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

and Santiago Metropolitan Regions, and to the south by the

Maule Region The Maule Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Talca. The region derives its name from the Maule River which, running westward from the Andes, bisects the region and spans a basin of about 20,6 ...

. It extends approximately between the parallels of 33° 51' and 35° 01' south latitude, and between the meridian of 70° 02' west longitude and the Pacific Ocean. The capital and largest city of the region is Rancagua. The second major town is San Fernando.

Geography

In pre-

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

times extensive

Nothofagus ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere, found across southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guin ...

forests covered much of Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region. The Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region is part of the very restricted range of the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Chilean Wine Palm, '' Jubaea chilensis''; in prehistoric times this Chilean

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

tree had a significantly larger range.

History

From 9000 BCE to 300 BCE (the Archaic Period), the humans who inhabited the region moved between the coast and the valley as well as the Andes. At sites such as

Pichilemu Pichilemu (, ), originally known as Pichilemo, is a beach resort cities in Chile, city and communes of Chile, commune in central Chile, and capital of Cardenal Caro Province in the O'Higgins Region. The commune comprises an urban centre and tw ...

, Cáhuil and Bucalemu, they left trash deposits or shell middens bearing testimony to their raids . During the Agroalfarero Period (300 BCE – 1470 CE), the inhabitants experienced changes in their way of life, the most important being the cultivation of vegetables and the manufacture of clay objects. From 600 CE onwards, they started cultivating beans, maize, squashes, pumpkins and

quinoa Quinoa (''Chenopodium quinoa''; , from Quechuan languages, Quechua ' or ') is a flowering plant in the Amaranthaceae, amaranth family. It is a herbaceous annual plant grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds; the seeds are high in prote ...

. All of these except

and some types of maize required irrigation, which prompted them to move to the banks of creeks and rivers. During this period, groups of people lived in Quincha houses with straw roofs, in the vicinity of irrigation channels and horticulture crops, a style of life attributable to the Promaucaes or Picunches and to the Chiquillanes. During the Colonial Period (1541 CE to 1811 CE), the region became dominated, like the rest of the country, by the Spanish, and a system of ranching became predominant .

Demography

The Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins region contains a large part of the rural population (surpassed only by the

). Amongst the highly populated cities, Rancagua (206,971 inhabitants) stands out for having been transformed, in recent times, into an outskirt of Santiago. It is close being located 87 km south of Santiago. It is the capital of the Cachapoal Province as well the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region. According to the census of 2002,Chile: Proyecciones y Estimaciones de Población. Total País 1950–2050
Instituto National de Estadísticas (INE) other densely populated cities are: San Fernando (49,519 inhabitants); Rengo (30,891); Machalí (23,920); Graneros (21,616); San Vicente de Tagua Tagua (18,914); Santa Cruz (18,603); Chimbarongo (13,795);

(12,392), a well-known beach resort city founded by Agustin Ross Edwards in the late 19th century; and San Francisco de Mostazal (12,037).

Economy

The main industrial and export activity takes place at CODELCO's El Teniente mine, which contributes 7.7% of Chile's copper production. The ore is processed at the Sewell and Colón concentrator plants, smelted and refined at Caletones, and shipped from the port of San Antonio, in the Valparaíso Region. Byproducts include

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mo (from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'') and atomic number 42. The name derived from Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ores. Molybdenum minerals hav ...

and silver. Agriculture contributes 30.1% of the region's GDP. One out of every four hectares of fruit orchards in Chile is in the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region. The main crops are apples and pears, followed by table grapes, plums, kiwis, and nectarines. Manufacturing activity in the region is mostly related to copper mining,

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

, and food and beverages. One particular growth area is the production of fruit juices and pulp, and dehydrated fruit. Over the past few years, there has been significant development in the forestry sector, especially plantations of eucalyptus and radiata pine.

Law and government

The region is co-governed by a presidential regional delegate, who is appointed by the president —currently independent Fabio López— and popularly-elected governor of O'Higgins, Pablo Silva Amaya, who was elected in 2021 and will serve until 2025. The administration of the region rests with the regional government which is headed by the regional governor and the regional council (''Consejo Regional de Chile''). The latter comprises twenty regional council members, who are popularly elected since 2013 (thirteen from Cachapoal, five from Colchagua, and two from Cardenal Caro).

Administrative divisions

For purposes of interior administration, the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region is divided into three provinces: * Cachapoal Province, capital: Rancagua, * Colchagua Province, capital: San Fernando, * Cardenal Caro Province, capital:

. The provinces are subdivided into 33 communes.

Education

Culture

This area is known as the "huaso province" after the name of the Chilean cowboy, the huaso. Sashes and mantas – traditional items of the huaso costume – are woven in Doñihue on heavy vertical looms. Designs imitate vine leaves, bunches of grapes,

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

s and copihues. Other designs of colored stripes are woven on horizontal looms. The population is a mixture of both European (including

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

immigrants) and indigenous races and cultures, thus the region has a homogeneous culture known as ''Chileanidad'' is present and a

mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

imprint is evident. The Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region was settled by Spaniards (notably

Andalusians The Andalusians () are the people of Andalusia, an autonomous community in southern Spain. Andalusia's statute of autonomy defines Andalusians as the Spanish citizens who reside in any of the municipalities of Andalusia, as well as those Spani ...

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

, Aragonese and

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

se) and other Europeans. French and Italian families established agriculture including the important

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

industry: the Wine Route is one of the main tourist attractions of the Colchagua valley. Breweries can be found as well, the legacy of German and

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

immigration. Livestock herding was especially influenced by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

n settlers.

Regional festivals

Notable people

* Violeta Zúñiga (1933–2019), human rights activist * Stephanie Vaquer (Born 1993), professional wrestler signed with WWE

References

External links

"The Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins Region" at the Chilean government website

VI.cl: Portal de la Sexta Región (Portal for the Sixth Region)

Pichilemu's official website
* * {{Authority control Regions of Chile