Chile 1789 CE

What is happening in Chile in 1789CE

The southern region of Chile is by no means fully pacified yet, with large areas still in the hands of the warlike Auracanian peoples and beyond Spanish control. The vast majority of the population – by now overwhelmingly of mestizo (mixed Spanish-Indian) blood – is concentrated in the central area of present-day Chile, between Santiago and Concepcion.

The Spanish-controlled area remains comparatively isolated. This has bred a stronger sense of regional identity than in other parts of the continent, reinforced by the homogeneous nature of the mestizo population. Chile remains one of the most culturally backward areas of Spanish South America – for example, there is as yet no printing press here – and one of the most economically underdeveloped. The economic reforms of the Bourbon regime have stimulated some trade and economic growth, and this has brought with it some expansion of the population; however, the commercial element in society remains small. The region is dominated, economically and socially, by a small group of estate-owning families who, descended from the original Spanish conquistadores, form an hereditary aristocracy in all but name.

Next map, Chile in 1837