Everything about Chilo Island totally explained
Chiloé Island (
Spanish: "Isla de Chiloé"), also known as
Isla Grande de Chiloé "Greater Island of Chiloé", is a
South American island off the coast of
Chile, in the
Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern Chile, in the
Los Lagos Region. It is the main island of the
Chiloé Archipelago. The variety of
potato which is most widely grown throughout the world is indigenous to the island.
Geography
Chiloé Island (8,394 km², 3241 sq mi), is the second largest island in Chile (and the fifth largest in South America), after the Isla Grande de
Tierra del Fuego. It is separated from the Chilean mainland by the
Chacao Strait ("Canal Chacao") to the north, and by the
Gulf of Ancud (
Golfo de Ancud) and the
Gulf of Corcovado (
Golfo Corcovado) to the east; the Pacific ocean lies to the west, and the
Chonos Archipelago lies to the south, across the Boca del Guafo. The island is 190 km (118 mi) from north to south, and averages 55-65 km wide (35 to 40 mi). The capital is
Castro, on the east side of the island; the second largest town is
Ancud, at the island's northwest corner, and there are several smaller port towns on the east side of the island, such as
Quellón,
Dalcahue and
Chonchi.
Chiloé Province includes all the
Chiloé Archipelago except the
Grupo Desertores islands, plus the
Isla Guafo. The area of Chiloé province is 9181 km² (3546 sq mi). The administrative center of the province is Castro, while the episcopal see of the
Roman Catholic bishopric is Ancud. Chiloé province is part of the
Los Lagos Region (Región de los Lagos), which mainly includes the Chilean lakes region on the mainland north of Chiloé. The administrative center of the region is
Puerto Montt.
Chiloé and the Chonos Archipelago are a southern extension of the Chilean coastal range, which runs north and south, parallel to the Pacific coast and the
Andes Mountains. The Chilean Central Valley lies between the coastal mountains and the Andes, of which the Gulfs of Ancud and Corcovado form the southern extension. Mountains run north and south along the spine of the island. The east coast is deeply indented, with several natural harbors and numerous smaller islands.
The Potato
Evidence ranging from historical records, local agriculturalists, and DNA analyses strongly supports the hypothesis that the most widely cultivated variety of
potato worldwide,
Solanum tuberosum tuberosum, is indigenous to Chiloe Island and has been cultivated by the local indigenous people since before the coming of the Spanish.
Climate
Chiloe runs from 41º 47' S to 43º 26' S latitude, and has a humid, cool
temperate climate. The western side of the island is rainy and wild, home to the
Valdivian temperate rain forests, one of the world's few temperate rain forests.
Chiloé National Park (Parque Nacional de Chiloé) is located on the Island's western shore and includes part of the coastal range. The eastern shore, in the rain shadow of the interior mountains, is warmer and drier.
History
Chiloé's first known inhabitants were the
Chonos, a nomadic people. Later the
Huilliche (a part of the
Mapuche) came from the mainland and settled on the eastern shore, practicing agriculture and fishing.
In 1567 the island was first claimed by
Spain, which was exploring and claiming most of South America and many neighbouring islands, and established a settlement at Castro in
1567, which later became the seat of a
Jesuit mission, and was capital of the province until the founding of Ancud in
1768.
In 1784 Chiloé Island was made a direct dependency of the colonial
viceroyalty of Peru as concequence of the Bourbon reforms, while continental Chile was a captaincy-general within the viceroyalty.
Unlike the
central region of Chile where a long war of independence resumed after a Spanish reoccupation, Chiloe never joined the "Patria Vieja" (Old Republic). In December 1817 the island became the last stronghold of Spanish loyalists (together with
Valdivia) fleeing from the Chilean mainland. A Chilean expedition led by
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald failed to conquer it. On 15 January 1826, after another unsuccessful attempt in 1824, the Spanish forces surrendered to a military expedition led by
Ramon Freire, and the island was fully incorporated into the independent republic of Chile, although Spain didn't recognize it until 1844.
The last Spanish Military governors were :
Charles Darwin visited Chiloé during the summer of
1834–
1835, writing about his impressions of southern Chile in his
diaries (External Link
).
During the colonization of
Patagonia by Chile and
Argentina, a lot of chilotes migrated to the mainland to work in cattle farming.
The cathedral in Ancud was totally destroyed and Castro was badly damaged by the
Great Chilean Earthquake of
1960, widely considered to be the most powerful ever recorded. In
1982, the provincial capital, after over 200 years, was returned to Castro.
Demographics and economy
The population of the province with its ten
municipalities according to the
2002 census was 154,775; of this, 44% lived in rural areas, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas (INE). Chiloé's people are known as
Chilotes.
Salmon
aquaculture, tourism, agriculture and timber are the mainstays of the island economy.
Tourism
Having evolved for centuries isolated from mainland Chile, the "Chilotes" developed a strong, self-reliant culture, rich in folklore, mythology and tradition. This very identity is what constitutes the island's major attraction for domestic tourists in Chile and increasingly, for international tourists. As in the Calakmul case above, tourism to Chiloé is very strongly based on the island's cultural heritage, predominantly consisting of crafts markets, appreciation of cultural landscapes, museum exhibitions, seafood cuisine and architectural heritage (Chiloé's old churches). However, the average tourist to the island will have little opportunity to see Chilotes involved in their living cultural activities, such as the elaborate preparation of the islands famous "curanto" meal, rich in shellfish, meat and potatoes, the management practices of their farm and forest lands, boat building and more.
In order to overcome the cultural and organizational barriers that keep suppliers of living cultural heritage and tour operators apart, the Chiloé diocese of Ancud established a private foundation called "Fundación con Todos" (One for All Foundation). Among other activities, the Foundation has played a key role in helping a number of Chilote households organize themselves into an "agrotourism" network. The Foundation helped Chilote households make the preparation required to accommodate tourists (including training in sanitation and maintenance of facilities, the provision of basic infrastructure) and complemented this effort with a professional marketing campaign. These works were undertaken with the financial support of other agencies.
Again, in cooperation with the EOMF and the Chiloé Model Forest, a cultural and natural heritage tour was organized to Argentina and Chile, including a three-day visit to Chiloé, permitting some of the Chilote households to host a group of cultural heritage tourists for the first time. The visits were very successful and should be the first of more to come, helping establish the credibility of Chiloé's agrotourism network among other tour operators.
http://www.chin.gc.ca/Resources/Icom/English/Collection/e_texte_mp.html
Culture
In part because of its physical isolation from the rest of Chile, Chiloé has a very special architecture and local culture. The Spanish, who arrived in the
16th century, and
Jesuit missionaries who followed, constructed hundreds of small
wooden churches in an attempt to bring
Christianity to a pagan land; the result was a mixing of
Catholicism and pagan beliefs. These unique buildings have been designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Architecture
Chilotan architecture is a unique architectural style that's mainly restricted to
Chiloe Island and nearby areas.
In part because of its physical isolation from the rest of Chile, and access to different materials, Chiloé has a very special architecture that differs a lot from the typical
Spanish colonial architecture. The Spanish who arrived in the
16th century, and
Jesuit missionaries who followed, constructed hundreds of small
wooden churches in an attempt to bring
Christianity to a pagan land; the result was a mixing of
Catholicism and pagan beliefs. These unique buildings have been designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Nearly all the houses and buildings in colonial Chiloe were built with wood, and
roof shingles were extensively employed. Roof shingles of
Fitzroya came to be used as money and called "
Real de Alerce". In the late XIX century a lot of
palafitos (
stilt houses) were built in cities like
Castro and
Chonchi.
Mythology
Chiloé have a rich folklore with many mythological animals and spirits (the
Caleuche, the
Trauco, the
Pincoya, the
Invunche, etc.). Chilota mythology is based on a mixture of indigenous religions (the
Chonos and
Huilliches) that live in the Archipelago of Chiloé, and the legends and superstitions brought by the Spanish
Conquistadores, who in 1567 began the process of conquest in Chiloé and with it the fusion of elements that would form a separate mythology. Chilota mythology flourished, isolated from other beliefs and myths in Chile, due to the separation of the archipelago from the rest of the Spanish occupation in Chile, when the
Mapuches occupied or destroyed by all the Spanish settlements between the
Bío-Bío River and the
Chacao channel following the
disaster of Curalaba in 1598.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Chilo Island'.
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